Despite their vibrant youth and abundant talent, English alternative rock band Muse really only came to the spotlight when their song “Knights of Cydonia” was featured in 2007’s “Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.” Since then, their music has become incredibly popular in the United States. Their last album, “Black Holes & Revelations,” was essentially critically panned in the United States, despite high sales. Critics enjoyed the songs, but blasted the band as a whole for its repetitive style. I regret to say that this particular problem is not solved in “The Resistance,” their newest release.

I must say I have mixed feelings about the latest offering by Muse. The material is highly political, almost anarchic in theme. And that is part of the problem. Since the music is highly similar to previous work from Muse, it all came down to the lyrics to make or break this album. And a large portion of the lyrics were poor. The best description I can give “The Resistance” is “a soundtrack to revolution.” A violent and regrettable revolution.

The track “Uprising” opens the album with the same hard rock guitar lines and soaring space keyboards that have come to define Muse’s sound. Guitarist and lead singer Matt Bellamy’s distorted vocals enter, protesting his leaders and attempting to unite his fellows. He sings with such passion that it sounds as if he actually were oppressed by a tyrannical leader. As soon as the band hits the final chord, it fades out into a warped synthesizer line and occasional drum pound until “Resistance” begins with a soft piano melody. Bellamy begins softly singing his heartbreaking lyrics until suddenly the drums pound and the music becomes harder. The chorus becomes something of a call and response between Bellamy and his band mates. It’s just hard enough to be a hard rocker, and just soft enough to be power ballad.

And that’s about where the creativity ends for this album. “Undisclosed Desires” is a shoddy rocker with trite lyrics, and “United States of Eurasia” is pushing it, even for a shamelessly political band such as Muse. Apparently they notice this and try to atone by modeling it after Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and placing a somber instrumental at the end. “Guiding Light” is a love ballad that would be more enjoyable if “Resistance” weren’t vastly superior. “Unnatural Selection” was really one of the most irritating songs on the album, due to its attempt at an epic sound by using a pump organ to begin a hard rock call for violent solutions to political problems. “MK Ultra” once again attempts to produce an epic political song, but this time it lures you into a false sense of security by starting out with a verse characterized by lunar imagery, only to shatter preconceptions with a dry, and by this point, clichéd, call for unity against the unnamed oppressive force. The album’s saving grave however, comes in the form of the last three tracks, which are actually three parts of one song. “Exogenesis Symphony” is an almost fifteen minute long epic of instrumental songwriting. The lyrics aren’t very good, but that isn’t what the song is about. It’s the music. If you listen to nothing else from “The Resistance,” please listen to “Exogenesis Symphony.”

All in all, “The Resistance” is nothing special. The music has been done before and the lyrics are bland and disagree just for the sake of being disagreeable. If you’re looking for an angry album with piercing falsetto vocals and fat, distorted guitars and bass, look no further. But if you’re looking for a solid rock album with an important message, just stroll right by this one in the record store.