Um, as usual you get the totally wrong end of the stick. I wasn't criticizing Muse. I was trying to elevate them above the banality of simply being a band focused on straight-up crowd-pleasing rock anthems. I think they have more going for them than what would be suggested by such a mundane description.

I get bored by almost all progressive music. I wish I could have more appreciation for it but some stuff just bores the arse off me. And then there's always the unfortunate fact that my favorite prog bands (Mahavishnu Orchestra, Van Der Graaf Generator) turn around after a few years and make crap that sounds more like lounge music than anything else like the nobs they are.

Oi! There's absolutely nothing wrong with a bit of jazzy lounge music.

Lounge music may have been good during its time (I wouldn't know) but today sounds dated and extraordinarily cheesy. I love John McLaughlin's early work with Miles Davis and the first few Mahavishnu Orchestra albums, but I absolutely detest his later works (like Inner Worlds).

It depends on your tastes. Sure, it does sound cheesy, but then, I think it always did. I think the whole development of the notion of cheese must in some way be intrinsically linked to things like lounge music. But that it is cheesy does not altogether preclude it from being a pleasant and enjoyable sort of listen, given the right mood... Well, again - depending on who's listening!

The Mars Volta is, in my opinion, a gigantic cluster**** of terrible laced with the most grating vocals known to man. How this passes as music as beyond me, and prog at that? Just give a moment to throw some instruments down a flight of stairs and sing in an obnoxious falsetto and I'll be king of the art ***s.

Edit: ATDI sucked too.

I completely agree. Absolutely terrible band, the most exaggerated, overblown ridiculous rubbish I've honestly ever heard in my life. And it's also some of the most unashamedly pretentious music that's ever been created. I don't get why fans of prog or any other genre eat this stuff up as they do, but then, I suppose logic has little to do with it. To each their own. But for my part, I can't really find a word to describe the disgust with which this band fills me.

For me that description would apply more so to ATDI which to me gets a bit repetitive. I don't care if it's prog or not, TMV is great and the vocals are far more pleasing than those of 75% of metal bands.

Both draw heavily from Buckley in my eyes (or ears), though Bellamy added his own little detestable style of breathing to the formula. The first two Muse albums are legit and I'll give them credit where credit is due, but the latest two just sound like they gave OK Computer one too many spins.

I always thought that maybe by 2010 Muse migith make a really oblique eletronic / rock album with barely intelligible lyrics and vocals and call it "Kid B"...hehehehehehe...


I own the first Muse album, and after a few careful listens I just couldn't go with the band - they sounded like less than the sum of their parts - some parts "The Bends" on steriods, other times drawing heavily from Jeff Buckley... it just sounded all so familiar, and even now the band seems to be a good 2 - 3 years behind whats actually going on that is new...

Because we all know that every band you hear has to be absolutely unique to grab your attention...