Muse: The Resistance

The Resistance is a fitting title for Muse’s fifth album. The fact that the U.K. group still makes records seems to resist the law of nature that bad bands eventually die out.

Having failed to fulfill the prophecy that they would be the next Radiohead, Muse has turned to ripping off other orchestral modern rockers like Coldplay and the Killers. Even though moments of musical ingenuity peek through on a few songs, The Resistance offers no unifying theme. The schizophrenic, heavily punctuated song titles—take “United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)”—hint at the album’s disorganization.

The album features lead singer Matthew Bellamy’s melodramatic falsetto sidling lazily across a disjointed roster of songs. On “Undisclosed Desires,” Bellamy croons, “I’ll make you feel pure/trust me/you can be sure.” Such lyrics can’t even be appreciated ironically; Bellamy’s attempts to write rock star hooks only serve to reveal his insecurity as a songwriter.

The one ray of hope on The Resistance is the final three-song cycle, “Exogenesis: Symphony,” a tale of a rocky relationship. The orchestral backdrop is intriguing until the crescendo on “Part III (Redemption),” when an angsty Bellamy sings, “This time, we’ll get it right.” These final empty lyrics manage to rob the song of the surprising poignancy that it had created.

Sometimes, imitation bands like Muse survive in the modern marketplace (see Disco, Panic! at the). Unfortunately, Bellamy’s artistic vision is even less interesting than Chris Martin’s “hard edge” on Vida La Vida or Brandon Flowers’ Springsteen obsession on Sam’s Town. To be an interesting band, you have to be, well, interesting. On The Resistance, Muse just doesn’t have it in them.