politikgirl

I'm really hoping Coldplay comes back to North America in 2013 as I missed them the first time around (I was on a long trip in North Africa/Europe). I also missed them on the second North American leg of their VLV tour a few years ago as I was also travelling, but at least that time I saw them during the first NA leg of the tour. I used to catch the band during both the first and second NA legs of each tour and would be so disappointed if I didn't even see them once during the MX tour this time!

I didn't like "Madness" the first time I heard it, but I gave it a few more listens and now I honestly love it. It's not an obvious single, it doesn't sound like old Muse and it's not as boundary-pushing as some of their earlier songs, but it's one of the few Muse songs that have come out in the last few years that is incredibly genuine, raw and sincere (I enjoyed a lot of the stuff on the most recent album and I downright love Exogenesis, but I didn't find a lot of the songs on the album to be all that sincere). Also, Matt's vocals on "Madness" are stellar, and the lyrics are personal and moving (not in a cheesy "Neutron Star Collision" kind of way, but still personal). The "But I have finally realized... I need to love" part is beautiful and IMHO, epic... that part alone makes this song worth listening to.

This is hands down, my favourite song on the album. There's something very emotional and beautiful about the song. It sounds like old school Coldplay but with more maturity. It's the stand-out track on the album for me.

AMAZING: Us Against the World Up With the Birds GOOD: Up in Flames U.F.O. Paradise Don't Let It Break Your Heart Charlie Brown OK: Every Teardrop is a Waterfall Hurts Like Heaven Princess of China Major Minus

I have to admit that I started laughing when I read this comment. And this is despite the fact that I like "Neutron Star Collision" for what it is (a non-album song that accompanies a stupid movie) and love "Christmas Lights" for what it is (a non-album Christmas song). Coincidentally enough, I actually wrote a note comparing the two to my sister when I forwarded her the link to the Christmas Lights video earlier, saying that I actually love it when my favourite bands release non-album songs that allow them to work outside the confines of writing a "serious" album.... and then mentioned that at least this one doesn't have clips from freaking New Moon (or whatever the film is called). ;)

Perfectly said - I couldn't agree more. I don't see why we need to compare the two bands live anyway, since they're both awesome but so different. There are strengths and weaknesses to both bands' live performances, and I honestly couldn't choose between them on a live performance-level, even though Coldplay is my #1 favourite band and Muse is a very close second. And really, though I understand the point of this poll is to compare results in the WoM forum vs. the Coldplay forum, but at the end of the day, a Coldplay vs. Muse poll at the Coldplaying forum is going to show some bias, I'm guessing. ;)

I always knew Elton John had good taste!

I wonder if Muse is returning to any of the cities that they already toured during the first leg of the tour as a part of the second leg, since muse.mu does suggest that more dates will be announced later for US/Canada. Not that it will do much good for me, though. I'm going on academic exchange to Hong Kong in the fall for 4 months... which is just when Muse is making the rounds again in North America. Argh!

Exactly. :D I especially feel like British rock bands should get along more - after all, it seems like a pretty close community in that it seems like everyone knows everyone else - and they should put on a more united front and be supportive of one another. And while a lot of bands do seem to get along, it seems like there are also way too many rivalries too. (e.g. Oasis vs. everyone) By the way, it sounds like Chris is friends with everyone (well, except the Gallaghers, but even that just seems like one-sided dislike from the Gallaghers). He's such a nice guy - he seems to make friends with almost everyone he meets. I'd love to see Chris on stage with Muse one day, or Matt on stage with Coldplay. It would be an epic coming together of great musicians. It's like how I'm always sad that no one seems to have a recording of the performance where Chris joined Travis on stage in Singapore (http://www.nme.com/news/travis/8772). Another one of my favourite bands!

Thanks so much for sharing that! Two of my four favourite bands. :D I love hearing about bands who get along. I'm so tired of hearing about this band hating that band and what nasty thing one band said about another band.

I was definitely hoping so too, but I had a sneaking suspicion that it would be something like this - a nice thing to have, but nothing to get way too hyped up about. I'm still happy that we'll get a professional filmed live show to watch though, since I think it's time the boys put out a new live DVD, and this is the next best thing!

It's not really exciting enough for all this promotion, but here's the announcement anyhow: MUSE - Live At SXSW Presented By Myspace Music After a week-long promotion of on-air teases on the FOX show "Human Target," it was announced during the show tonight that Muse will be playing a show presented by MySpace Music at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas. The show is this Friday, March 19 at Stubb's. Doors open at 7:30 PM and Metric will open. The show will be open to SXSW badge holders and MySpace Music will additionally provide a replay of the concert on myspace.com/muse beginning on Sunday, March 21st. This will mark the most intimate venue that Muse will play on their current tour. If you can't be there, be sure to check back to myspace.com/muse on Sunday for footage from this once-in-a-lifetime event.

I don't think it's been announced yet. I think it's being announced tonight on some stupid FOX TV show here in US/Canada. I'm on the Muse board right now trying to see if anything's been posted but haven't seen anything yet - will share when I find out. :D

Yeah, I guess the only upside to this whole thing is the music that can come out of this, lol. Isn't the special announcement thing tomorrow (Wednesday)? *runs off to the muse.mu board to check*

Voted! 1) Chris, of course :D 2) Matt Bellamy (Muse) 3) Fran Healy (Travis)

To be fair to Gaia, I think there's a difference being with the "frontman" of a band than being with other members of the band. The lead singer/frontman gets the bulk of the attention from the fans, media, etc. So it might actually be easier to be Chris's wife than Matt's girlfriend...

This threat is great! I wouldn't have seen all those season 4 clips if I hadn't checked in here. :D I can't wait to see the new episodes. I don't torrent anymore and I've given up on trying to find the leaked episodes streaming, so it's going to be a month long wait... but I'm sure it'll be well worth it. :)

Please add me to the list of people hoping to get a copy. :D Figures that the one time I miss Coldplay in Toronto (I was in Europe for 2 months) is the time they give out LRLRL for free!

I absolutely love Glee. I don't think they should have turned the show down completely - they should've give them the rights to do just one song - it would just be a friendly thing to do. After all, if Glee's been given permission to cover a Beatles song, no band can think they're good for the show. ;) That said, I'm sure the boys had their own reasons for saying no, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. :D

In the one interview that Gaia ever did, she did mention that she used to have jealousy issues with him (likely due to all the crazy Muse fans!) but that she had moved past it and learned to trust him. So whatever it is that broke these two up (probably NOT the dancing photos), I hope it's something that they can work out, because it sounds like they've already worked through a lot of issues in order to stay together for nearly 8 years, which is such a long time. As for Matt's dancing, well, let's just say that I'm surprised the girl in the photos wasn't laughing her ass off when he was dancing with her. :P

Ooh, thanks for the heads-up! Looking forward to the last season. :D

In the BDO interview, he said it had something to do with her seeing pictures on the internet of him dancing with some girl at a club and someone on the internet saying that he had been hitting on the girl or something, which apparently wasn't true (I've seen those pictures and it doesn't look like he's hitting on her, because no girl would be impressed by Matt's dancing :P). But it's probably more than just her seeing the pictures, since he had mentioned that they were going through some problems in an earlier magazine interview (Q magazine, I think) as well. As for how he's going to win her back, I have no clue, but writing her a song probably doesn't hurt. ;)

Frandy!

I'll just take your word on that. :P

You're absolutely right; I do recall Fran saying - at one point, at least - that he didn't have an interest in doing a solo album. I just don't recall him ever saying that he'd never do it though, so I wouldn't go so far as to say that he went back on his word. :) I do often wonder about the dynamics between band members in different bands though. For example, Fran's the lead songwriter for Travis and is credited as such, while Chris is credited and considered by himself and the rest of the band to be only one-fourth of the songwriting magic that is Coldplay. I wonder how the equality or lack thereof in a band can lead someone to "go solo".