Muse might need a reintroduction, especially for a whole generation of music lovers. Mind you, they are already legends in their own right. They were the first rock band to sell out the new Wembley Stadium with their performance. With the style that has blended some of the finest sub-genres of rock and a simulation-heavy theme, the band has always been at the fore of creating incredible narratives and storylines. After 2022’s Will of the People, a certain hope was retained back in this band’s powers. Welcome to The Wow! Signal.
Living, through fiction
Leave it to Matt Bellamy to find something interesting and expand it into a whole new universe of fan fiction. In August of 1977, Ohio State University’s radio telescope picked up a 72-second radio signal from Sagittarius. It matched the existing profile of an extraterrestrial transmission, which Jerry R. Ehman circled and wrote Wow! in the margin. It has neither been explained nor identified and is the strongest alien signal that has ever been detected. Like the magazine The Guardian pointed out, there seemed to be a new tidal wave of conspiracy elements in most of Muse’s music. However, I have always seen it as Bellamy devoting himself to a fictional world rather than what is around simply for the sake of the fantastical themes that he can explore.
Did this work on Simulation Theory? Not very well. The album was mistimed with what was going on with the government. The music was way too synth-heavy and lacked Bellamy’s nature of bringing sudden operatic elements or unpredictable arrangements. But something has changed with The Wow! Signal. Bellamy opens the track with a brand new philosophical foundation and perhaps a hard reset from Will of the People. The Dark Forest has the chugging, galloping sound like Knights of Cydonia while still setting a foundation for what you are going to be hearing on the album. Though the opening is latent with previous songs that have been hits, what it does is become a core for Nightshift Superstar. Bellamy’s vocals are as great as ever, comfortably gliding on the high notes while punching through the theme with his sharp lyricism.
We’re going heavy now
Continuing from The Will of the People. Bellamy is now kicking in harder, heavier riffs and leaning into the synth and metal combination. Remember this was a band that could make stadium anthems like nobody else and resonated with a whole other generation of rock music lovers. Chris Wolstenholme shines as usual with his funky overdrive bass that sets a groove like no one else in rock. Who can say Muse doesn’t write spaced-out synthwave ballads anymore? Matt Bellamy does precisely that. With the following track, Shimmering Scars, sure, it’s not as great as some of the real tearjerkers he’s been able to write from The Resistance, but they are a huge step up from the previous three albums. It’s a return to hope for one of rock’s most promising bands.
Old glory returns in parts
Though I am not someone who compares albums to albums, this collection as a whole seems more cohesive than ever. There is no point looking at Muse songs as single releases. Each song weaves perfectly into the tapestry of what Bellamy is trying in the current album. Though the previous album didn’t really have many stand out tracks, that has changed with The Wow! Signal. I suddenly remember this YouTube comment when Cryogen starts playing. It is one of the most listened-to singles on the album and for good reason. It sounds like evil Plug in Baby, someone said, and I couldn’t agree more. This is the second song in the album that borrows from previous successes and uses them as a foundation to bring that nostalgia swing while giving us signature Bellamy.
It’s nice to take a predictable chord progression and make something that will move audiences. Be With You is one of those songs that might have a darker theme but keeps that human emotive element to it alive. Muse might not need those orchestral, triple-layered Genesis-like prog rock numbers to get ears on them anymore. It’s also great that they have thought in detail and collaborated with Ellie Goulding for a song that might not be the best on the album but definitely is one of the highs. There is no doubt that Unraveling is their best song on the album. It’s not just the listens that define this but the way Matt has composed the song in signature Muse style.
Return to form in art
If the previous few Muse albums have been less than mediocre, this rises back to decent Muse territory with some good tracks. Even though it has a solid theme to build a narrative on, it might be the repeated saturation of such compositions that makes this album shine but with dull spots. There’s definitely a whole new polish to it, and it does not sound as overproduced as Simulation Theory. People seem to forget that Muse had a decent uprising in their 2022 album. Comparison might be the thief of joy, but nobody asked Matt and Co. to make the 2000s their little bitch. Now everything is compared to their latest few albums, which they have never been able to undercut.
Like all Muse albums, the storyline behind the WOW signal remains watertight. The leaks come in with weaker singles that are scattered through the album, latching on to previous glory from a younger Matt Bellamy. However, it’s easy to be critical when the band is trying something new while adding on to their collection that was steadily declining. Muse is rising, and we will be there to witness its glory:
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