Uprising

Mac: I don’t know if we could say anything about it that hasn’t been already said. Probably most discussed track. It’s cool and poppy. A lot of people can chant it and feel good. It has nice synth-bass goin’ on.
Steve: It’s a good choice for a single. There are some backing vocals during the guitar wail sometimes that sounds like “so come on” that I didn’t really like.
Mac: I was surprised that he could sing it the way it was on the album. When I watched it on the VMAs it was exactly the same. Pretty simple song.
Austin: I believe that the entire intro was very catchy. Dr. Who synths, thumping bass, good ryththm. It sounds like it’ll be a good song for live performances. I think every song on here would be. Muse just does them so well

Resistance

Austin: The only thing that bothered me about the song was the pre-chorus. I eventually came to like it, though.
Mac: “Resistance” kinda feels like the real beginning of the album, with “Uprising” only fitting lyrically, as you put it. Resistance feels like the beginning of a Muse album. I really liked the piano riff.
Steve: I really liked the drumming at the beginning. The catchy element of the drums leaves for most of the song, though.
Austin: If they kept the song at the same tempo as the verses. This would be my absolute favorite. The pre-chorus is just a bit too much of a leap
Mac: How’s that go? “It could be wrong, could be wrong”?
Austin: yea
Mac: Oh, I always hate when bands do stuff like that. I would have been much more satisfied if that was completely removed and there was just more emptiness. Also, there’s a backing vocal atmospheric track during that pre-chorus I don’t like so much either.

Undisclosed Desires

Steve: I’m finding myself liking this more and more with every listen. The lyrics feel a bit corny at times, though.
Austin: It’s the anti-muse song. Chris playing slap, Dom using a drum machine, and Matt NOT playing an instrument. The song is a bit too “R’n'B” for my tastes but it’s a good change of pace.
Mac: When it started, I was thinking “holy shit, it’s R’n'B”.
Steve: I wonder if they change this song up a lot when they play it live, or if they even intend to play it live at all.
Austin: I think Matt plays a keytar for this live.

United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)

Austin: Queen, Highlander, Lawrence of Arabia.
Mac: I love the intro. The piano on this track is my favorite on the album
Steve: I’m stuck between this one and “Guiding Light” as my favorite from this album.
Austin: The “sia”s took a bit of getting used to.
Mac: I really liked the Arabic influence on the piano and drums in the lead up to the midsection, and then again. Whatever that’s called… Interchorus?
Steve: Oh, yeah, those high notes were a bit goofy at first. It was one of those things done for musical purproses, rather than bringing out a certain part in the vocals.
Austin: Yeah… They just sounded a bit alien at first. All of the background noise in the piano solo was a nice touch.
Mac: Yes, expertly done.
Steve: Yeah, the flyover was a nice way to end it.
Austin: And a nice transition.

Guiding Light

Austin: I think Dom’s drumming on “Guiding Light” was very good.
Mac: The guitar solo in “Guiding Light” was probably the best on the album. Sounded like it was out of an 80s arena rock song.
Austin: But it was one of like, what, 3? The solo sounded very reminiscent of a Queen solo.
Mac: Ah, quite so.
Steve: There were a lot of elements in this album that seemed Queen-inspired.
Austin: I think I saw somewhere where someone had called this song the “Invincible” of The Resistance, and alot of things were 1984 inspired, too.
Mac: I enjoy this song because it gives me some kind of color. This song is very gold.
Austin: it’s one of those songs where you feel good after hearing it.

Unnatural Selection

Austin: Best live performance potential.
Steve: I think it had the weakest lyrics on the album. Musically fantastic song, but the lyrics weren’t as complicated or descriptive as the other songs.
Austin: I think that this song will end up being a massive fan favorite.
Mac: “Unnatural Selection” is going to be great if they put out a second HAARP. All these songs are.

MK Ultra

Steve: Another great Muse song intro. The guitar tone is great.
Austin: The lyrics are almost like calling out an oppressive leader.
Steve: The “They’re breaking through” section of the song seemed to be dragged out too far. It would have worked had they written more than just “They’re breaking through” for that part.
Austin: The fast part after that seemed a bit thrown in, too. This song seems more like an “Assassin” sequel than anything.
Mac: What? “MK Ultra”? I don’t get that at all.
Austin: I mean in terms of riffs and stuff like that.
Mac: “Assassin” was really hard and in your face. I don’t get that at all from “MK Ultra”. Even the parts that are supposed to be like that.
Steve: Yeah, I don’t see how it sounds like “Assassin”, either…
Austin: Maybe it’s just me then.

I Belong To You (+Mon Cœur S’ouvre à ta Voix)

Mac: “I Belong to You” DOES sound like a past song though, and it’s probably on there for the same reason. Well, maybe it doesn’t so much, but “Feeling Good” was put on the album for his girlfriend. Special version, yo, and dedicated.
Austin: “I Belong To You” was the weakest in my opinion
Mac: I thought it was about equal. It’s just a different style.
Austin: His French wasn’t bad though. I actually wish they’d put in “Glorious” instead of this. It would fit in a lot more.
Steve: It was an interesting addition, but it made it feel even more like a collection of songs, rather than an album.
Mac: Yep, yet another one. First we go from a pop synth-based and a song with an awesome audience chant to “Resistance”, and then we got the R’n'B thing going on. Then romantic piano, and some Queen thing. And there’s “I Belong to You”, then the awesome symphony.

Exogenesis (as a whole)

Austin: fantastic. not nearly the same effect when you listen to them out of order though
Steve: Yeah, and they could have been made one track to avoid that. It’s odd how they put two sets of songs together and then split up this one.
Mac: I thought it was pretty good, but only the first song blows my mind continually.
Austin: Matt’s vocals are almost a callback to “Microcuts” on that part.
Mac: Yeah, I love “Microcuts”. I’d quite enjoy the song if much more of the lyrics were not really words, but I listen to Sigur Rós all day.
Austin: At least this track leads to a similar end to the album. It’s epic.
Steve: I can see them playing these live with songs in between the parts as a medley. I’d love to hear that.
Mac: I’d like to see a lot of improvising too.
Austin: This whole track will be mind-blowing at stadiums.
Steve: Bellamy is a great improviser, I doubt he’d pass up the opportunity.

Final thoughts on the album as a whole:

Mac:  Technically, it’s quite good, but I don’t really “feel” any of it… Except that one song, like I said.
Austin: Just a very strange order to the tracks.
Steve: How do think this album as a whole stacks up to their previous releases?
Mac: Horrible, but you know I already said that.
Austin: It sounds good. It has elements from all the other albums and combines them.
Mac: Only thing worse were all the Muse demos that never got on any albums. I wanted more of “Space Dementia” and “Hoodoo”.
Steve: I think Black Holes blows this album away any day, but it’s a decent release.
Mac: Definitely.
Austin: You have to remember, this was their first venture into self-producing.
Mac: I don’t think that has anything to do with at all.
Austin: Of course it’ll have it’s hiccups.
Mac: Do you think the production itself had faults? It was probably the best I’ve seen from them.
Austin: It’s just that they didn’t have a professional producer. It lets them put exactly what they want without someone mucking it up. But no, I don’t think the production was bad at all. It was good for being self-produced.
Steve: When there’s a professional producer in the studio, there’s always someone around to give a second opinion, I assume. A producer may have suggested more piano on a track, or a longer intro/outtro. The band only has so many critics before the album is finalized and released.
Austin: I’m just sad there won’t be any B-sides for this album. Those tend to be some their better tracks.
Steve: B-sides would have been nice, yes.
Austin: Matt straight up said something along the lines of “We only recorded what’s on the album. nothing else.”
Steve: Hopefully they’ll have a small recording session for an EP in the near future.
Austin: I doubt that. they usually wait about a year and a half to get back in the studio.
Mac: This album may have sold moderately well on the Muse name, but it was a flop.

The Hands of Caravaggio is a dark and surreal Alice-in-Wonderland soundscape where the only sound you think you recognize is the piano, and even that, you have surely never heard played in such way.

The album is the product of a collaboration between M.I.M.E.O., the “Music In Movement Electronic Orchestra”, and John Tilbury. This album consists of a one-take performance in what sounds to be a large music hall. The twelve members of M.I.M.E.O. were situated with their instruments around the piano in a Last Supper formation, as an echo to some of the art that inspired this performance. The thirteenth member, Cor Fuhler, is credited as playing “inside piano,” or manipulating the acoustics of Tilbury’s piano in real-time, by damping, plucking, striking, and desounding the piano strings directly.

This is definitely an avant-guarde album. It is abstractionist. There is no narrative. You will not find yourself anticipating what the next note will be, if you can even call anything on this album a note. The most striking and surprising thing about this album is how good it actually sounds. The sounds mix and resonate seemingly against what could actually be possible, given the selection of sounds. There is the barely discernible human mumbling, the overlapping sine waves, the abrasive string scraping. There is the sound of white noise, a large piece of sheet metal being wiggled, and one sound which I can only imagine as the sound of a thousand-eyed worm monster screaming from underground depths… and then there is the ubiquitous jazzy-sounding piano play. It is a meeting of the acoustic and the electric. They do not seamlessly blend together, but they rather complement and strongly contrast each other. Although it is clear much thought has been given into what some of the electronic parts would sound like, the piano part consists of only spur-of-the-moment decisions. John Tilbury’s hammer strikes give the concerto an overwhelmingly human sound that cuts through all of the bleeps and drones and “noise” of the electronic orchestra.

Caravaggio, 1571-1610

For someone who’s ears are custom to mainstream or classic rock, pop, hip hop, or any instruments deemed “traditional,” or “common,” this album will be a change of scenery. Scratch that, it’s more like traveling to another dimension. But this dimension will captivate and surprise you, and it will calm you and scare you. When the album is over, you may just ask yourself if you really just did that.

If you’re wondering where the album title came from, yes, it means something. Caravaggio is (early photographic technology has brought us the image to your right) was a 16th century Italian painter whose dramatic pre-Baroque art is said to have inspired this album into existence.

“Truth” might be best appreciated as a soundtrack to some imagined film. The hero has finally embarked on the journey that his life has lead up to… well, until the six minute mark when Rudess’s acoustic piano solo shifts the song from Michael Bay to Blues Clues. But don’t worry. At the eight minute mark Petrucci effortlessly shifts from acoustic to electric and throws us hard back into some tragic Greek myth with an absolutely heroic solo.

“State of Grace” is a stunningly tender and romantic song that could squeeze the tears out a Clint Eastwood character. Petrucci supplies the soaring highs, while Rudess gives depth and movement with rich, low octaves and accompanying chords in the right hand. It’s my favorite song on the album.

The album goes on through Brazilian bossa nova-style piano on “Hang 11″, Indonesian gamelan on “From Within”, and “The Rena Song”, dedicated to Petrucci’s wife, Rena Sands Petrucci. The song is explicitly credited to only Petrucci, but the piano part is so well-interwoven I have difficultly imagining the possibility that it was not part of the original composition process. 

Pop this in the CD player, take a bath, do your homework, sleep to it. It’s great music just to have on in the background. This album is one you can keep coming back to— you’ll find that the rhythms and melodies are so complex or quickly changing that you will not be able to memorize or hum along to any of the songs.

If you like short, economical tracks with a definite beat, a raging chorus, and consistent single emotion for the length of the song, you may not appreciate this type of recording. But if you want to get away from “mainstream rock,” and can’t quite handle music that sounds like it just came out of a Blendtech blender, then you will certainly appreciate the one-take musical tapestries that these bona fide virtuosos have offered.