Absolution
by Muse
User Score
8.8

Universal acclaim- based on 415 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 380 out of 415
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 415
  3. Negative: 21 out of 415

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  1. TimR
    Aug 16, 2004
    10
    I've been craving music like this to come out on the scene. I don't know and don't care if they borrow from Radiohead. It' moving, dramatic, over-the-top rock music. What's better than that? I haven't seen any Queen comparisons, but I do hear a similarity (especially "Butterflies and Hurricanes"). All in all a contagious album that has not been out of my car I've been craving music like this to come out on the scene. I don't know and don't care if they borrow from Radiohead. It' moving, dramatic, over-the-top rock music. What's better than that? I haven't seen any Queen comparisons, but I do hear a similarity (especially "Butterflies and Hurricanes"). All in all a contagious album that has not been out of my car since we bought it. Enjoy!… Expand
  2. TonyP
    Jul 21, 2004
    10
    Muse just Get better and better
  3. ChrisK
    Jul 17, 2004
    9
    1. Intro - Blends perfectly into the album's true first track, Apocalypse Please. The moody sound sets the stage perfectly for what's to come. 7/10 2. Apocalypse Please - Moody, dark, brooding, contemplative. It's slower paced than Muse from previous albums but the sound is original and intriguing. 8/10 3. Time Is Running Out - This is Muse?s current radio hit in the US. 1. Intro - Blends perfectly into the album's true first track, Apocalypse Please. The moody sound sets the stage perfectly for what's to come. 7/10 2. Apocalypse Please - Moody, dark, brooding, contemplative. It's slower paced than Muse from previous albums but the sound is original and intriguing. 8/10 3. Time Is Running Out - This is Muse?s current radio hit in the US. It?s different than anything else on the album and sounds perhaps the most produced. Aside from this it?s still a great song and explores a new direction for Muse. 8/10 4. Sing for Absolution ? This song catches you from the first listen. It has a similar sound to Apocalypse Please but possesses a more dreamy quality and more of a pop sound. 7/10 5. Stockholm Syndrome ? Frantic guitar riffs that echo back to previous albums. It has a rolling chorus and is overabundant with raw energy. 8/10 6. Falling Away With You ? It starts as soothing break from Stockholm Syndrome and picks up into a rising ensemble of a chorus that is simply unforgettable. The slow parts are reminiscent of Falling Down from the first Album but the pickup is Muse at its best on this Album. 9/0 7. Interlude ? Just a musical bridge into the next song, Hysteria. It sounds a lot like that Muse does between Space Dementia, Hypermusic, and Plug in Baby on the previous album except longer and mellower. 7/10 8. Hysteria ? Pure rock energy and a similar sound to Stockholm Syndrome. Great rock song. 8/10 9. Blackout - A very slow and contemplative song that has a sound that falls somewhere in between Sing for Absolution and Falling Away With You. 8/10 10. Butterflies and Hurricanes ? Perhaps the best song on this Album. The end feels like one of the best blends of pure rock and classical music that I?ve heard to date. Fans of Bliss from the previous album will feel at home right away with this amazing track. 10/10 11. The Small Print ? More pure all out rock. Not quite as good as Stockholm and Hysteria though. 7/10 12. Endlessly ? An interesting slow paced break from The Small Print. This song is in the style of Falling Away With You and Blackout but not quite as striking as either of those. 7/10 13. Thoughts of a Dying Atheist ? Out of everything on this album this sounds like older Muse songs set to fast rolling pace with a catchy sound. 8/10 14. Rules By Secrecy ? I?d use the same adjectives to describe this finishing track as I would the first one on the album. It?s moody, thoughtful and dark. It?s also a very different track than the one that opens the Album. A unique and haunting song. 9/10 … Collapse
  4. KelseyL
    Jul 8, 2004
    10
    EXCELLENT!!!
  5. PradR
    Jul 7, 2004
    10
    musicianship is an artform and no pop idol will ever be taught such skill as is present on this album. Well done Matt and the boys, As to the haters - Grandiose? too many ideas? how many great ideas did u have today? Great tunes, great sound, please stop comparing this band to radiohead - u obviuosly do not have the capacity to differentiate between the two. To start with their are three musicianship is an artform and no pop idol will ever be taught such skill as is present on this album. Well done Matt and the boys, As to the haters - Grandiose? too many ideas? how many great ideas did u have today? Great tunes, great sound, please stop comparing this band to radiohead - u obviuosly do not have the capacity to differentiate between the two. To start with their are three people in muse, making a hell of alot more noise and more accessible tunes.… Expand
  6. EricO
    Jun 28, 2004
    10
    The arrangement of music is mystifying. It takes you to another dimension that you knew existed but were too afraid to enter. Absolutely brilliant
  7. WillK
    Jun 26, 2004
    10
    it is a brilliant CD: probably the best one that Muse have ever done (and that says a lot!)
  8. CalebS
    May 14, 2004
    10
    Muse expounds pure emotion rock like nobody else. People who don't like it, just don't get it.
  9. BenM
    May 12, 2004
    10
    Brilliant. Surely one of the best albums this year.
  10. [Anonymous]
    May 10, 2004
    10
    compared to muse most of the other "music" we get to hear is just crap
  11. DaveL
    Apr 26, 2004
    10
    Truly amazing
  12. AndyL
    Apr 25, 2004
    10
    I first discovered MUSE when i heard the fabulous Origin Of Symmetry. Considering how good that was i certainly had high hopes for Absolution and i wasnt disappointed. The mix of intensity, grandoise and innovation found is unmistakably theirs. Make no mistake about it this is muse at their best (well for the time being anyway :D)
  13. masterd.
    Apr 7, 2004
    10
    I can't stop listening this! Suddenly I started to like " Plug in baby", and now, well, can't push stop.
  14. ErwinK
    Apr 5, 2004
    9
    Hadn't really paid that much attention to Muse in the past. But then I saw them at The Big Day Out in Melbourne and I was blown away. My only criticism about the album is that it is too intense.
  15. MacM
    Mar 29, 2004
    10
    Nothing short of astonishing.
  16. Oliver
    Mar 29, 2004
    10
    a masterpieve, landmark record. on the same level as radiohead's "ok computer". an amazing band, especially live!
  17. LucaS
    Mar 27, 2004
    9
    I have purchased this CD in October, and I think that has been one of the my best 2003 purchases. This is rock!
  18. LukeB
    Mar 27, 2004
    9
    I picked this up as an import last year, not entirely sure what to expect from this little known (otside of the UK) rock trio. Having thoroughly indulged my senses in both Showbiz (their debut) and Origin of Symmetry (their masterpiece followup), I admit my hopes were set very high for this album...something I typically fear because most records never live up to such lofty expectations. I picked this up as an import last year, not entirely sure what to expect from this little known (otside of the UK) rock trio. Having thoroughly indulged my senses in both Showbiz (their debut) and Origin of Symmetry (their masterpiece followup), I admit my hopes were set very high for this album...something I typically fear because most records never live up to such lofty expectations. Well this one did. From the moment the pulsing piano chords of Apocalypse Please began, I was instantly immersed in trademark grandiosity. Too often criticized as self-indulgent, or bombastic...their seemingly over-the-top infusion of concert grand classicism with guitar-driven brit metal is unfairly dismissed as pompous, when the music should clearly speak for itself. The immensity of sound on Absolution defies the logistics of a three-piece rock band. Layered here among such lushly orchestrated gems as Sing For Absolution and Falling Away With You is so much raw emotion that I can hardly listen to them without getting chills. Simpler jams such as Hysteria and Stockholm Syndrome, while not necessarily pushing the envelope of musical discovery, still manage to excite the listener's senses with heavily distorted guitar explosions of melody and power. This is a beautiful record, full of anythng but itself, and it deserves to be heard on this side of the pond for what it is - powerful, emotional brit-pop evolution. I recommend it highly.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

10
#10 Most Discussed Album of 2004
11
#11 Most Shared Album of 2004

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
72

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 16
  3. Negative: 2 out of 16
  1. Filter
    90
    A massive concept album that is so gluttonously huge-sounding that it makes The Wall sound like a Sebadoh record. [#10, p.94]
  2. Drawer B
    70
    Despite the daunting Radiohead-colored cloud that hangs heavy over Muse, the band pushes the limits of its slick, pre-apocalyptic rock with a self-assured strut.
    Read full review
  3. Mojo
    30
    Pushes the trio's grandiose delusions onto new levels of interpretative-dancing, mirror-cracking excess. [Oct 2003, p.107]
See all critic reviews »