'You'l burn in Hell' screams out utter hatred. A perfect example of that lies in Take a Bow, the album opener. However, sometimes, the simplicity works and the lyrics are delivered in such a way that all you sense is the utter power in Matt's voice. Most songs are simply written and leave a listener asking for more. Clich' lines are all over the album, especially in Supermassive Black Hole ('Ooh baby I'm a fool for no one, but ooh baby I'm a fool for you') and Invincible ('Together we're invincible'). Repetition is used heavily here, especially in songs such as Starlight and Map of the Problematique. The political stance is not what lets down here. There are no direct Bush (or Blair, for that matter) bashings. However, this fits the concept in such a way that it isn't as annoying as, say, American Idiot. He, like so many other artists, takes a political stance.

The real downfall on this album is Matt's lyrics. Of course, the main Muse instrumentation is still here, guitar, bass and drums, but the guitar sits in the back for nearly half of the album. Gone are the huge piano epics and in are synthesizers, operatic strings, and trumpet solos. Everything from Queen-style vocal arrangements to songs akin to Nancy Sinatra to a dance-pop single (much to the demise of many Muse fans), Black Holes and Revelations is unlike any other previous Muse effort. While it's no Kid A, Black Holes and Revelations dabbles in some experimentation of its own. However, the largest progression made on this album is the musical progression. Black Holes and Revelations refers to times in history where all hell is about to break loose, tensions building and people protesting. Absolution, an album revolving around the apocalypse, started this style of album making Muse has discovered. Both albums, while they aren't really concept albums, do have a concept and a point to the entire album, rather than a dozen songs recorded in a certain amount of time.

Moving down the Radiohead timeline, the next two albums are Ok Computer and Kid A. Sure, each album had a distinct sound, but they did not have a distinct purpose. The first two, Pablo Honey and The Bends, were more compilations of songs without a defining concept behind the entire album. Take a look at Radiohead's first 4 albums. While Muse certainly stepped out of their 'Radiohead clone' days with Origin of Symmetry, their musical evolution seems to be following a Radiohead path, in a way that appears to be unintended.

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