SHOWBIZ

Muse's debut album was a modest affair - the classical music influence which would enter into their sound in a major way on Origin of Symmetry had not yet manifested, and the band spend most of the album playing fuzzed out, punkish versions of a particular aspect of Radiohead's sound, occupying a space somewhere between The Bends and OK Computer.

A few flashes of originality manifest here and there - Matt Bellamy was a great vocalist even on this debut, and his forceful guitar work has more muscle behind it than anything Radiohead had wheeled out to this point - and that's just enough to turn this album into an interesting and entertaining listen which builds on the Radiohead sound as opposed to the slavish imitation it's often written off as. Nonetheless, it's still a little rough around the edges and though it does represent a departure from simple imitation, the band still haven't arrived somewhere useful at this point and Origin of Symmetry is where they really start to bring it all together.