The Resistance
by Muse
Metascore
72

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 23
  3. Negative: 1 out of 23
  1. AllMusic
    80
    "Black Holes and Revelations" may be a more commercial record, but The Resistance is Muse's most realized effort to date.
  2. Billboard.com
    82
    The Resistance, shows growth from the band's previous releases and proves that it's primed for a global musical takeover.
  3. Delusions of Adequacy
    80
    You don’t need to be fanatical or any other synonym to realize that this is utterly spectacular music.
  5. Dot Music
    80
    Bellamy wriggles ever freer from the straitjacket of rock music, nearing the point where he can slide between genres as easily as his idols, Bowie, Queen and Prince.
  6. Drowned In Sound
    70
    As it stands it’s an indulgent and, at times, gorgeous listen that merely helps restate your concrete opinions about Muse.
  7. Entertainment Weekly
    75
    Frontman Matt Bellamy mostly gets away with these high jinks thanks to his skilled way with a Radiohead-ish hook.
  8. Hot Press
    80
    It’s the closing triptych of quasi-classical numbers--the aforementioned ‘Exogenesis’ sequence--that transports Muse to a place beyond parody.
    All this publication's reviews
  9. Mojo
    80
    Even introspection is realised on a gargantuan scale, with the climatic rock symphony Exogenesis. Over the top? For Matt Bellamy and Muse it's the only way to go. [Oct 2009]
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  10. Observer Music Monthly
    80
    The wholeheartedness with which this album hurls itself into the abyss of cod-symphonic astral pretension is to be commended.
  11. Q Magazine
    80
    All this is but a prelude to the albums extaordinary, elegant climax, Bellamy’s three part, 12 minute orchestrial work 'Exogenesis: Symphony.' [Oct 2009, p.102]
    All this publication's reviews
  12. Spin
    70
    They turn to the next logical ladder rung of pretension: symphony. And they may have finally found the perfect category to fuse with their ever-swooping brand of rock.
  13. The A.V. Club
    75
    On The Resistance, the group shows it can turn a night at the opera into a daytrip to Candyland.
  14. The Guardian
    80
    Not all of it is palatable, but there's something unrepentant in The Resistance's insane ambitiousness that demands respect rather than mockery. The day Muse topple irrevocably into self-parody will surely come. But, apparently, not yet.
  15. The New York Times
    80
    The Resistance, the crispest Muse album yet, is unapologetically and ambitiously beautiful.
  16. Uncut
    80
    It’s bonkers--hilarious, maddening, ridiculous and slightly shit--yet never dull.

Awards & Rankings

4
#4 Most Discussed Album of 2009
34
#34 Most Shared Album of 2009

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 500 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 412 out of 500
  2. Mixed: 50 out of 500
  3. Negative: 38 out of 500
  1. hannahb
    Oct 2, 2009
    10
    Fantastic. Can't stop listening.
  2. BobBob
    Sep 15, 2009
    10
    Excellent album. On par with Origin of Symmetry.
  3. PDTS
    Jan 24, 2010
    5
    Only the three first songs is worth listening to.
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