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I’ve put off listening to this new Muse song, “United States of Eurasia” for a couple of reasons: one, I adore Muse. Really love ‘em. I love them so much that, I am scared of change. Change, I understand, is necessary in music — but nonetheless, I am scared. Two, there have been countless comparisons between Muse and Queen on “United States of Eurasia.” This is, as you know, both worrisome and exciting.
Normally, such comparisons are a great honor (no, actually, I’m sure Muse is thrilled; who doesn’t look up to Queen?), but at times, what should have been a subtle nod or tribute to a great band can easily become demanding and incongruous.
Listening to “United States of Eurasia,” I hear a front man who is worthy of being compared to the late, great Freddie Mercury. Being one of my personal heroes, I don’t say this often. In fact, I have only said this about two other persons, Killers front man, Brandon Flowers and American Idol finalist Adam Lambert (supposedly, Queen are thinking about having Lambert be their new leader singer… he’s got some pipes!). And Muse’s Matthew Bellamy seems like a better fit.
“Unites States of Eurasia/Collateral Damage,” as it is cited on the album, disappoints as a Muse track overall, despite living up to the Queen correspondence. Any Muse fan still listening to 2006’s beautiful Black Holes and Revelations, would expect more from the first taste of Muse’s followup fifth album, The Resistance.
Though what people fail to see is that “United States of Eurasia” is not The Resistance’s first single. That title belongs to, “Uprising,” which will be released on September 7th. Muse will premiere the single for the world to see on this year’s MTV VMA Awards. The band describes the single as “a heavy-rock take on Goldfrapp.” My mouth is already watering.
Here is The Resistance’s full track listing. It will be released on September 14th.
1. “Uprising” – 5:02
2. “Resistance” – 5:46
3. “Undisclosed Desires” – 3:56
4. “United States of Eurasia/Collateral Damage” – 5:47
5. “Guiding Light” – 4:13
6. “Unnatural Selection”
7. “MK Ultra”
8. “I Belong to You/Mon Cœur S’ouvre à ta Voix”
9. “Exogenesis: Symphony Part I (Overture)”
10. “Exogenesis: Symphony Part II (Cross Pollination)”
11. “Exogenesis: Symphony Part III (Redemption)”
photo credit goes to the amazing le hibOO.
Tags: Muse
For Christ’s sake, only certain parts out of the entire song sound like Queen (“There can be only one!”, a guitar riff and “EuraSIA-SIA-SIA-SIA”), the rest is pretty much a Muse song. Muse themselves said this was a deliberate homage to Queen, and did not intend it as serious song. In fact they said they laughed listening to their own song. Just like Queen laughed listening to We Are The Champions. They have their tongue in cheek just like Queen. They don’t take everything so seriously. And neither should you guys. Even if this isn’t Muse’s best album, it’s still more original and miles ahead of 90% of the stuff that’s out there. Fair enough that you don’t like the album, but don’t blame it on them “going mainstream” and “copying Queen”. Can you name any mainstream act that makes music that sounds like Muse? No, so how are they selling out? And as for them ripping off Queen, there is a difference between being influenced by something and blatantly ripping it off. Rappers sample music from existing songs, then add their own beats to it, nobody calls them “copycats”. Muse has ALWAYS been influenced by Queen, and that influence shows up on previous albums. Knights of Cydonia sounds much more Queen-like than Eurasia. Everyone was cool with that song, no? And bands have to evolve and change, you cannot expect them to grow as musicians and remain complacent doing so. The thing about change is that it always scares and divides people. At this point in Muse’s career, they do not have to bother changing and experimenting anymore. They could just rest on their laurels and start churning out carbon copies of their previous albums, like many bands do. But the fact that they don’t do that shows that they’re in this for the music, not for the money or fame. Besides, wasn’t A Night At The Opera totally different from anything Queen had ever done at that point? Weren’t their first three albums much heavier sounding? Did anyone complain then?
On another note, I like Brandon Flowers as a musician, and I like The Killers, they’re a very talented band. Brandon is a wonderful and unique vocalist, with a very distinct style that is sure to make him remembered in his own right. But I see no similarities with him or Freddie Mercury. The Killers’ music takes some of its cues from Queen as well, but Brandon and Freddie are totally different in sound and style. Except that I can say they both deliver a lot of emotion in whatever they happen to be singing. Maybe that’s where the comparisons are valid.
By the way, The Resistance is an album that you can only truly form an opinion after several listens. I listened to it the first, and wasn’t impressed at all, save for a couple of songs. So I gave it a few more listens. It’s a great album. It won’t top Absolution as the best Muse album in my opinion, but it’s still a great album in its own right, and I find it to be better than Black Holes & Revelations.
Technically yes Exogenesis should be a piano concerto. However, there is no convention detailing number of movements for any work, be it concerto or symphony.
Muse is an incredibly talented and refreshing band. I love the indulgence! Love it!
indulgent* you should be able to edit!
Overall, I love the album, although I think it is a bit self indulgant. It does have hints of the old days of Muse though, which is nice.
Oh, and not meaning to be a complete music snob, but shouldn’t a three-movement, piano led composition actually be a piano concerto, rather than a symphony, which if I am not mistaken usually is four movements?
it’s legit. but, i don’t think this album is as good as black holes. but that’s just me, and i have only listened to it once so far.
Only a machine wouldn’t enjoy the sweet voice of liberty and freedom. Muse, I thank you.
>>>> http://opsiss.mybrute.com <<<<
sick
I really like the song. From the beginning, we’re treated to a rich chord progression.. something that I usually miss in rock music or popular music altogether. The middle section has some great typical Muse-type moving bass material, and I love the sound of the strings with it all. Also, I like the dark feel of it all, which is tied together nicely with the Chopin. How could you not love Chopin? I think they did a fantastic job on this song! If you didn’t like it, give it a few more listens..
Yeah I agree – definitely some Queen going on there, but I’m not complaining
I’ve listened to it twice now and I reckon it’s starting to grow on me
As for Uprising – I’m waiting until it’s played on the Zane Lowe show on Radio 1 tonight at 7.30 to see how awesome it is
That song was a free release, so you can download it here: http://sharkeen.lt/2009/07/24/muse-kuria-xxi-a-klasika-%E2%80%9Eunited-states-of-eurasia%E2%80%9C-mp3
Definitely some kinda Queen-sque genre, pretty much amazing
I see a lot of negative reactions on the song here. I do love it, certainly as a whole. I really like the slow beginning and especially the second verse (with the bass, piano and strings). The only thing I really dislike is the shouting of “Eurasia” at the end of the song, but the subsequent progression into Chopin is again very nice, and fits also perfectly with the atmosphere of the song. It is actually a bit creepy, the sweet Nocturne of Chopin with the sound of playing children at the background, in contrast with the plains flying over. The title “Collateral Damage” explains how it ends with these kids… Nicely done, although the best part of the Nocturne (the ending) misses!
I am looking forward to the album and also how this song will be within the others!
Guys I think you all haven’t listened to this song enough . . . I got the same impression as all of you for first listen (just coz we expect so much). But after repeated listens, I’ve come to consider this song as an amazing one – sonically and musically absolutely beautiful.
Yup, i listened to it before work and didn’t like it. Came home and gave it another listen and thought it was great.
I actually love it. Its a narutal progression for the band. At the end of the day they come from classical backgrounds and Matt and Freddy have similar style voices so densely layered classical prog rock IS Muse’s natural song. Im loving the heavy classical style and the little bit of darkness creeping in. I think the album is going to be amazing.
Sorry Freddy Mercury is untouchable!!
Not a big fan of the song but i’m sure it’ll sound a lot better live. Also, I don’t get the hoopla around Black Holes and Revelations since I’ve always felt it was inferior to Origin of Symmetry and Absolution.
Yes, absolutely agree. Muse have become less edgy and more poppy. Don’t like United States of Eurasia and I don’t understand why they’ve gone down the Queen route. They had a sound all of their own and now just sound like copy-cats. Also I find the whole concept just pretentious.
I like Muse, and I liked Black Holes and Revelations, but that album seemed like every song was them trying to channel a different style more so than do anything different. It also seemed to flow between songs the same as the previous album (Falling Away with You and Soldier’s Song both appear in basically the same spot; followed by the Interlude/Invincible on both albums – which, granted, aren’t the same, but play similar roles in the album – followed by heavy songs Hysteria/Assassin).
The fact that they’re channeling Queen is cool, I guess, but sometimes it seems like they’re just trying to pull different artists together, rather than writing their own stuff.
I like it. I love the instrumentation and the fact that they really channeled Queen. With that being said however, this is definitely not what I expected from Muse I’m still looking forward to the album though and hope it will be just as good(if not better) than Black Holes.
I got faith in Muse, especially that Symphony. It’s supposed to be something like 12 min long and Bellamy has been working on it for a long time. Talk about wicked exciting!
first part sounds like rufus wainwright as well
i agree, Muse has definitely under delivered on this new song, hopefully Uprising and the rest of the album will be extraordinary and able to follow up the awe-inducing Black Holes And Revelations.