Violet

Tracklisting 1. Intro 2. Apocalypse Please 3. TIme is Running Out 4. Sing for Absolution 5. Stockholm Syndrome 6. Falling Away with You 7. Interlude 8. Hysteria 9. Blackout 10. Butterflies and Hurricanes 11. The Small Print 12. Endlessly 13. Thoughts of a Dying Atheist 14. Ruled by Secrecy Singles -Stockholm Syndrome (July 14, 2003; download-only single from official Muse website) -Time is Running Out (September 8, 2003) -Hysteria (December 1, 2003) -Sing for Absolution (May 17, 2004) -Apocalypse Please (August 23, 2004) -Butterflies and Hurricanes (September 20, 2004) About the Album "Absolution" was initially released in the UK on September 21, 2003 (or the 29th, depending on whether you go to Wikipedia or MuseWiki :tongue:) by Taste Music Limited. This album was a huge turning point in Muse's career because it led to their first solid fan base in the United States. "Time is Running Out" and "Hysteria" served as the band's first American hits, and after its release in the US on March 23, 2004, it was eventually certified gold by the RIAA, making it the first Muse album to be certified in the US. Here are some peak chart positions and other honorable mentions to show exactly how huge of an album this was for Muse: -#1 Billboard Top Heatseekers, UK albums, and France Top 150 -#2 Dutch albums Top 100 -#3 Ireland Top 75, Swiss album Top 100, and Austria Top 75 -#4 Italy Top 50 -#5 Norway Top 40 -#7 Belgium Top 70 -2004: won Kerrang! award for Best Album -2006: voted by NME as 21st best British album ever -2008: voted by Q as 23rd best British album ever -2009: voted by Kerrang! as 2nd best album of the 20th century thus far (OoS and BHAR also made the Top 50 list) About the Songs Intro/Apocalypse Please I grouped the two together because they go together. The intro isn't much on its own; it's a marching army gradually getting louder, ending with a German command before segueing into "Apocalypse Please," which serves as a strong opener to the album. It begins with that marching, strong drum beats, and the piano, which alternates between the regular downbeats in the right hand and the syncopation in the left. This background music, combined with Matt Bellamy's lyrics ("Declare this an emergency. Come on and spread a sense of urgency") make this a very haunting number. With the exception of a soft section after the second and third chorus, the song is loud and foreboding, with may layers of piano, bass, and synthesizers. It ends with a loud chord progression played by Matt on the piano. It originally came with an orchestral setting, but Muse found it ultimately didn't work, as it "sounded weak." Time is Running Out This is arguably Muse's biggest hit from this album. "Time is Running Out" is haunting in its own right, beginning with a quiet bass riff and soft vocals from Matt. I remember being impressed with how Matt was able to fit the word "asphyxiated" into a song when I first heard it. Anyway, lyrically, the song is wonderful. ("You're something beautiful, a contradiction. I wanna play the game. I want the friction.") The song describes a person's emotions in their last moments of life, and Matt Bellamy was noted in saying that it could be applied to "society, a relationship, your religion or whatever". I like to think of it in terms of a relationship; I think it sounds super sexy that way. Anyway, the climax of the song would have to be the bridge after the chorus, where it goes, "How did it come to this. OOOH OOOH OOOH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH," etc, which shows off Matt's falsetto. Here's a recording that includes Matt's infamous shuffle dance: [ame= ] [/ame] Sing for Absolution This song is where the album namesake originates. This is one of Muse's softer numbers on this album, and this song is particularly haunting, starting with a fade in and a simple piano ditty before Matt comes in with beautiful vocals, which eventually sing, "I only dream of you, my beautiful." It continues in this fashion for most of the song, but grows stronger at the end, where both the instruments and Matt's vocals become stronger and stronger, growing up to the final lyrics, "Our wrongs remain unrectified, and our souls won't be exhumed." It then diminishes and dies away in order to set up for the next track. Dom Howard says this song is about writing music, singing, and the finding of non-religous absolution through both. Stockholm Symdrome For those who don't know what it is, Stockholm Syndrome refers to a disorder in which captives in a kidnapping or hostage situation learn to empathize with their captors, often to the point of becoming loyal to them. This song exemplifies this by using heavy instrumentation and lyrics that showcase what a person suffering from this disorder might be thinking. The chorus best shows what is meant: "This is the last time I'll forget you. And this is the last time I'll abandon you." Generally speaking, this metal inspired number is one of the blatantly dark numbers of the album, where the guitars take control, as opposed to numbers like "Apocalypse Please," which portray the piano as the dominant instrument. Falling Away with You Unfortunately for us, this is the only album track from Muse to not ever be played live. According to Chris Wolstenholme, "it never really seemed to work." I'm not sure why my beloved Wolsty would say this, because the song in itself is nice. Matt Bellamy states this song is about past relationships. This explains how the song fits, like with this first verse: "I can't remember when it was good. Moments of happiness elude. Maybe I just misunderstood. All of the love we left behind, Watching the flashbacks intertwine, Memories I will never find." Despite the desparity of the lyrics, the song in itself is played in C major, and in the chorus, the guitars become more prevalent, perhaps helping express the anguish that might be felt when thinking about a past relationship that you're unfortunate to see not work for you. Interlude This is simply a transitional track between "Falling Away with You" and "Hysteria." It's an instrumental number consisting of guitars heavily distorted with fuzz effects. This samples a chord progression of "Adagio for Strings" by Samuel Barber, and it's the perfect set-up for the next track. Hysteria On this song, Matt Bellamy says, "Hysteria is a kinda fat bassline with a groovy straight beat on it. It's one of the tracks that has quite a heavy groove goin' on straight down the middle." This is a great way to put this. This song begins with arguably the most well-known bass riff in the Muse community. This is followed by Matt slowly sliding up the guitar neck before erupting into this massive block of sound. This intensity is portrayed throughout most of the song, particularly in Matt's guitar solo. The song in itself is about wanting something to the point of losing control because you're so obsessed with it. Muse executes this feeling perfectly in what they do, right up to the last bit when Chris and Matt play together between octaves while Dom beats on the drums. Blackout A slow waltz-like number, this song is a reflection on a person's life, reminding one to slow down and smell the roses, that sort of thing. It's a total opposite from "Hysteria," taking everything at a delayed pace and being much more acoustic in nature. Matt Bellamy says he wrote this with a mandolin in mind and was inspired by his stay in Italy. This explains the slightly Italian feel you get from the strumming bit throughout the song. The lyricism of both the lyrics and the music combine together into this lovely song. Butterflies and Hurricanes I'm going to try my best to explain this one objectively, but it's my favorite song ever in the history of mankind, so if it sounds like I'm glorifying it, well, at least you have an explanation. Matt Bellamy says, "It's about hope, about trying to find the strength to get through any given situation." This is exactly what I think of the song, and it's also a big reason why it's my favorite. I can feel like the lowest of the low, yet put this song on and get a huge sense of determination. It's my hype-up song, honestly. Anyway, the song in itself is hugely piano-driven, particuarly in the middle, which has this beautiful Rachmaninoff-inspired prelude in the middle. (It's my favorite part of the song, and it makes me mad that the single version cuts it out. ARGH.) Matt wanted to have a classical piano piece that works well with bass and drums. I think he exceeded his goal. [ame= ] [/ame] The Small Print This song was not originally planned to be placed on the album. However, after putting it to a vote between the three members, Matt got outvoted by Chris and Dom, and instead of getting "Fury" (which later appears as a B-side and is included on the Japanese version of the album), we get this one. It's a simple, guitar-driven song which alludes to the deal between the Devil and Faust. (Hence, the title, "The Small Print.") While the song in itself can be interpreted as a bit repetitive (particularly with that same guitar riff repeating itself over and over again), the content and how it's executed showcases a simple complexity, which is, as you'll see later in this post, how I view the album as a whole. It's great. Because I'm a Wolsty fangirl, here's a live recording with him singing bits and pieces. :wacky: [ame= ] [/ame] Endlessly This is a softer song, and I think it's quite underrated. The lyrics are rather sparse, but what is there is poetry. The chorus goes: "Hopelessly, I'll love you endlessly. Hopelessly, I'll give you everything, But I won't give you up. I won't let you down. And I won't leave you falling If the moment ever comes." This track is one of those songs that shows that you don't have to have a lot there for it to express a lot. Matt Bellamy says this is "...a basic love song. I think there is hope in there, even though I'm dealing with generally dark subjects." This statement is similar to how Bellamy views "Absolution" as a whole. Thoughts of a Dying Atheist The title is self-explanatory. The song covers a dying atheist's fears of what will happen to him after he dies. (e.g. "And I know you're in this room, and I'm sure I heard you sigh, floating in between where our worlds collide.") The frantic part of the song would be the chorus, where Matt repeats, "It scares the hell out of me, and the end is all I can see." The guitar is the strong rhythmic part of the song, and after the second chorus, it takes over in a solo which demonstrates the general anguish of the song. This is one of my personal favorites. Ruled By Secrecy The title of the song is taken from a book entitled Rule by Secrecy by Jim Mars, which is about conspiracy theories and how secret societies dictate how the world is run. As far as what the song is about, Matt Bellamy says, "It's about this man who's come back from work and he's just shot everyone and killed everyone, and he's come back to his wife with a load of blood all over his hands going 'I've just blown it ... I lost it ... I lost the plot,' the reason being because its slowly dawning on him that everything he is doing is out of his power." This in itself gives people a general idea of what the song sounds like. It's quiet for the most part, but after the second chorus, the song explodes into this immense sound domniated by piano and strong bass, with Matt's vocals being just as dominating. This track was one of Muse's favorites to play during the "Absolution" tour. Personal Opinion This album is more than just an album to me. It is a turning point in my music listening choices. After listening to this album for the first time, I was inspired to find out more, not only about Muse, but about music in itself. "Absolution" is simple complexity, which is really hard to come by. It has heavy songs and light songs. It has moments of power and moments of beauty. It carries influences from everything from Rage Against the Machine to Sergei Rachmaninoff. This is the one album I would take with me to a deserted island. I love this album more than any other album in the world, and I'm glad I get to take today to show Coldplaying its awesomeness and talk about it with the CPing Muse community. Thanks to Wikipedia and MuseWiki for helping me with this thread in terms of content.

I have my purple SFA School of Music shirt on today, and for Pep Band, I have to wear my new Pep Band shirt, which also happens to be purple. HUZZAH. :cheesy:

OK, Ines. You will serve as the diversion. You will find various ways to annoy her to no end while the rest of us, dressed in ninja costumes, proceed to kidnap Matt and put him on the plane.

OMFG CHRIS LOOKS INCREDIBLY CUTE THERE I THINK I'M GOING TO DIE NOW. :dead:

OK, so due to my mom kicking me out of the office for a good half-hour this morning while I was typing my thread up, I'm behind, and I'm not quite finished with it yet. I'm debating whether to skip Music History or not so I can finish it. If I do skip, it'll be posted before noon. If not, it'll have to wait until sometime after 2 pm.

Quite a few, especially if you count the Hullabaloo soundtrack (which it does, since it's a B-side compilation, and not a studio album).

OMG, yes I do. That was terrible. :lol:

Why, yes, I am. :smug2: It's super easy to participate, too, since purple is my university's primary school color.

Kelly (aka Hysteria) will do BHAR. I have yet to find a replacement for Lore Saturday with the B-Sides. :bigcry:

AAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA. :laugh3:

I'm too biased right now to make a reasonable decision. :dead:

Whaaaaa? Serj and Sufjan aren't even remotely alike. :inquisitive:

^ Mine, too! :cheesy: You have such great taste. :nice:

OK, so who's doing what? Does anyone have a plan?

Hahaha, that works. :tongue: He's a musician. [ame= ] [/ame] :heart:

REBECKA. NO. :blank:

I almost died when I saw the Dory thing at the bottom. :laugh4:

Of course we do! :awesome:

"Absolution." I'm going to post that one. :cheesy:

Nooooo, Tammi, it's not funny. I didn't mean it that way. :disappointed:

OMG, I actually REMEMBER that show. Whyyy? :freak:

How large of a number is Sufjan? ...Wait, that actually sounds awful. D:

:laugh4: Ohhhhh, how you make my day. :hug:

Different people have different talents. Sufjan's is music. :heart:

Yesssssss. :heart: Well, that's what I read in the Sufjan Obsessed Disorder thread. :thinking: