Matthew Bellamy is unstoppable. By now, even he must know it. Of course, we're not living in Europe, so our faithful readers might not yet be familiar with the name. Key word: yet. The cyrrent release of The Resistance means that Bellamy is on the fast track to becoming a household name or perhaps we should be referring to him with his more recognized moniker: Muse. I don't mean to take away from the other two thirds of the English rock band, bassist Christopher Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard. Both are masterful musicians in their own right who are not (entirely) dispensable. But let's face it: Bellamy, with his powerful pipes, fluid piano and guitar work, and, most importantly, writing credits (that's right…on every single song) should feel free to lay claim to any praise bestowed on the name of Muse.The previous two albums, Absolution and Black Holes and Revelations, quite firmly established their style within the realm of progressive rock so that upon hearing that passionate vocal range, pounding beats, and dramatic compositions, there was no doubt that we were experiencing Muse. The Resistance does not offer much more in the way of style. Although I would have liked for them to tread some slightly more radical grounds, fortunately there is no disappointingly jarring shift we see too often in artists trying to experiment with sounds (see Chris Cornell's Timbaland-produced 2009 album, Scream).The Resistance makes up for this possible repetitiveness in pure ambition. Muse has always been nothing short of what can only be called epic. The last album obviously didn't cut it for them, because Muse ups the drama and widens their scope, bringing us an album worthy of singing Beowulf to. As if to show off his cultured knowledge of music, Bellamy features an excerpt from Frederic Chopin's Nocturne in E-Flat, Op. 9 No. 2 in the track titled "United States of Eurasia/Collateral Damage." He also rearranged parts of "Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix" from Camille Saint-Saens opera "Samson and Delilah" for the track "I Belong to You." Yeah, I don't know what those are either, but they sure sound sophisticated.
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