HULLABALOO SOUNDTRACK

Muse's Hullabaloo is a 2CD set combining a good but not earthshaking live set on disc 2 with a collection of B-sides from the Showbiz and Origin of Symmetry eras on disc 1. The B-side collection, sadly, is pretty rubbish; some British bands of the era took pride in their B-sides, often crafting songs which outshone some of their album material and A-sides and turning each single of theirs into a sort of mini-EP. (Suede, in particular, put out so many excellent B-sides that the Sci-Fi Lullabies compilation is regarded by some fans as being their best album.)

Muse, it's safe to say, most likely were not one of those bands; the B-sides collected here are a pale imitation of Muse at best, with the occasional song which might have been interesting if they had put a bit more effort into it - but because they seemed to regard B-sides as a mildly absurd requirement put on them by the music industry, they didn't make the effort.

On the whole, the album combines a three star live disc with a one or two star B-sides collection. To be honest, there is absolutely no point owning this since you can get a DVD of the live performance and the HAARP set is a better live CD anyway.