Whether you view them as dynamic rock & roll rulers or overblown Radiohead knock-offs, it's hard to contend with Muse's strength as a live act. H.A.A.R.P. shows the band strutting its stuff in front of a sold-out audience at Wembley Stadium, with a set list that relies heavily on 2006's Black Holes and Revelations but still dips into the band's back catalog. The accompanying DVD gives a flashy, glitzy face to the music, and the refreshing lack of lightning-fast camera editing helps boost it above the band's previous CD/DVD combo, Hullabaloo Soundtrack. Still, the audio disc holds up quite well on its own, both for its crystal clear sound quality as well as the band's confident performance. Muse's intricate, electronics-laced material isn't the easiest thing to replicate in a live setting, but H.A.A.R.P. sounds as sharp as the band's studio albums, with Matthew Bellamy often adding different guitar flourishes…

With its titanic guitar solos, symphonic suites, and multi-layered melodies, Muse's fifth album operates under the assumption that bigger is better. This is the very definition of a super-sized album, an album that takes its cues from Queen, its lyrics from science fiction novels, and its delivery from rock opera. It's also the first time that Muse has truly sounded like Muse, as few bands since Queen have so readily explored the intersection of bombast and extravagance. The Resistance is most certainly extravagant - there are snatches of classical piano entwined throughout, not to mention bilingual lyrics, concert hall percussion, coronet solos, and song titles like "Exogenesis: Symphony, Pt. 2 (Cross-Pollination)" - but it's also quite beautiful, capable of moving between prog rock choruses and excerpts from Chopin's "Nocturne in E Flat Major" within the same song…

Throughout their career, it's always been clear that Muse aren't satisfied to just do the same thing over and over again, as they have evolved from their early days when they were (perhaps unfairly) pigeonholed as a Radiohead imitator into purveyors of some of the most epic symphonic rock since Queen graced the stage. On their sixth album, The 2nd Law, they continue to shake things up, diving deeper into the electronic rabbit hole as they experiment with a sound that's less reliant on Matthew Bellamy's guitar heroics, resulting in an album that's a bit of a mixed bag. Incorporating some of the slickest production the band has ever had with a more synth-heavy sound, the album certainly succeeds in feeling different from Muse's previous work…

Japanese edition with Bonus track.
Since forming in 1997, alternative rock trio Muse have ambitiously created a sound of their own, mixing elements of glam, pop, and symphonic music into a rock hybrid. While British fans have praised Muse for years, it wasn't until 2003's Absolution that Americans discovered the band and gave them their rightful props. Whether or not you championed the grand dramatics of Absolution, it was obvious that Muse are a solid and unique band, and Black Holes and Revelations, the follow-up, confirms those strengths with a passion. Rich Costey joins Muse in the co-production of this 11-song set; together, they create the band's most realized and meticulous album to date…

Japanese edition with bonus track.
Though some may still consider them Radiohead mimics, obviously Muse continues to strike a nerve with their alternative hard rock audience, here releasing their third album of heavy guitars, haunted harmonics, and paranoid musings in Absolution. Frontman Matt Bellamy and company stick to the same disturbed, and sometimes disturbing, formula that's worked in the past: the emotional intensity and style of Radiohead, a rock thunder descended from Black Sabbath, and the baroque drama of Queen. Longtime producer John Leckie sits this one out, and in steps indie über-engineer Rich Costey. With Costey manning the desk, the music feels more polished and slick, but less epic and raw. Longtime fans won't miss a beat though, because Bellamy delivers the same Thom Yorke vocal impersonation…

Muse, and Matt Bellamy in particular, make no bones about Drones: their seventh album is political through and through, a bold statement concerning the dehumanization of modern warfare. As Muse is not a subtle band - any suspicion they were is erased by the artwork depicting a hand controlling the joystick of an office drone controlling a joystick directing drones - it's hard to avoid their conclusion that war is bad, but this inclination to write everything in bold, italicized capital letters is an asset when it comes to music, particularly here where they've teamed with legendary hard rock producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange. Always a sucker for oversized guitar riffs and bigger drums, Lange also allows the trio to indulge in a bit of Floydian fantasies - the made-to-order dialogue of "Drill Sergeant" is straight out of The Wall - but he spends much of Drone sharpening Muse's synthesis of every arena rock idea ever essayed…

Whether they're fighting alien invaders, shadowy government conspiracies, or the Apocalypse, Muse always do it for love. On their eighth effort, Simulation Theory, they attempt to break through the virtual matrix in search of that human connection and freedom from the machine. The least complicated or overly conceptual offering (for Muse) in over a decade, the 11-song set is focused and cohesive, blaring down a neon-washed highway of pulsing synths and driving beats while swerving to avoid the orchestral and dubstep meandering of their preceding 2010s output. Unlike these same predecessors, there's also no filler or wasted time, making it the most compulsively listenable and immediate Muse album since 2006's Black Holes & Revelations…

This compilation of 39 tracks, rather arrogantly titled The Album, offers a good mix of current guitar-based pop, rock and indie with the bonus of Fatboy Slim's housey "Star 69" and Roni Size's "Dirty Beats" tacked on the end. This is the sort of album you could expect to hear down the student union bar with a range of songs to cover all bases for even the most fussy of compilation critics. CD2 holds the indie-rock lighter in the air with Coldplay's "Trouble" and David Gray's "Late Night Radio" sandwiched between tracks by likely lads Supergrass ("Movin'") and Blur ("Coffee & TV"). Less obvious inclusions are alt.country masters Grandaddy ("The Crystal Lake") and gentle folkies the Kings of Convenience ("Toxic Girl"). CD1 is the less easy-listening of the two with some rock guitar riffing from the Manics ("You Stole The Sun…"), JJ72 ("Oxygen") and perfectly hip Placebo's "Taste In Men". If you're not into dance and the latest compilation from clubland isn't your cup of tea, then this could well be The Album before a good night out.

With its titanic guitar solos, symphonic suites, and multi-layered melodies, Muse's fifth album operates under the assumption that bigger is better. This is the very definition of a super-sized album, an album that takes its cues from Queen, its lyrics from science fiction novels, and its delivery from rock opera. It's also the first time that Muse has truly sounded like Muse, as few bands since Queen have so readily explored the intersection of bombast and extravagance. The Resistance is most certainly extravagant – there are snatches of classical piano entwined throughout, not to mention bilingual lyrics, concert hall percussion, coronet solos, and song titles like "Exogenesis: Symphony, Pt. 2 (Cross-Pollination)" – but it's also quite beautiful, capable of moving between prog rock choruses and excerpts from Chopin's "Nocturne in E Flat Major" within the same song.

Grammy Award winning band Muse release their long-awaited ninth studio album Will Of The People via Warner Records. Of the album, Muse frontman Matt Bellamy says, “Will Of The People was created in Los Angeles and London and is influenced by the increasing uncertainty and instability in the world. A pandemic, new wars in Europe, massive protests and riots, an attempted insurrection, Western democracy wavering, rising authoritarianism, wildfires and natural disasters and the destabilization of the global order all informed Will Of The People. It has been a worrying and scary time for all of us as the Western empire and the natural world, which have cradled us for so long are genuinely threatened. This album is a personal navigation through those fears and preparation for what comes next.”

Beautiful box set with remastered Showbiz and Origin of Symmetry plus an abundance of rarities spread out over 4 vinyl LPs and 9 CDs. The CD's are all tucked away in an extensive hardcover book chronicling the early days of Muse. Listen to the music while exploring the book. Great concept. A must for any Muse fan.