tristeque

certainly drove it to excess with that comment! ha, it's interesting, how we look for circuses in the most desperate of times. but if you want excess...

i would say that an underrated aspect of this discussion is shown in how muse bridges boundaries between fans of metal, punk and for lack of a better term 'hard rock,' and classical, pop, alternative (whatever that is). go find me a band who would be gladly received by fans at say, a my chemical romance concert, some death metal hardcore underground show, at a mtv movie awards show or a symphony hall with full orchestra? few would properly fit all these bills.
muse's sound is flexible in many genres, and they do it so capably by fusing sheer musicianship with a keen sense of what interests them personally. the concepts seem to require passing the cool test. example:

hey, let's do a western film type music video, but instead of guns, let's give them laser beams. sounds awesome. they go and do it. it's over the top goofy. fans love it, arena rock to the max, but it all works because they back it up with enthusiasm and lights.

conversely:

hey, let's make up a worldwide conspiracy themed concept album like something out of a james bond flick but emphasize the futuristic aspects. suddenly it's an accessible idea about globalizing powers. keeping it vague, mysterious, but precise and artistic, almost scientific in nature. sound familiar (now we can call them radiohead wannabes, but who isn't...)

only muse succeeds in both these scenarios.

you're certainly right in saying that this is why they deserve to emulate if not surpass a band like queen in their own right. queen goes down as one of the greatest rock bands ever even with what some might have thought were daft and farfetched ideas, but in the end they succeeded with a formula that wouldn't seem to make sense on paper even by today's standards of an open-minded public.

bottom line: muse is actually really great. go catch them live. they live up to any amount of hype.

on New Muse - "United States Of Eurasia" at July 29, 2009 2:03 AM
Score = -1

You guys are insane. This was a rockin performance. Coming from a drummer, Jack knows what he's doing and yes he has way too many drums... but that's what you need to make a chord on tuned drums. Coming from somebody who's seen the Kills up close, Alison is even hotter and more intense than before. And those other guys are even impressed with their own band.

on The Tonight Show">The Dead Weather Bring "Hang You From The Heavens" To The Tonight Show at June 26, 2009 1:55 AM
Score = 0

Hamhanded is a great vocabulary word, and for the first sixty seconds I would have agreed.. The longer I watched it, however, it was clear that this is not just a clumsy Bush bash. Everybody gets a fair share of clown time throughout. You can't blame Coldplay for accepting a video to their website that has such a good sense of rhythm and humor. Far too many music videos seem to disregard the actual song content... especially considering how arbitrary their official video is:what's up with hammer time anyway?

In reply to Evan's comment on New Coldplay Video - "Violet Hill" (Alternate Version) at May 20, 2008 7:34 PM
Score = 0