Muse

Belgium is the New York of Europe.That's my conclusion. Arty, experimental,tinged with punk rock attitude and velvet cool, I wasn't aware of Venus before today, my only windows into Belgium being the fineries of dEUS and The Evil Superstars. Tom Waits groovy, Miranda Sex Garden ethereal, sometimes verging on 'Not a Love Song' PiL, sonically splendid, melodically beautiful with an array of cellos and violins to compliment the rock staple guitarbassdrums. One of those bands that you see live and, while thinking it brilliant, yearn to hear it recorded. When they play in the UK worth seeking out, like those other Belgians...

It made me wonder - Europe's music scene thrives under our very nose while in little England....

Six months ago I liked the inventiveness of UK Garage and the R&B sounds,It's gone nowhere and I'm bored already.....

Since Radiohead lost their edge in a soup of pompous flatulence I'd lost all faith in rock. Travis popped up, like Louis Cypher in Angel Heart, nice and charming and sweet, but ultimately satan. US Rock and Metal tries to stick up the middle finger of credibility, but behind the facade all I see is factory bred mass produced corporate angst....

....Been fed up with the UK and out of touch for a while, and so I've not known that Muse were press darlings. Heard 'Unintended' on the Radio and thought it was like old Radiohead, but better... and here I am...kind of

fresh to it...met the band and they were all really nice people, and now I get to see them play.

...and from the moment thay walk on to the stage they kick ass like Rage Against the Machine and Helmet meets Jeff Buckley with Tom Waits as an occasional Dr Jekyll.... Riff riff thunder lightning drama like Wagner,crunch, calm moments then explosions, flurries of classical melodies,howling beauty rage .... the sheer power of this band needs to be seen. Fuck reading the press. The whole record industry wrote Muse off until they had

gone to the US and got signed to Maverick, and (just like the way Radiohead were treated) now it's ass-kissing central. Yeah there are Radiohead comparisons, but it's like comparing an old MG to a new TVR. Radiohead are looking rusty and flabby, and Muse are lean, mean, and they REALLY shift when they put their foot down.It's pretty dark, sometimes kind of scary, you

wonder what memories Matt Bellamy has to dig up to transcend that skinny body, and project the thunderstorms....

but.... y'know

when all is said and done...

what a BRILLIANT rock band.

The PERFECT Storm.