I have Showbiz and Origin of Symmetry and enjoy them both. Haven't kept up with them at all though. Anything worth checking out on their last 4 albums?

nope.

absolution is decent but after that i lost interest in them.

Absolution and Black Holes are both pretty solid but The Resistance is a huge and steaming pile of shit. I'm ashamed I spent money on it.

round out your collection with Absolution and Black Holes then stop

yeah absolution is nice, MUCH better than showbiz. but beside of 'o.o.s.' that's it.

This band is huge though, right? What's the appeal to the masses? (never heard them)

U2/Coldplay/Oasis style Big Sounds. Absolution is pretty damn good.

I guess I thought they were heavier than those bands. Five minutes on youtube would probably answer these questions, right?

Saw them open for U2 in DC when that song on their latest record was blossoming. People were going nuts over them. Personally, I'm not a big fan. Come to think of it, that was the 2nd time I saw them--first was on the "Curiosa" tour, and they were playing a side stage. Didn't impress then either. Definitely remember people complaining that they were Radiohead knockoffs.

Other than 3 or 4 songs on Black Holes and Revelations, Absolution is the last good set they had. I thought their last one was an abomination.

This is what brought them back to my attention. I had completely forgotten about them. I was talking to someone who's not "one of us" and she said one of her fav bands is Muse. I was like "guuhh?"

I still dig their first three records. After Absolution, I really stopped caring. It's unfortunate, but Showbiz, OoS, and Absolution still get play 'round these parts.

I don't agree with any of these comparisons. remember queen, that's the root of their "big sound". they worked that out later but now it's like a rip-off.

They blew up with Black Holes. Tons of singles with heavy commercial airplay. The first few albums were basically non-existent to the general populace and, for all intents and purposes, probably still are.

Absolution is a fantastic album. OOS is great. Showbiz and Black Holes are just okay. And, I haven't even listened to anything other than that leak of the first awful single from their most recent album.

The first and last time I saw Muse was the Curiosa tour (I had just missed Mogwai) and they were pretty much the highlight of the evening, but I had no real desire to see them again. The Rapture was ok, Interpol was decent and The Cure, I just walked out on because they were so fucking boring.

But yeah, Muse is pretty big worldwide and is one of the headliners for this year's ACL Fest. Pretty much because they put on a spectacle of a show and write "big" songs. The fact that The Temper Trap have played a few shows with Muse make a lot of sense.

saw them when showbiz was out, they sucked...they got even bigger, they sucked even more.

terrible.

Around OoS, I remember the CMJ mag calling them "Jeff Buckley fronting Radiohead." Because of that, Absolution was a lot crunchier than I expected, and I've grown to like them and Black Holes over time. Following Stu's point, mainstream rock fans over here often hail them as one of the best live bands going, and a buddy of mine offered me a spare ticket to their show last Friday. Had other plans, but I'll see them someday.

I saw them at the UNC-Charlotte bball arena a few years back and they definitely have a powerful sound live. They were good. I haven't really listened to them too much since, though.

I saw them a couple of times live, until absolution, and that was pretty impressive for only three guys on stage. and they had that funny balloon thing during the encore all the time.

Or Thom Yorke fronting Coldplay.

thom yorke fronting coldplay doing overwrought broadway numbers.