If you ever wondered why I titled one of my blog labels “music nerd,” you’re about to find out....
I can’t give a simple answer if I’m asked who my favorite band or musical artist is. The handful of acts I feel the most passionate about are so different from each other it would be impossible for me to make a true comparison. But I can say that Queen has owned one of the top two or three spots since the summer of 1985.
I’ve made the point in a few music-related conversations over recent years that the band Muse sounds amazingly like Queen. From my observation the comparison is unavoidable: The vocal cadence of the singer; the choral background harmonies; the percussive rhythm guitar and piercing melodic solos; the experimental electronic touches; the self-indulgent bombastic flourishes that can sometimes drag an entire song into ridiculousness... it’s all there in both bands.
Muse is a really good band on their own, but for them to draw influence so heavily from Queen only makes me like them more. In fact I’d argue there are several songs by Muse that sound a lot like the music Queen would likely still be making today if The Greatest Singer In The History of Popular Music hadn’t died nearly twenty-two years ago. To help prove my point, I have another in my series of Top 10s today: The Top 10 songs by Muse that sound a lot like songs by Queen. I’m not saying they sound exactly alike, but if you were to listen any of these pairs back to back, I’m sure you’d hear the similarities. Categorized by the Titles of Muse songs, in alphabetical order:
“Apocalypse Please” by Muse, from the album Absolution / “Death on Two Legs” by Queen, from the album A Night at the Opera. Both dark, aggressive and somewhat angry.
“Falling Away with You” by Muse, from Absolution / “Long Away” by Queen from A Day at the Races. Mid-tempo songs that are fairly gentle compared to the signature sound of each band.
“Knights of Cydonia” by Muse from Black Holes and Revelations / “Ogre Battle” from Queen II. Loud and hard guitar epic fight songs.
“Madness” by Muse, from The 2nd Law / “I Want to Break Free” by Queen, from The Works. Similar cadences, similar melodies, similar instrumental solos bursting in out of nowhere.
“Panic Station” by Muse from The 2nd Law / “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen from The Game. Listen to the first five seconds of each and tell me I’m wrong.
“Soldier’s Poem” by Muse from Black Holes and Revelations / “My Melancholy Blues” by Queen from News of the World. A strength of both bands is that even if they have a definitive sound, they aren’t afraid to deviate from it. This pair of quiet ballads illustrates that well.
“Survival” by Muse from The 2nd Law / “The Show Must Go On” by Queen from Innuendo. It’s worth mentioning the irony of a song titled “Survival” sounding so much like the closing song on the last Queen album released before Freddie Mercury’s death. Musically and thematically, they are very much alike.
“Supermassive Black Hole” by Muse from Black Holes and Revelations / “Body Language” by Queen from Hot Space. Two bass-driven dance songs. If Brian May had remembered to plug in his guitar when “Body Language” was recorded, these songs would be almost interchangeable.
“Undisclosed Desires” by Muse from The Resistance / “You Don’t Fool Me” by Queen from Made in Heaven. Again with two songs a little outside of the box, and both with driving bass lines.
“United States of Eurasia / Collateral Damage” by Muse, from The Resistance. If you’ve ever heard this song before -- come on. Do I really need to offer a comparison to make the point?
I'm planning on seeing Muse perform later in the week and I'm looking forward to it. Their live shows are supposed to be huge spectacles and they have a depth of great songs. But you can bet I'll be digging out my old Queen t-shirt to wear that night.
