HULLABALOO SOUNDTRACK

On the first CD of this double packaged one, we'll get nothing than B-sides from Muse.

They can be divided into four categories :

1. The very poor ones (or even worse than that)

When you listen to "Forced In", you really wonder why such a crappy "song" is featured on an offical release. "Recess" is slightly better : a noisy ballad that is only worth being a B-side...ooooups ! It is a B-side ! Well I guess you have the point. "Yes Please" is a noisy and useless heavy-metal piece of music. Sounds as if Bellamy's voice has been computerized so that one can hardly understand anything form this "song". Very difficult to bear, even if I'm a Muse true fan.

2. The useless ones :

"Map Of Your Head" is a dull ballad. Nothing to do with "Unintended" of course. I just do not put it in the above category because it hurts no one to listen to this insipid track. "Ashamed" starts like a traditional Muse track (you know with those weird noises). The difference here is that this noise lasts for the whole song. Same vocal "effects" than on "Yes, Please". I would feel ashamed to offer this type of songs to my fans. "The Gallery" reminds me a bit "Tubular Bells", but this instrumental one is boring flat.

3. The average ones :

"Nature" is not per se a great piece of music. Just above average in this bunch of crap. Not essential for a penny but interesting for Muse maniacs. For the same reason, I would rank "Shine Acoustic" here. This very mellowish ballad is not that bad after all, but can hardly be considered as a jewel (but there are little B-side jewels in the rock history - although there are from time to time). Same applies to "Hyper Chondriac Music", a dull ballad all the way through. Same applies to "Hyper Chondriac Music", a boring acoustic version of "Hyper Music".

4. The good ONE (yes, only one)

"Shrinking Universe". It holds all the elements we like so much in Muse: a catchy melody and the so special (or irritating for the ones who do not like him) voice of Bellamy full of passion. This is a number that should have deserved to make an album appearance. But it is really the only one of these ten "songs"

As one could have anticipated (although Muse is so great at times) this first CD deserves only one star. What a waste of time to listen to this !

The second CD is the audio counterpart of the DVD "Live At The Zenith" (but shortened to eleven numbers). Since there is only one number that is featured here and not on the DVD ("Dark Shines") there is absolutely no reason to get hold of this double CD set. A waste of money, really. Get the DVD one and convert into audio if you want to listen to it in your car or when jogging. I will describe the DVD in the appropriate entry.

This is only for completionists. One star.

DOUBLE CAUTION

FYI, there is also a double CD sets called "Inspirations Part 1 & 2" with almost all the tracks present on the first CD, plus some live ones and alternative versions of better known Muse songs ("Muscle Museum" for instance featured ... three times. Do not fell in this trap, it is almost as crappy as this release. But at least it is not an official one, although the sound is pretty good. I wonder how they could get hold of these versions (maybe a technician during some rehearsals...).

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