It shouldn't
be allowed, of course. Counting a debut EP that was so limited edition
the band themselves probably don't have a copy, this is the third
(third!) time 'Muscle Museum' has been released. If Whitney Houston
went about selling records like that, there'd be a public lynching.
Still, people have been slow to realise what an important band we
have in MUSE - a band who are not even close to fulfilling their true
potential - and if it takes 'Muscle Museum' to make them realise,
it should be out every second week.
It's also truly the mark of a great song that, after all these releases,
'Muscle Museum' still sounds wondrous. Like (gulp) Radiohead before
them, there's a ragged fury to it that can only be refined and turned
razor-sharp-dangerous with time.
This single is a good place to begin your love affair with MUSE. It
could be the anthem of every struggling band who've ever faced discouragement,
a furious, spitting, bitter riposte to those who never want anyone
to do anything out of the ordinary. Such anger could never be born
from anything but true experience (though singer Matt Bellamy won't
explain further), and there's a real vindictive snarl to some lines
here: "I have played in every toilet/But you still want to spoil
it/To prove I've made a big mistake".
This is revenge in action. A two-fingered salute to everyone who still
doesn't believe. An intrinsic promise that MUSE won't stop until they've
forced you to understand.
Siobhan Grogan