Independent review

The third album of the trio led by Matthew Bellamy became the band's first record to reach the top of the British chart. And even though it only took 107th place in the USA, it became a platform for reaching the Top 10 of the next record 3 years later. One way or another, Absolution can be considered the transition from a successful Irish group to world domination. After it, Muse no longer descended from British peaks and, in the USA, only fell out of the top ten with the last vague Simulation. The album was recorded by the musicians of the trio themselves only with the involvement of strings, which you cannot replace with keyboards if you want true pomposity, which Bellamy cannot be denied. Musically, Absolution is an average Muse, which is visible from the compositions. All types of the collective's creativity are present - from dull singing things through pompous sympho-hits and pop-smashes to riff action tracks. Sometimes Bellamy pays maximum attention to one of the styles, and then, depending on the choice, a stunning Drones or an electronically empty Simulation theory can come out. In Absolution, there is everything that was and everything that will be. Unfortunately, this is not the case when such a diverse approach produces genius, but it can satisfy the interests of all listener masses. The most powerful Stockholm syndrome and The small print, hit-filled Time is running out (UK#8) and Endlessly, interesting Hysteria, bonus Fury, and Thoughts of a dying atheist. Yes, 7 things, including one bonus, are definitely worth listening to, but the length of the album and half of the filler material break the general impression and aftertaste. You can pelt me with rotten tomatoes of critical hatred, but the lack of balance is Bellamy's biggest trouble. And I can praise Drones as much as I want, but it doesn't have it either, it's just the material is brilliant. However, lovers of pop and melodic Muse will hardly like it, and they will say that just Drones, in fact, is far from being the band's best disc.

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