Muse

Some bands are born to write anthems — songs that are hell-bent on moving mountains. Case in point: Muse, a force of nature that's transcended a "Next Radiohead" tag to become one of the world's truly triumphant live acts. Their albums are lightning-in-a-bottle listens, too, from the buzz-saw riffs and heavyweight beats of "Supermassive Black Hole" to the ear-tickling synths of "Hysteria." And "Time Is Running Out"? Why, we hum that song's sky-scraping chorus in our sleep . . . Not every night, mind you. That'd be exhausting. Kinda like trying to keep up with all the blinding time changes and seared guitar solos in our Next Steps.

If you ask your average metalhead to name their favorite rock bands, Muse will probably come up at some point. That's because their songs are the sonic equivalent of staring at the sun for too long, or riding the world's tallest roller coaster . . . upside down . . . without a seat belt. They're pretty, well, metal, in other words, whether we're talking about the whiplash-inducing lead guitar of "Stockholm Syndrome," the sudden, rip-roaring riffs in "New Born," a firebombed Smiths cover ("Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want"), or a live version of "In Your World," complete with Slayer-caliber shredding. All of which go down smoothly . . . and which further explains why this is one band we can all agree on.

If any band's capable of upstaging U2 at their own concert, it's Muse. Maybe that's why they made for such a perfect three-week pairing in 2009, as England's most electrifying power trio filled football stadiums with their most theatrical tracks yet. Not just the soaring melodies of "Uprising" or the delirious Queen nods of "United States of Eurasia/Collateral Damage," a rock-opera rave-up that also takes a crack at Chopin. Muse have always been over-the-top in all the right ways, from as far back as their 1999 debut, Showbiz, a disc that deserved its Radiohead comparisons. Not as a second-rate knock-off; as a band that's determined to reinvent itself with every record, obliterating our preconceptions at every turn with bits of electronica, prog-rock, heavy metal and classical. Overwhelming? Absolutely. And you're gonna love every minute of it.