Black Holes and Revelations

If Radiohead didn't move into more electronica with OK Computer and Kid A, I think this is what they would sound like. I've heard many times that Muse sounds like Radiohead but I didn't think so with the handful of hits they got, but listening to this album fully I totally understand now. And that's not a bad thing because this album is pretty damn good. Starlight was already on of my favorite songs ever AND the song from Twilight where they play baseball while raining is on here? That's automatically 4 stars.

A good album … feels like more than a 3 but at the same time I’m not sure it’s a 4 🤷‍♀️

Wonderfully over the top production. Great songs roll on over and over.
No-one's going to take us alive indeed.

This is a pretty solid album. Nothing too challenging, or revolutionary, but very tight and generally a good time.

Definitely tries for an epic feeling, and it kinda works, but doesn't leave a lasting impression.

I looked up the lead singer on Wikipedia and for a split second I thought I was looking at Jesse Pinkman

I rolled my eyes a couple of times at the most preposterous bits. It's all a bit silly and doesn't really rock like it thinks it does. Some decent pop melodies I suppose, but this is nowhere near as good as their first two, brilliant, albums.

A few good ones. Not as good as I remembered.

Just a few underwhelming moments on what is an extremely impressive record. Very cohesive and sticks to the otherworldly themes and sounds. Knights of Cydonia" is an all time classic. 4/5

It's as I thought. The Hits on this album, "Starlight", "Supermassive Black Hole", "Knights of Cydonia" are great tracks and invoke a feeling of nostalgia.

The rest of the album is unremarkable, same-y tracks. Not bad at all, to be sure, but needless.

This would have been a decent EP.

Sorti en 2006, "Black Holes and Revelations" est le quatrième album studio du groupe britannique Muse. Arrivant après le succès planétaire de l'album "Absolution" (2004), cet opus était attendu au tournant.

"Black Holes and Revelations" est un album charnière, une œuvre d'une ambition folle qui a propulsé Muse au rang de superstar des stades. D'ailleurs, le premier contact avec l'album est saisissant. Muse ne se repose pas sur ses lauriers. Le groupe explose les frontières de son propre son, s'éloignant du rock progressif et alternatif sombre de ses débuts pour explorer des territoires musicaux radicalement nouveaux. C'est là que réside la plus grande force de l'album : son audace et ses moments de génie pur.

Quelques titres à eux seuls valent le détour et sont devenus des piliers de la discographie du groupe. "Knights of Cydonia" par exemple est une épopée insensée, un space-opéra western qui mélange une ligne de basse galopante, des trompettes à la Ennio Morricone, des guitares surf-rock, des synthétiseurs futuristes et le falsetto stratosphérique de Matthew Bellamy. C'est du Muse à 200%, un concentré d'excès, de virtuosité et de plaisir. En concert, ce titre est devenu leur hymne ultime, un moment de communion totale.

Mais également "Starlight" d'une simplicité désarmante pour le groupe, cette chanson est l'archétype de l'hymne pop-rock parfait. Portée par une ligne de piano entraînante et un refrain fédérateur, elle démontre la capacité de Muse à écrire un tube planétaire sans pour autant sacrifier son identité. La mélancolie et l'espoir qui s'en dégagent en font un classique instantané.

"Supermassive Black Hole" qui est peut-être le plus grand virage stylistique de leur carrière. Avec son riff funky, sa rythmique quasi-dansante et son chant influencé par Prince, le titre a déconcerté plus d'un fan de la première heure. Pourtant, c'est une prise de risque payante, une chanson terriblement efficace qui prouve que Muse peut être groovy et sexy. De même, "Map of the Problematique", avec ses arpèges de synthétiseurs hypnotiques rappelant Depeche Mode, offre une urgence électronique et une tension palpable qui en font l'un des joyaux cachés de l'album.

Ces quatre titres représentent le meilleur de Black Holes and Revelations. Ils sont inventifs, puissants, mémorables et montrent un groupe au sommet de sa créativité.

Mais si l'album contient des chansons exceptionnelles, son principal défaut est de ressembler davantage à une compilation d'idées disparates qu'à une œuvre unifiée. Le voyage d'un titre à l'autre est souvent brutal, et l'ensemble manque cruellement de cohésion. Cette ambition de toucher à tout se fait au détriment de l'expérience d'écoute globale.

Le passage du funk de "Supermassive Black Hole" à la ballade acoustique et un peu mièvre "Soldier's Poem" est l'exemple le plus frappant. Si cette dernière est une jolie chansonnette, elle casse complètement le rythme et l'énergie de l'album, semblant venir d'un autre projet.

D'autres morceaux, bien que techniquement impressionnants, flirtent dangereusement avec le pompeux. "Invincible", avec sa montée en puissance très inspirée de Queen, se veut un hymne à la résilience. Mais sa progression lente et ses paroles un peu naïves peuvent paraître grandiloquentes, voire un peu kitsch. C'est une chanson conçue pour les stades, mais qui manque de la subtilité et de la rage des œuvres précédentes.

De même, des titres comme "Exo-Politics" ou "City of Delusion" sont de bons morceaux de rock, mais ils peinent à se démarquer. Le premier est un rock efficace mais assez convenu pour le groupe. Le second, malgré ses influences orientales et ses cordes majestueuses, s'étire un peu en longueur et n'a pas l'impact d'un "Knights of Cydonia". On sent l'expérimentation, mais le résultat n'est pas toujours aussi mémorable que les singles. "Hoodoo", avec sa structure complexe passant d'une ballade au piano à un final orchestral dramatique, est ambitieux mais peut sembler alambiqué, moins direct et percutant.

En définitive, "Black Holes and Revelations" est un album qui suscite des sentiments contradictoires. Il est impossible de nier son importance dans la discographie de Muse. C'est l'album de la consécration, celui qui les a fait passer du statut de grand groupe de rock à celui de phénomène mondial. Il contient certaines de leurs chansons les plus emblématiques, des morceaux d'une créativité et d'une puissance rares.

Cependant, son éclectisme forcené et son manque de fil conducteur l'empêchent de se hisser au niveau des chefs-d'œuvre cohérents que sont "Origin of Symmetry" ou "Absolution". Il est moins un album qu'un recueil de singles brillants et d'expérimentations plus ou moins réussies. Pour chaque "Starlight" ou "Knights of Cydonia", on trouve un moment plus faible ou une transition malheureuse qui brise l'immersion.

C'est pourquoi une note de 3 sur 5 semble juste. Ce n'est pas un album moyen, loin de là. C'est un "bon" album, porté par des moments de pure excellence, mais plombé par une ambition si démesurée qu'elle en devient son propre piège.

I think the trick with Muse is to not take the music too seriously. It’s supposed to be fun - a big rush of endorphins, rather than anything probing. At points they sound like a souped up, distorted Coldplay - and there’s a time and a place for that!

Last of the great Arena Rock™ bands. More Muse please. They pull from everywhere: Queen, Joe Meek, krautrock, even The Beach Boys (listen to "Soldier's Poem"). Muse masterfully navigate through a magnificent variety of tempo, sound, dynamic range. Also not the typical themes - I love the apocalyptic dystopian outlook, outside of themselves rather than the self-centered whininess of their contemporaries. Heavy, well constructed compositions. LOVE!

On paper I probably should have been a Muse fan. I can’t really tell you why I’m not, except that something about them just didn't work for me... too fake, maybe? Or too pretentious?

This isn’t their debut album, and it shows. This feels like a band very comfortable weaving together an extremely complex sound, or one with enough label money to hire a really slick producer. Having never heard their earlier albums, I have little doubt I’d enjoy them more than this one and then complain that BH&R was the beginning of their big sellout. Nevertheless, this is a very solid, if soulless, commercial-minded rock’n’roll record with all the cinematic flourishes you need for a big stadium tour (plus countless commercials and TV soundtracks). I can practically hear the pyrotechnics and the flutter of A&R professionals. Muse feels like what would happen if Coldplay took amphetamines instead of opioids. It's music for junior finance bros to do cocaine to.

Lots of good here, a few misses but that's ok. Starlight is always a great track

Bloody hell it must be at least a decade since I last listened to this. I LOVED this when it originally came out. I used to be a massive Muse fan until, I have no idea why, I seemed to just stop listening to them. I really enjoyed revisiting this and I am 100% going on a Muse binge tonight.

Top Track - City Of Delusion

Hopefully Absolution is on this list cause it’s even better.

All in all, quite great! Difficult to decide whether Starlight or Knights of Cydonia was my fav track. You do get the feeling that there's something missing, though - it all starts to sound samey in the end.

Killer song to open the album

Starlight: I love this

Regrettably, I haven't ever listened to this entire album before. I have missed a lot of time that I could have been listening to more than the 3 or 4 singles on it. The deeper cuts are fantastic as well.

Map of the Problematic has a a really cool feel. Great vocal pairings between the lead and accompanying voices. The choir effect is very befitting of the song

Invincible reminds me a lot of a U2 song

Assassin has a great fast-paced opening, leading into Muse's signature style, which I quite like

In City of Delusion, the transition to a sort of Middle Eastern/ mariachi interlude was a really cool contrast with the rest of the song

The intro to Hoodoo is very reminiscent of Jeff Buckley, and after reading Bellamy's Wikipedia page, that seems to track pretty well

Knights of Cydonia is awesome. If you're not banging your head and tapping your feet to this song, I don't think you liked anything on this album. This is such a cool surf guitar/western movie-themed song. There's even some Daft Punk/Tron sounding stuff in there

It's albums like this that make me glad I'm going through this list. I liked Muse. I knew a few tracks on this album. Now, having heard the entire thing, I'm going to intentionally listen to these guys a lot more, and I'm going to look for shows of theirs I can attend. This album made me a Muse fan, rather than someone who had heard a few of their songs .

I know you shouldn't judge a book/album by its cover, but this one has always put me off - it's very 'yep, that's right, we're the new Pink Floyd'. As other reviews have stated, it's probably more Radiohead meets Queen, and while there are some decent tunes here, it's all a bit overblown for me.

Oh, hooray! This is like the Californication album cover but with some dudes sitting there. It doesn't scream "Muse". But the album is great. Peak college listening. Come to find out this too is considered "space rock"!? I mean, I guess several of the song titles suggest space, but who knew that was my secret favorite genre?
Although they don't shy away from an electric guitar, Matt Bellamy has both a unique voice and a 2000s-rock-countdown-coded voice. One thing I like about Muse is that their sound is very 'thick' -- no empty spaces at all. The orange juice of music. Also, the mashup 'Teardrop Madness' is one of my all-time favorites (although 'Madness' is not on this album).

Highlights: 'Starlight' (very good), 'Supermassive Black Hole' (ruined and revitalized by Twilight the Movie and college acapella, not necessarily in that order), 'Invincible' (cringey lyrics, but I appreciate the positivity, plus it reminds me of silly MCR)

Black Holes and Revelations is an epic yet exhausting listening experience, made for grand gestures. Muse's mix of rock with classical and electronic elements gives them a distinct sound, and on this album they fully embrace the bombast. The production is slick, theatrical, and takes itself very seriously—which suits the apocalyptic tone of the music and album, but at times also feels a bit over the top.

Tracks like “Map of the Problematique” and “Knights of Cydonia” are definite favourites—MotP reminds me a bit of Depeche Mode, while KoC is so excessive that it circles back around to being impressive.