For me it seriously lacked any real sense of direction. I really don't know what they were trying to do with it. Were they aiming more for the dancefloors? Were they trying to further expand on the stadium rock? And I swear, those Queen moments made me not only cringe but vomit. I didn't think it was an awful record as such, I didn't even really think it was a bad one. It just had it bad moments and felt like far too much of a struggle from a band bang out of any original ideas.
I still think Origin of Symmetry is sublime, I still think Absolution is very, very good. I still like Showbiz and I still think Black Holes is pretty decent. I still think MUSE are one of the finest live bands I have ever seen, especially in 2001 just a matter of weeks before OoS was released and in 2003 on the Absolution tour. I still think that the Hullabaloo live album, especially the DVD version, is a beautifully crafted record of MUSE at their very best. That can never be erased.
Having said all of that, I've just been losing my patience with this band for a number of years now. Albums becoming more of a chore, live sets predictable and boring and the band seem happy to settle into that stadium rock dynamic where they can play the big shows and a singles set-list and while that may be great for newer fans, it leaves the older fans out in the cold a little. Why would I go and see that again? I've seen it all before.
I can't decide whether I'm dreading the new album or if I just couldn't care less.
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