Domenica 25 Ott 2009, 15:14

Ok, everyone knows that taste changes over time, so its only natural that some music you used to like now grinds on your gears. I try to keep positive about bands that I had a liking for in the past, as they did have their importance to me in their time…however, its then questionable why I stopped liking them in the first place… So lets look into that..

Kings Of Leon -Probably a band you'd expect to see on this list. I remember the days when I used to listen to nothing but Youth & Young Manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak. What a fantastic pair of albums! KoL really were one of my favourite bands back in the day as their sound was totally unique to themselves, it had that country/western twang, yet remained rocky and hooky at the same time. They really made a big impression on me.
Then came Because Of The Times. I immediately noticed the change of direction in sound, but it wasnt bad..it just took a bit of getting used to. Some Tracks such as "Charmer", "My Party", "Knocked Up" and "Fans" were good songs, worthy of a listen. But it was a given that it didnt touch their earlier efforts.
Now…well you know what I'm going to say… Kings of Leon now seem to have become another generic chart-pleasing stadium band.. Only By The Night was spectacularly AWFUL. When i first listened to it, I thoroughly enjoyed the first track "Closer", but the rest went from average, to bad, to shameful. Their past roots seem to be severed almost completely. No sound remains similar from their past.

I understand bands want to progress their sound and try new things, but Kings of Leon are the standard definition of Sell-Out. Thank god I opted to see Faith No More at Reading Festival this year instead of them as apparantly they were rude to the crowd and played a horrid set. They've alienated most of their fans and welcomed in a generation of music listeners who decide via chart positions if a song is worth liking or not. Sad.

Muse- OK, before you get the wrong idea, in no way do i hate or even remotely dislike Muse. I think they're one of the best modern British bands ever. Its just my gripes with the worrying direction that they seem to be going in. I actually used to severely dislike Muse a long long while back, dismissing their songs when hearing them (tracks like "Plug In Baby" etc, that you'd see on Kerrang for e.g.), and it wasnt until I purchased Origin Of Symnetry, that I finally understood what the big deal was. Muse have a EPIC scale to them. Bellamy certainly knows how to draw a listener in, and his vocals are near (and scarily) perfect. Tracks such as "New Born", "Hyper Music" and "Citizen Erased" have this magnum opus feel to them, just so EXPLOSIVE and brilliant. It was an extremely addictive album and I found myself listening to it constantly.
I was then a fully fledged Muse fan and enjoyed both Showbiz and Absolution to a huge degree. It was not until Black Holes And Revelations that I first started seeing cracks in their music. Now by all means, BHAR is a great album, and I still occasionally listen to it, but compared to their past albums it was less of a complete piece of work. Tracks like "Exo-Politics", "Map Of The Problematique", "Assassin", "Knights Of Cydonia" were the Muse that I knew and loved, again that Epic feel to the songs, so powerful and face melting. It was songs like "Supermassive Black Hole", "Starlight", and "Invincible" where I felt slight indifference to the album….the tracks were very generic and poppy…not that theres anything wrong with more accessible songs than others, but i feel that they were out of shape for the type of music Muse was used to whipping out.

(To be fair, Im just being overly picky and would have said nothing about BHAR, its just to back up my idea of their present musical direction)

So…. The Resistance

Biggest disappointment of 2009?

You bet'cha.

Whats wrong with the album? I think we would be quicker to mention whats right with it to be honest. Some bands deserve to be a little pretentious, as they've earned it, And to a degree I would say Muse are one of those bands. However, a three part "Symphony"? Steady on now. I listened to the album with an open mind, and with a minor degree of optimism, being a fan an'all. Needless to say it didnt come close to any of my expectations. One minute they sound like a Queen-Prodigy, while they next try to pull off similar fast-track brilliances that you would find on OoS, and name them Muselike such as "MK Ultra". It doesnt work for me.
Theyve had enough time to come out with something that would blow me away, and I know they can because theyve done it before. But with drole goldfrappy beated slow-paced singles like "Uprising" they're clearly going in the wrong direction.

Exogenesis?…Symphony?…Part….III? *sigh*