I saw them this evening at the United Center in Chicago. Hands down the best live show I've ever been to. There are musicians, and there are people like Matt Bellamy. He was pieced together in a secret facility from the parts of dead virtuosos and has a single purpose on this Earth: to rock in ways unprecedented.
Black Holes and Revelations is a phenomenal album, but my personal favorite is Absolution, like everyone else who's heard it. You won't hear me say things like "best" in terms of Muse's albums because each one is very, very well crafted and extremely skillfully done. Absolution does gets to the core of me, with the dirty bass lines and metal-inspired heavily modulated guitar riffs, coupled with Bellamy's incredible vocals. Even the ballads like Sing for Absolution just grip me.
My conceptions of their talent, however, were vastly under appreciative until I saw them live tonight. The live album they released two years ago does a little to key you in to the type of talent they possess when improvising. I'm hardly questioning myself by saying that Bellamy is, in my opinion, the most creative and overall most entertaining guitarist in the business.
Umphreys are pretty rad. I got exposed to them because my physics teacher in high school's husband was their touring videographer, and she's known them since high school. She's a staple at all their Chicago area gigs. Their guitarist (don't know his name) is crazy good.
