Forgive my nonsense – I can never get to sleep before midnight, and this is the result…

I haven’t forgotten my blog already. I’ve been meaning to update for a while, but slaving away at my 9-5′er doesn’t afford much time for blogging – ideas often slip away before I can do anything with them, sadly. I want to have some kind of meaning or point [for myself] when I post. Nonetheless, I have a few posts stored away and ideas I wish to bring to fruition, while in the meantime I start evaluating art colleges in Sydney. By the time choosing rolls around, I’ll have hopefully had a decent amount of practice and built a decent portfolio. I hope.

Like most of us living in an advantageous environment, where we have so many open doors and opportunities handed to us, I procrastinate a lot. I can’t count how many times I let slip a lucky stroke of inspiration. I think I often cause myself angst when this is the case, because I think, how many people would love to be in my position – how many would not sneeze at the chance to freely pursue a decent education or career choice? I think we immediately take for granted the great systems our countries can fortunately afford us, where so many in the world lack even a small fraction of what we have. I’m not saying we automatically have it easy, just because we have choices and can develop those choices at our leisure, but I think it’s constructive and motivating contemplate such things. We can only hold ourselves responsible for our actions, I think.

You can probably count on one hand who you think is accountable for your life, your important decisions and what have you, but when it comes down to it, whose hands is your future really in?

“ As a foreword: reviewing a Muse album is no easy feat. I had to make many revisions to this post until I was satisfied that I could express my thoughts adequately, but even still, words can’t describe Muse sometimes. Take my review with a grain of salt, and understand it’s merely my personal opinion – I strongly recommend that you listen to the album yourself, and treat the review as more of a ‘guide’ to The Resistance and what to look for if you’re more of a novice fan.”

01. Uprising – the album opens excitingly on with a gloriously glam/rock-inspired song of revolution. If there’s one lyricist that knows how to write a song with a politically-charged message, without making it sound too preachy, it’s Matt Bellamy. Any Muse fan would know it’s a now recurring theme in a lot of Muse lyrics, but it doesn’t feel stale and it sounds poppy with a fun, pop-infused edge. 8/10

02. Resistance – after the fun experimentation of the first track, this one is typically Muse – as if to reassure listeners the band isn’t taking an entirely new direction. It’s safe, it’s quite beautiful, but it’s mostly safe and forgettable when stood up against other tracks. It’s one of the few tracks on The Resistance that I get a Queen vibe from. 7/10

03. Undisclosed Desires – this is actually my favourite song on the record, strangely enough. It’s sexy and I feel closer to God when I listen to it. Ha. Blasphemous liars have said before that Matthew has limited vocal range, but I think throughout “Undisclosed Desires,” whether as the result of editing or not, his vocal range is shown quite extensively in a subtle way. There aren’t any particularly high notes or anything, but I think it’s rather conceptual for Muse, and the verses/choruses are alternative from each-other. I love love love this song. The lyrics, the strings, everything. 10/10

04. United States Of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage) – the only bad thing about this song is the tagging. The album says one thing, Wikipedia says another, the album cover another. I’m going with what the album cover says. In any case, it’s an epic track. It’s a song worthy of leading an army into battle. Once again, the Queen influence is quite obvious here, but everyone has been saying that since the song ‘leaked’ some time back – it doesn’t infringe on their sound or compromise anything. It’s quirky, beautiful and finishes perfectly with a piano solo. 9/10

05. Guiding Light – not gonna lie, I’m not a big fan of this song. It’s boring, sounds a bit cheaply produced (which should never be a defining quality of any Muse song, ever). It’s not terrible, but it’s not that great. 4/10

06. Unnatural Selection – THAT DAMN CHURCH ORGAN. It’s been done, repeatedly, and Coldplay copied and did it, too. Now a lot of rock music has church organ inclusion, and I’m impressed. However, I like this song. It’s edgy, and it’s sweeping in some parts, dreary in others. It deflates a little in the second half, but I really do like it. Dare I say some parts [namely in the beginning] remind me of “New Born” and “Supermassive Black Hole”? Well I just did say it, even if it’s rubbish! 6/10

07. MK Ultra – great: vocals, riff, lyrics – check. There are a lot of different elements that come together quite uniquely in this song. It’s a nice balance of industrial electronica rock. It’s anthemic, eclectic and energetic. I can’t fault it, so moving on… 10/10

08. I Belong To You (+Mon Cœur S’ouvre À Ta Voix) – I have mixed feelings. It’s cute, but it’s also kind of cheesy; the tinkling sounds and wedding reception sound at the end of the song are distracting, not to mention Matt’s French sucks. I don’t know if it’s horrible because of the way he is vocalising it, or because he is generally not good at speaking/singing French. A low point o the album for me. 6/10

09. Exogenesis: Symphony Part 1 (Overture) – I love the entire concept of the mini symphony to close the album. Part 1 is a perfect build-up. It flows magically and I would imagine the beginning would be the most difficult section. You can’t be too ostentatious – if it were too extravagant, the rest would be a let down or decline. Oddly, and I feel quite nerdy saying so, it reminds me of a Final Fantasy soundtrack. 9/10

10. Exogenesis: Symphony Part 2 (Cross-Pollination) – this continues the flow and then has a bit of an upsurge two minutes in, at which point the track as a collective starts to feel authentic and appreciative of the construction of the symphony. 8/10

11. Exogenesis: Symphony Part 3 (Redemption) – *cries* it’s beautiful. This is my favourite part. I think I’ve been rather unhelpful describing “Exogenesis,” but it’s hard to be secular. It is quite concisely divided, but once you listen to the three parts consecutively it all blends in your mind seamlessly. Nonetheless, I think the three parts (and the album overall, for that matter) end on definite high note. It’s sad and Matthew’s voice is breathtaking. As a whole, it’s executed well, though it’s not the kind of thing you could listen to over and over. 10/10

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Overall, the album is solid. It’s a Muse album to the core, yet not at all predictable. When you think you can define their sound well, they do something new and that’s admirable to the nth degree. There are occasions where you can’t help draw comparisons, but it’s not with an overwhelming sense that it happens. On that note, however, I have to note that I am less impressed with this album than their previous two. I don’t think it is as good as either Black Holes & Revelations or Absolution. A lot of it blends, and with only a twinge of disappointment that you realise that as trend-defiant as Muse are, there is some retreading here which isn’t sloppy, but seems more incidental, rather than a reference or tribute to previous work.

When casually exploring the album, I would say that there is too much boring piano. I love piano, and appreciate it deeply, but at times it’s enough to force a skip to the next track. I think for the best (and likely desired effect), the album has to be listened to consecutively.  The three-part symphony might be the only intentional collective, but the progression of the album feels a lot better when the ‘weaker’ tracks play among the others seamlessly, and don’t feel as much ‘filler’ as they do alone.

Finally, it’s perhaps with monumental expectation that I had hoped this album would top its predecessor. It will be one hell of a record to see live, with altered arrangement and the general energy of a Muse concert that is intoxicating. The more I listen, the more I try to be objective, so with the possibility of being subjective to change, I rate the album:

7/10

I thought I should start this blog with something over the top, like a giant expectation: I’ve set myself a fairly substantial life goal. I’m going to commit no more than five years to graphics design/media arts as a career. That is to say, if I don’t have a job in the field by the time five years have expired, I’ll give up and become an art teacher or something completely monotonous like that. Right there is my first motivation: I can’t really stand children. So roughly, I have about three years to start complete a degree (the standard period is around two years in any of the places actually worth going) and another two to find employment. Sounds reasonable to me.

I find it quite amusing (and very depressing) that in the face of lack of accomplishment, our once expansive, endlessly hopeful dreams and plans for the future are somewhat diminished when reality slaps you around a bit. Watching the years tick by as you do nothing with your life is quite frustrating and sad, but what’s more is when it gets to the point when you find yourself willing to settle for so much more in your professional life. Everybody wants to be rich and highly successful, but I only want a couple of simple things:

1. To own a nice house, which is designed and furnished entirely to my own desires.
2. A car that I love and totally compliments my personality – not just any old bomb.

OK, I just described probably everyone’s minimal desires, whether they earn thousands or millions. To afford those two things is by no means simple for the average Joe, but I think it’s realistic. So if I can be decently affluent on an artist’s salary, I will be content.