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Showbiz

Muse

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Album Review

The musical touchstone for the British trio Muse is obviously Radiohead and that fact is crystal clear from the smoldering opening cut, "Sunburn." Their John Leckie-produced debut, Showbiz, is strong on angst-filled vocals, esoteric lyrics, and dramatic shifts in sonic dynamics. Hailing from rural England, singer/guitarist Matthew Bellamy, bassist Chris Wolstenholme, and drummer Dominic Howard average 20 years of age, so there's plenty of potential for them to grow into a sound that is more of their own. In the meantime, Bellamy does an impressive job of aping the quirky, nervous vocal tic of Thom Yorke on songs like the mid-tempo, Mellotron-driven "Muscle Museum," and he cuts loose vocally on the soaring "Cave" and on the lovely, mournful ballad "Unintended." Showbiz hints at the potential in this young band, and it should be of interest to many Radiohead fans.

Customer Reviews

AMAZING

It's so weird to listen to this album after being mainly familiar with BHAR and TR, and to see how great Muse were even back then. Songs like Muscle Museum and Fillip are extremely catchy and the song Showbiz is amazing. The songs are raw, real and angsty. Even back then Muse were striving for perfection.

Real Angsty Stuff

Who would have thought a band could be so angry without screaming into the microphone. I think Muse are terrific, because everyone needs a band that don't sing about stupid love stories or stuff like that. Everyone needs a band who sing about nothing at all, like in Muscle Museum [does any one know what that song is about? I am kinda confuzzled about what it is about], then about being angry, like in Showbiz. Then there is one of my recent favourites, Spiral Static. It's great, but you can't really make out any of the words have the time. Everyone needs Muse.

My favourite Muse album

Why? Well I’ll give you three reasons.

1. It’s consistent: Where their other efforts fall a bit flat in places, this one is strong from start to finish. There’s 6 songs in particular that are absolute killer (namely “Sunburn”, “Muscle Museum”, “Cave”, “Showbiz”, “Unintended” and “Uno”) but the rest isn’t far behind.

2. It feels genuine: In later albums the band gets into the whole theatrical stadium rock-opera thing a bit too much. It helps make some interesting/awesome songs, but it can come across as a bit contrived, as if the band is more about concept than real emotion. This is as close to genuine as Muse get.

3. Matt’s voice: There’s plenty of people who hate Matt’s voice and the way he uses it, finding it too whiny or exaggerated. That’s fair enough, but personally I think it’s incredible, and it’s the over the top elements that make it so special to me. So naturally, Showbiz, with all Matt’s gulps of air, and unrefined wailing gets the tick of approval. It’s something that I feel he has slowly toned down since.

The only thing I’ll readily admit stands in the way of the album is that the damning Radiohead comparisons were most valid at this point. Not that being compared to Radiohead is all that bad, but you’ll get the idea if you look up a few reviews of Showbiz. In the critics’ eyes they were simply a cheap rip-off (one writer even labelled the album as The Bends II: Even Bendier). I’ve never quite understood it, as I think there’s a lot of difference between the two, but I can at least kind of see where they’re coming from with this album. Since then however, I feel that Muse have really broken away from the older band’s shadow – taking a much heavier and louder musical route.

It’s commendable … but I still like the old stuff better than the new stuff.

Biography

Formed: 1997 in Teignmouth, Devon, England

Genre: Alternative

Years Active: '90s, '00s, '10s

Muse's fusion of progressive rock, glam, electronica, and Radiohead-influenced experimentation is crafted by guitarist/vocalist Matthew Bellamy, bassist Chris Wolstenholme, and drummer Dominic Howard. Bored by the sleepy life provided by their hometown of Teignmouth, Devon, the three British friends began playing music together. They started the first incarnation of their band while only 13 years old, changing the name of the group from Gothic Plague to Fixed Penalty to Rocket Baby Dolls as time...
Full Bio

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