June 18, 2001 - Origin Of Symmetry

Six days after my last release and just under two years since their debut album "Showbiz", Muse released their second album "Origin Of Symmetry" on June 18, 2001. Muse continue to play their unique style of rock and frontman Matthew Bellamy was in a very sci-fi mood with his lyrics and with some space-y aspects of the music. Let's listen to the latest from Muse!

The album begins with "New Born" and Bellamy plays a pretty cool piano riff to start us off. Chris Wolstenholme adds some cool sounding bass and Bellamy sings in his amazing high voice, sounding epic and great in this quiet opening. Then things shift as Bellamy switches to guitar and takes over with a loud and pretty cool guitar riff as Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard provide a solid rhythm section. Bellamy sings a louder but still great verse and things sound pretty hard rock and cool! Bellamy delivers a super fast guitar solo that sounds really good and fits the mood perfectly! This is a pretty wicked away to kick things off, really nicely done! Up next is "Bliss" and Bellamy plays a fast and really cool piano riff to start things off and it sounds very epic and sweet in my opinion! He plays the same riff on keyboards for a louder and different effect and he also plays some catchy guitar in the backdrop as there are at least 3 Bellamy's here! Things sound pretty cool and he also sings a great verse overtop and holds some great long notes in the chorus. They don't stray far from the main riff, but there's no need to when things sound this good! That one catchy piano/keyboard riff just keeps things going! Track 3 is "Space Dementia" and Bellamy opens with some really epic and awesome piano that I just love! It turns into a wonderfully fast and amazing main piano riff and with a nice heavy rhythm section things sound really interesting and cool, especially with Bellamy holding some super long notes overtop! Then they slow it down and shift to a space-y and psychedelic new riff that is interesting for sure! Some trippy guitar and some nice vocals by Bellamy, then the cool piano kicks in, and we do it all over again! After another long and solid round the final 80 seconds, words don't do justice. It sounds so epic and awesome! These guys are incredible! Fuckin' love Muse! The next track is "Hyper Music" and it's got an interesting snd catchy guitar riff leading the way with Wolstenholme providing some great bass to back him. Bellamy sings a predictably solid verse, and the chorus is even better! It's such a nice, bouncing beat and Bellamy just sounds so fucking good! It's a short but really catchy and cool song. Track 5 is the album's lead single "Plug In Baby" and you can see why as Bellamy plays a really catchy and cool guitar riff that drives the song. Wolstenholme's bass is also really catchy and cool and things build wonderfully from the verse to the loud and catchy chorus. It's a no brainers single, but still a very solid rock song and Bellamy just sounds so good all the time. His yell at the end of the song sounds phenomenal and this is just yet another well above average song. Keep 'em coming Muse! Up next is the longest song in the album "Citizen Erased" and Bellamy kicks it off with a pretty awesome guitar riff that is the backbone of the main riff. The rhythm section sounds good as well with Wolstenholme playing the same riff on bass and it sounds pretty cool there as well. Bellamy sounds great as always holding lots of long notes in the verse and he hits some nice super high notes in the chorus, he's just such a good singer! After the chorus things quiet down dramatically and Bellamy plays some nice light guitar in this softer riff. They nicely emerge back into the loud riff and Bellamy delivers a pretty epic guitar solo that sounds great in between another nice, loud verse and chorus. Things quiet down again for the last couple minutes as Bellamy adds some nice soft piano to the soft riff and they nicely jam things out. The quiet parts were solid, and the loud parts were excellent! Track 7 is "Micro Cuts" and Bellamy plays some light guitar while Wolstenholme plays some great bass that sounds really good behind him. Bellamy's vocals are a little different on this one and he's difficult to understand, but he holds so many super long notes. In the chorus especially, he sounds just phenomenal going super high and holding those high notes for a while! The music gets louder and more hard rock in the chorus as well and things sound pretty sweet to me! After another verse and chorus Bellamy takes us in a new direction with some cool new guitar and this becomes a full-blown Breakdown as they heavily slam into a fantastic finale! What a way to end the song, some great guitar and a super catchy riff! The next track is "Screenager" and Bellamy plays some cool Latin-sounding guitar, Howard plays some cool percussion that fits the mood as well and things sound very different than your typical Muse, but still very cool. Bellamy sings a nice verse to match the mood and then he plays some fast, really cool keyboards in the chorus, while also holding some of his longest notes on the album, he can just go forever! They don't stray far from the verse and chorus, but I still really like this song as they really nail this unique and interesting vibe. Track 9 is "Darkshines" and Bellamy plays a light and interesting main guitar riff while Wolstenholme plays some trippy and cool bass. It's another unique but very interesting song and Muse are great at whatever they do! Bellamy plays some cool piano in the louder chorus, but the wispy and dreamy main riff is pretty solid and keeps the pace. Up next is "Feeling Good", a cover of a song that was originally written for a Broadway play, but it's Nina Simone's version that became famous. Bellamy plays a cool keyboard riff and all the long-held notes are perfect for him and he (of course) does a fantastic job. They slam into a fantastic hard rock riff and they alternate between very quiet and very loud to dramatic and wonderful effect. Words do not do justice to Bellamy's amazing vocals and I think this is one of his best performances where he shows off his full range of ups and downs, and shorts and longs. A really cool cover! The last song on the album is "Megalomania" and it's a slow burn that takes a bit to get started, but it's another interesting riff and I love Bellamy's background organ. They slam into a loud and epic chorus with some trippy and cool keyboards and things sound really interesting and cool! Bellamy plays all kinds of different keyboards and they all sound pretty epic and sweet. It's a nice way to wrap things up and Bellamy ends the song and album with one final loud organ note.

That is the end of "Origin Of Symmetry" and I thought it was a pretty awesome album! These three guys bring a lot of gusto and led by the amazing Matthew Bellamy it seems everything Muse tries sounds pretty cool. I think it's an easy improvement over their debut album "Showbiz", and that one was pretty good too! How high can Muse climb?