MUSE are now officially massive so this, unsurprisingly, is a bit of a big tune as well!
'Knights Of Cydonia' is a seven minute slice of operatic rock, the third & also the biggest chunk of the Brit-nominated 'Black Holes and Revelations' album earmarked for release as a single – though it's edited down a touch to just short of five minutes here.
Vibrating and whistling into view like a cross between a classic Western theme and a demented rock opera, it gathers momentum with a long intro, big-time drum fills and distorted harmonies, compressed and filed alongside the gradual build of a machine driven pulse.
The chunky guitar overdubs fairly gallop alongside the heightening sense of chaos, but how they keep their faces straight I don't know – the overblown soul-free posturing is shameless, a pantomime recreation of prog rock's highlights – it would not sound out of place in a West End show, or the early Seventies, but despite the obvious quality as far as musicianship is concerned, it's a big old empty shell despite the intensity of the perpetual build up.
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When you're writing 'em to order and there is dosh at stake, then this is what happens. Sorry.
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