The Concordian

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Adding an even more adventurous yet also more pop approach, The Resistance certainly sounds like Muse, but it also seems like they have lost their direction. Their early material drew criticism for its Radioheadisms (unjustified, for the record), but they sounded like that was the music they wanted to make, for that was the type of music Muse are best at. Here, it simply sounds like they are progressing just for the sake of progressing, a musical flaunting that is Muse trying to break away from those early criticisms. Fans of Black Holes and Revelations should feel at home here, as they continue to churn out classically influenced progressive rock/pop. The charming thing about Muse is...was...their ability to make beautiful songs like “Blackout” or “Map of Your Head” and simultaneously make pseudo-metal rockers like “Citizen Erased” or “Stockholm Syndrome”. On The Resistance, they stick to the same formula the whole way through, and even when they try to rock out, the guitars are so processed it takes any edge off that was intended (see “Unnatural Selection”). Some of the pop experiments succeed though, as the gentle “Undisclosed Desires” gives off a very Timbaland-like vibe, and all for the better. Standout track “Guiding Light” is awash in an ocean of synths, and is the only example of the epic vibe that Muse used to be so good at.

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