Once derided as poor Radiohead imitators Muse have taken a New Labour type swing into the centre ground once held by Thom and co as the ‘Head take to the obscure climes of the far-out-write(rs). Vote for Muse. Vote for melancholy overblown guitar rock epics. Vote for melancholy overblown guitar rock epics you can enjoy listening to.

Both singles are here, "New Born" tinkling it’s ice palace piano, and "Plug In Baby" putting a musical drill through your temporal lobe. Beyond that it’s altogether more complex. "Micro Cuts" needs an opera to fit around it, so big is it’s chorus, so classical it’s vocal, and so Bohemian Rhapsody it’s peaks and troughs. "Citizen Erased" starts like a Coal Chamber outtake, though with the trademark Muse vocal admittedly, providing just enough nu-metal for one album (there are only so many ways you can play the low e string, Linkin’ Park et al please note). The other tracks develop through obscurely angled takes on indie, classical, and rock elements to create a very v-a-s-t-e album indeed (even in their cover of "Feeling Good").

Muse make no apologies for believing in melody, for installing movements into songs as if it were a classical piece, or for taking way beyond five minutes to get their meaning across when necessary.

The NME has probably called them "the best band in Britain" at some point, but I’ll just settle to say it’s very very good and (and I whisper this) better than Amnesiac and Kid A put together.