Some bands find a niche they are good at and just to earn more money, they keep doing that same thing over and over again until they run into obscurity. Muse is nothing like those bands. After listening to their newest album, I now understand why being dynamic could be a musician’s biggest friend or enemy. In the case of Muse’s new album, being dynamic is their best friend. The album took everything I loved about Muse (the Queen-esque power stadium rock, the soul-driven guitar solos, Dominic’s and Chris’s basic yet moving beats and rhythms, and Matthew Bellamy’s haunting lyrics and guitar) and added a new flair to it that made me realize why I listened to them in the first place. The album starts off with a bang. “Supremacy” sounds like what would happen if you took Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” and changed it to be a James Bond theme song. With haunting melodies and dark chords, this incipient portion of this album takes you to a dark place deep in the recesses of your mind full of chaos yearning to be free. The second song “Madness” feels like a funk jam, with deeper lyrics and deeper bass. It’s like a techno song with soul. When the guitar eventually comes in, it feels just right, as if it had been there the whole time. Once the distorted guitar comes in for the simple yet incredible solo, you can just tell that Matt Bellamy took extra special care in orchestrating this. With particular notes lasting just long enough to leave you wanting more. This song feels like an epic multi-person band’s attempt and success at a powerful song with a message, but instead it is only three supreme musicians. When “Panic Station” first came on, I thought Chris Bellamy had completely
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