MUSE - Absolution

I am a Christian and I am a music buff. I perhaps should more accurately say that I am a music buff who is a Christian. Yesterday I was getting into some old Christian Rock music by:

Phil Keaggy - If Paul McCartney was a Christian and one of the five best guitarists in the world, this is who he would be. Phil's band played in Madison Square Garden when he was just a teenager. Eric Clapton once said he thought the best two guitarists in the world were Phil Keaggy and Joe Walsh. Crimson and Blue is one of his rockier recent albums.

I saw him jam out with his old Glass Harp band back in Ohio in 2003. Phil was billed alone and played for maybe a half hour, then his old bandmates appeared on stage and they jammed for over an hour. It was amazing!

Jeff Scheetz - Jeff has licks like Stevie Ray but likes to mix in some Hendrix/Trower/Claptonesque rock riffs as well. Beggars, Rogues & Thieves is the bluesiest stuff I have heard him do.

Angelica - Dennis Cameron an unknown guitar viruoso. "Cover Me" is one of my all-time favorite rock songs. Rock, Stock & Barrel hits the spot.

Barren Cross - Lumbering arena raucous rockers. I was jamming to the Rock For The King album.

BUT

My incredibly cute and cool wife and I also get into other musical genres. She gets into listening to cd's while she walks on the treadmill and wanted me to just sit down and listen to her two recent favorites. So we put some sports on TV with the sound off and cranked up the Bose to about 79 or so...

The Killers - Hot Fuss

This is just an interesting album. I had listened to it before and probably mentioned it previously. You really listen to the words and realize that The Killers is an appropriate name, at least in the context of this album.

Muse - Absolution

Are you kidding me??? Granted, I am a fan of Radiohead. But this album (Absolution) just hit me in the guts, like the first time I listened to In The Court Of The Crimson King! Radiohead wishes they had made something this good. I suppose you label it progressive rock. Most progressive rock hasn't been as smart and musically correct as this. It is evocative of anthem rock and classical compositions but yet avoids being copycat. Absolution is a complete work, a symphony, brilliant and loud. You don't bother to even play it at anything but high decibels or you miss the full effect.

Some of the lyrics just blow me away:

Eerie whispers
trapped beneath my pillow
won't let me sleep
your memories

and I know you're in this room
I'm sure I heard you sigh
Floating in between
where our worlds collide

scares the hell out of me
and the end is all I can see
and it scares the hell out of me
and the end is all I can see

and I know the moment's near
and there's nothing you can do
look through a faithless eye
are you afraid to die?


or

I think I'm drowning
Asphyxiated
I wanna break this spell
That you've created

You're something beautiful
A contradiction
I wanna play the game
I want the friction

You will be the death of me
You will be the death of me

Bury it
I won't let you bury it
I won't let you smother it
I won't let you murder it

Our time is running out
Our time is running out
You can't push it underground
You can't stop it screaming out


Really, if you are not simply unable to listen to anything other that the standard fare playing on your local FM station, go get Absolution somehow and listen!!!