Muse, the band best known for its participation in the “Twilight” soundtrack, released a new album, “The Resistance,” on Sept. 15.

I like Muse. Over the last 10 years, Muse has slowly grown from the band only your super-weird brother knows about to the band that earns multimillion dollar recording deals, lands itself in a soundtrack and makes frequent appearances on the radio – both top 40 and alternative. I approached the new album with the hope that Muse wouldn’t let me down, and I think Muse does all right.

As a band, Muse relies on heavy techno-bass lines and screaming guitars to distinguish itself. The only way that I could put it in terms most can relate to is by saying Muse is a mixture of Green Day and Metro Station but even that comparison doesn’t really suffice.

The opening track to the album is called “Uprising.” It’s awesome. It is simply the raddest song of the season. I mean, if album-opening tracks were members of the opposite sex, going on a date with this opener would make you fall in love, because its awesomeness is simply beyond description. The song opens by establishing the beat and the bass line, which anchors the whole song. Singing synthesizers enter and establish a psychedelic, neo-rock feel. The song builds and builds and builds to the chorus, and then the best hook I’ve heard in a song all year long slams down with righteous impunity. It’s so cool. If you listen to this song two or three times, you’ll be humming it in your head and jamming to it all day long. It’s that addictive. It’s even more addictive than “I Kissed a Girl,” by Katy Perry. I love it.

The second track is the title track to the album. It has a different tone to it than “Uprising.” The beginning establishes a gloomy, mid-’80s tragic love song feel, but it transitions soon enough to a quicker, more upbeat tempo, and less of a grunge, techno feel. This is more of your U2-style rock song. The chorus is by far the best part of this song. The song has a great hook and is a refreshing change of pace from the first track. But it isn’t nearly as good as “Uprising.” Even as this is read, I am still in shock with the sheer rock glory of the first track.

The part of “Resistance” that I don’t like is the backup vocal line and the ending. It’s kind of juvenile, but the quality doesn’t detract at all from the chorus and doesn’t hurt the hook. I’ll let it slide this once, I suppose. Also, the ending of the song could come a bit sooner before going into a load of ephemeral storm sound effects. I really think it’s unnecessary and distracting.

If you were looking for Muse to broaden its horizons, the band has. The third and fourth tracks start with piano and strings, which is not something Muse is known for very much at all. Minor chords abound, and though the electro style make short appearances, it’s safe to say Muse has found itself a different niche. The fourth track, “The United States of Eurasia,” sounds like Queen. Progressing track by track, the musical style and feel of the album becomes more and more clear. This is a sciency, spacey, dark, sort of “Here comes Darth Vader to take over the world” kind of feel. The album is loaded with tragedy, as if it was in memorial of what used to be a much simpler world.

I was not expecting a tragedy. I was expecting a victory. I fully expected to hear loads of melt-your-face-off rock songs á là “Supermassive Black Hole,” “Black Holes and Revelations” and other big Muse hits, but they opt for tragic techno-ballads and off-the-wall nonprogressive tunes. I felt kind of let down, to be honest. I couldn’t really find anything to connect with in the album excepting two songs: “Uprising,” and “Exogenesis: Symphony.”

The sixth track, “Unnatural Selection,” is just weird. Muse mixes a variety of styles into “Unnatural Selection,” making the song sound (wouldn’t you know it) unnatural. Yet, the song works. The change of pace certainly catches the ear. This song will probably fall off by the wayside for everyone except the ardent Muse fan, but I think it’s OK. It’s just weird enough to be somewhat cool. However, I will probably change my mind on that. Don’t quote me.

“Unnatural Selection” also serves the purpose of warming up for “MK Ultra,” the last good lyrical track. “MK” is definitely a return to basics for Muse, arcing melodies, strong guitar riffs and a strong base line bring out the best of the song. I think this song has potential, but it doesn’t have a strong hook and is nowhere near as good as “Uprising.”

Muse wraps up the lyrical portion of the album with “I Belong to You (+Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix).” All that French stuff following the English title of the song may confuse you. Trust me, it confuses me too. After an upbeat entrance in English, the song turns all dark and goes French. Eventually, it reverts back to the upbeat style, but I think the French portion of it sours the song. I can’t fault Muse for its consistency. Most of the songs seem to do what this one does: start quick, slow down, end quick. If not that, then the song will start slow, get fast, then end slow. The biggest exception is “Unnatural Selection,” which really just goes all over the place.

Muse ends its album with a symphony called “Exogenesis.” It works for the album and lays down a nice finishing touch. The symphony is 13 minutes long and split into three tracks: “Overture,” “Cross-Pollination” and “Redemption.”

I think this symphony really redeems the middle portion of the album. Muse drops few lyrics in this symphony but combines vocal tones with electric guitar and stringed instruments. It’s music that would do well enough standing alone without any lyrical presence at all. By no means will you ever hear it on the radio, but this music is beautiful, epic and powerful.

–la.hem@aggiemail.usu.edu