The Road to Wembley, Step 5: Black Holes and Realizations

The six months in between our respective Muse adventures, from the very first encounters to the growing appreciation of ‘Black Holes and Revelations’ as one of the defining moments in music of the decade saw us separated and reunited. Marion went to Sweden and came back. And songs like ‘Starlight’ accompanied us on our various travels. Far away, this ship has taken me far away from the memories of the people who care if I live or die. But we were reunited and besides our growing fondness for the Teignmouth-three, the realization was that friendship might cross borders and abridge distances, yet it is best when one is close to the other.
Music wise, I recall the mad excitement of listening to the full-length record for the first time. I sat in my garden and had pen and paper ready for the revelations the title suggested - and couldn’t write anything down, because I was so sedated and seduced by the sheer awesomeness of it. Pure joy. A fat grin I couldn’t get rid of the whole day. A hand grenade of Rock, bullet-proof sound-walls, horses from outer space, inter-planetary and outer space moments – and it kicked ass, too!
Apart from the cherished ‘Knights of Cydonia’ and the sexiness of ‘Supermassive Black Hole’ one of my favourite tracks of the early phase of listening was ‘Assassin’, because it just killed you like a Kalashnikov. Bang Bang, you’re dead. I only discovered the beauty of ‘Starlight’ or ‘Invincible’ after several rounds of intensive listening. One of my favourites must be the inevitable ‘Map of the Problematique’, too.
Many of my friends who weren’t interested in Muse before fell for them with this record, and understandably so. How could they not? The fact that it is so completely off track from anything mainstream rock had to offer at that time only made it more genius – if that is possible. This record cemented Muse’s status. It put everything to a whole new level. And nothing was the same afterwards. It changed my perception of what music can be and how music can sound completely. Consulting my notes back from that very first listening session in my garden, I found this:



Take a Bow
sounds like a gambling machine; burn in hell, corruption, techno-beat, spacey, glam rock, sacral; ‚bow’ being distorted to a moan; in the end the instruments shriek themselves to the climax; a feedback as if they had smashed their instruments and left the stage without comment

Starlight
Clapping the snare-drum; you electrify my life, hopes and expectations rhymes with black holes and revelations; in the end there is only Bellamy’s voice left, begging ‘I just wanted to hold’ and ending abruptly

Supermassive Black Hole
sexy, falsetto, dark, industrial, stamping, sweaty; ‚you set my soul alight’, ‚melting’, Computer, ‚suck’, ‚you’re a supermassive black hole’: no idea how to interpret that – or too many. DIRTY.

Map of the Problematique
Kraftwerk, fragile keyboard in front of a wall of trance; fear, desperation, despair, swept away; catchy hookline; polyphonic; Placebo-ish break, hymnic chorus

Soldier’s Poem
Soft, quiet, acoustic, tea-dance; Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, only slower; no justice in the world, desparate lyrics; kitsch, cliché; a mild summer breeze smelling like refuse incineration; a 50s combo playing, I see smoking ties and Bellamy who lets these verbal handgrenades explode with a devoted look on his face; a thorn in the flesh of modern day’s amusement society

Invincible
Church musician shortly before mass is about to begin; little drummer boy, calm in the beginning; singing saw; together we’re invincible; bass and rhythm groove leisurely

Assassin
The start reminds me of Knight Rider, brachial, hardcore electro, System of a Down, lose control, once again you ask yourself: three guys? Really?

Exo-Politics
Drums are catchy: da-da-da-da-da-da-daa; spooky; will our leaders tell us why, I wait for the sign

City of Delusion
Acoustic guitar, happy music; voice and lyrics are the exact opposite; Mediterranean; Jack Johnson [sic!]; mushy synthesiser-sounds in the background; the electric guitar, brilliant ensemble playing; movie soundtrack, blockbuster, Batman, Spiderman or something; then acoustic again, trumpet, prairie, western, destroy this city of delusion, break these walls down

Hoodoo
Title reminds me of Star Wars, music of Andalusia, Mexico, Flamenco, Tango, heated aspahlt in the night, James Bond; Bellamy sings with a sleepy, seductive voice, I see myself in a run-down motel with him, a rumpled bed; why is this a crisis; piano, oh the piano; then things take off: instincts; strings, one can almost see the big gestures; ‘I’ve had recurring nightmares that I was loved for who I am and missed the opportunity to be a better man’ he whispers and sighs into my ear, his breath on my skin

Knights of Cydonia
Horse’s hooves on dusty ground; neighing; laser canons; disturbingly high pitches that I fear are produced by Bellamy; Pulp Fiction; the beat goes along with the clatter; mariachi; it takes two minutes until there is a voice recognizable; strong lyrics: no one’s gonna take me alive, the time has come to make things right, you and I must fight for our rights, you and I must fight to survive’; it takes off from there à la Led Zeppelin



…and that’s it. Other songs 2006 had to offer (but who would have wanted to listen to them anyways?):

I bet you look good on the dancefloor – Arctic Monkeys
She moves in her own way – The Kooks
Hard to beat – Hard-Fi
Meds – Placebo
You have killed me – Morrissey
Steady, as she goes – The Raconteurs
Joker&the thief – Wolfmother
Dani California – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Beating Heart Baby – Head Automatica
I don’t feel like dancing – Scissor Sisters
Sexy Back – Justin Timberlake
Rehab – Amy Winehouse