Recorded June 16, 2007, the HAARP CD is Muse's second live album. Anyone that listened to 2002's Hullabaloo was likely underwhelmed. Though it had that jaw-dropping Tom Waits intro, it ran somewhat short at 11 tracks and included lame b-sides "Agitated" and "In Your World". Having released two hugely successful albums since then, the Muse catalogue and live show have become legendary. I, for one, have seen them four times. It was high time their show was captured again.
After a fairly lame string intro, Muse follow Black Holes and Revelations tour orthodoxy and launch into the Guitar Hero wankery that is "Knights of Cydonia". They end, of course, with the stillborn "Take A Bow". In between, they do a pleasant range of songs from Origin of Symmetry, Absolution, and Black Holes and even include "Unintended" from debut Showbiz. It is well that they recorded a British show (with 90,000 close friends in attendance) as they tended to skimp on material pre-Absolution and a slow song like "Unintended" would be unheard of.
Their live reputation is well-served here, with every song played with ecstatic gusto. "New Born" and "Stockholm Syndrome" are quite unique live, taking on extended guitar solos, stretching out even longer than "Knights of Cydonia". Don't miss the end of "Knights" careening right into the hammer-on bass riff of "Hysteria". The presentation is way over the top and Muse are a spectacle not to be missed.
The source material has gotten decidedly weaker since Hullabaloo, with concise riff-based songs like "Plug In Baby" and "Citizen Erased" giving way to the synth- and pedal-laden radio singles "Knights of Cydonia" and "Invincible". As Matt Bellamy pushes farther off into bizarre keyboard sounds and wild guitar effects, his songwriting becomes increasingly mundane, with spacey verses giving way to familiar chorus hooks. While clearly an affinity for the Tom Morello and Kurt Cobain riffs still exists (not to mention Bach and Rachmaninoff), Muse are increasingly becoming a caricature of themselves, with 70s corporate rock songwriting hidden just beneath the web of conspiracies and UFOs.
Still, "Supermassive Black Hole" may have just breathed some creative life back into the band, where they take on Prince-like slinkyness and let dancing replace moshing. Will they continue to evolve into a dance/glam act, reclaim their roots, or just careen off into Foreigner territory? This fantastic live set could be their zenith. If so, let us revel.
7.9/10.0
-RJR
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