ORIGIN OF SYMMETRY-Muse

Origin of Symmetry-
Muse
Label-Mushroom
Status-Out as of 2001
Rating-5 Feathers

After releasing Showbiz, and getting to know what it’s like to record as a band, Muse have comeback with a space inspired and very heavy sound. Origin of Symmetry is showcases there developed sound in ways you would have never dreamed. Within the first minute, ‘New Born’ severely belittles Showbiz. The dreamlike piano and vocals capture your ears immediately, and then the shear power exerted about a minute in is beyond words. The caliber of their musicianship is absolutely brilliant. However, I do find hearing the phrase ‘stretch it like a birth squeeze’ in a song a little disturbing. ‘Bliss’ is the only song that sounds heavily 90’s on the album, but in my mind that doesn’t take away from it. The keyboard arrangement fits in perfectly and the vocals reached a level they failed to reach on their debut. ‘Space Dementia’ is a little quirky, but thanks to the bass and the drums, it has a huge amount of power, regardless of the fact that there is no guitar. ‘Hyper Music’ is the perfect song to follow up ‘Space Dementia’. All of them unmistakably get heavily into their parts, which is very clearly transmitted to the listener. It’s non-stop power the whole way through. ‘Plug in Baby’ is pure joy and magic. The opening guitar lick is the epitome of perfection. The way everything goes just leaves you speechless. From beginning to end, it’s just absolutely brilliant. Words can’t ever hope to describe it. ‘Citizen Erased’ is another absolutely astounding song. The opening sucks you right in, and then the vocals bind in perfectly. When they redo the beginning bit, except they make it all dreamlike, it’s a genius effect. After hearing two songs that leave you completely dumbstruck, ‘Microcuts’ comes in. It’s a tad calmer than the last two, and because he uses severe filtered falsetto, you have no idea at all what he’s saying. To sum it up, it sounds like a modern space-rock opera. ‘Screenager’, though my least favorite song on the album, is still a good song. It has a dark mystical sci-fi feel, which I must say is growing on me. ‘Darkshines’ is very similar to ‘Space Dementia’ in that the drums and bass make up for the lot of the power. The messy piano right before the chorus kicks in is a very nice effect. It definitely fits in with the quality of the album and surely won’t bring you down. ‘Feeling Good’ is the perfect example of a band giving a song their own flair without destroying the integrity of the original song. It’s the softest song on the album, which isn’t saying much because it’s still pretty heavy. Matt Bellamy’s voice through a megaphone is a very nice effect. ‘Megalomania’ is a very nice ending, filled with grandiosity and just a touch of quiet to calm you down from the experience. The combination of bass and organ give it just enough creepy space-sounding feel so you don’t lose your interest. Not many albums come my way that I listen to and don’t want them to end when they cease; this was one of them. Origin of Symmetry is the perfect showcase of not losing power when the guitar is not the lead instrument and I applaud them for that. I thoroughly promise that everything about this album is so easy to love and will leave you feeling good.

"I've never been into doing guitar solos. There's something very uncool about them."-Matt Bellamy

Video for Bliss

Recommendations: New Born, Bliss, Space Dementia, Citizen Erased, Plug in Baby
Muse's Official Website
Notes: I hope you enjoy this album, it's overtly fantastic and it gives me chills. I'm very sorry for not posting nearly as much as I should, I have craploads of other things I need to do. I will have Merriweather Post Pavillion by Animal Collective and Midnight Boom by The Kills out within the next week or so. In recent time I've been keeping my promises!