Muse – The Resistance

It’s getting harder and harder to sound different these days. Most bands just get by sounding like everybody else. A few bands manage to do the unthinkable by finding an identity in an art form where everything has literally been done already. This is the hardest thing to do as an artist, to find a balance between what you are trying to say and how you are trying to say it. The real talented artists find a way to recycle the best elements in music and make them their own. Muse is one of these bands; they have taken the genre of rock and rewritten its boundaries.

You can hear that their sound is laced with elements from Queen, Depeche Mode, Queens of the Stone Age, The Beatles, Radiohead, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Andrew Lloyd Webber, John Williams and Ennio Morricone. So how is taking bits and pieces from all of these artists something original? In music everything has been done, every chord has been played, every progression has been tried and every instrument has been mastered hundreds of times. The only constant for creation is in the combinations, there are an infinite number of combinations but only the very skilled know how to combine the right ingredients to make something new and great.

To take all of these amazing bands and find some way to combine them without becoming a tribute band, while still infusing your own creative input is as close as we can come to something original in a time where there is little originality left. Muse is the real deal, both in the studio and live, this English band delivers the power and energy you would not expect from a three piece band. I was fortunate to see them open for U2 during the 360° tour. And I have to say that I enjoyed them more than the big boys from Ireland. The Resistance is the fifth album from Muse and the first one to be produced entirely by the band. It’s filled with all of the great rock elements from their previous albums plus a new symphonic twist that unites all of the tracks. It has taken five albums for them to perfect their sound; I can’t wait to se what the future has in stored for this band.

Juanmarcos@picturesandframesmagazine.com

Paramore - Brand New Eyes

I’m turning thirty-two in about a month and although the whole generational thing might be starting to kick in, I’m trying really hard to be open minded when it comes to new artists. But let me tell you, it’s hard; most of the rock bands that formed around the middle of 2000 up to now seem to have the same sound and formula. Current popular bands like Fall Out Boy, Kings of Leon, My Chemical Romance, Panic! At the Disco, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Kelly Clarkson and Katie Perry don’t really stir anything in me. Like I said, it could be the generational factor or it could be that this new wave of pop rock kind of sucks. Not to say that there wasn’t a fair amount of crap between the mid-90s and mid-2000 but I feel that there were so many different styles of rock happening at that time that it kept things interesting.

Of course the only people to blame for this current trend are the record labels and radio stations using their skill for over-saturating the market. In other words if you are a new rock band coming out right now then you better sound like the next Kings of Leon or Katie Perry, otherwise you will not be given a chance. So here is the part where I’m being open minded, recently a friend of mine that is clearly in tune with this current generation gave me Paramore’s new CD Brand New Eyes and I have to admit that I like it. Not to say that the elements from some of the previously mentioned bands aren’t there, but it’s just that these guys seem to do it better. I’m not sure if it’s the sexy girl singer Hayley Williams, and her great vocal chops or the songs themselves. There is clearly a lot of talent there and I think you might agree if you give them a chance. This is the third album for the Grammy nominated band from Franklin, Tennessee. And although they are still very young, I feel that if they manage to stay together long enough Paramore will become the next big band. All I can say is that this band has planted a seed of hope and I might just start paying attention to what’s playing on the radio. NOT!!!

Juanmarcos@picturesandframesmagazine.com