rob, I know what you mean by Absolution being a wearying listen. I like almost all of the songs on it a lot, but from start to finish, it comes off as a collection of songs rather than a well-flowing record, and the sound of it is a bit annoying. Okay, most Muse albums reek of compression (damn Loudness Wars), but it is the most noticeably distracting on Absolution. I can barely stomach the studio version of Stockholm Syndrome anymore since it is absolutely buried in compression. Many compressed songs sound like you are listening to a song with a blanket over your speakers; Stockholm Syndrome sounds like three blankets are over your speakers. I almost always listen to the live version from the Glastonbury show (that was on the Absolution tour DVD as an extra, that I ripped the audio from) rather than the studio version.
But again, it's not like I don't really like it; I do! I just wish it sounded better. I hope that they re-release all of their albums someday to be more audio-friendly.
That could very well be it! I've not quite been able to put my finger on it, because the album's full to the brim with great songs. It's hit after hit after hit. In fact, I'd say the only song I don't have much time for is Ruled by Secrecy, and even that's got the intense piano bit. By the time I was hitting The Small Print the other day, though, it felt like it'd been on for about an hour.
The songs are good, the content's good, there's not a single track I wouldn't be stoked to see live. Butterflies & Hurricanes, in particular, is among my favourite songs of all time. But to hear it coming, song after song after song... it's relentless. And yeah, I'd say that could very well be down 50:50 to the structure and the production.
To contrast it with Black Holes, I've always felt that Black Holes is very well structured. It comes in distinct chapters - it has acts. Starlight goes well into Supermassive goes well into Map. Soldiers Poem and Invincible are a duo, that end "side one." Side two has a spaghetti western feel from the top of Assassin right to the last chord of Knights of Cydonia. With Absolution, though, each successive song is its own chapter. It's hit after hit after hit - and that might be the problem. Fantastic content, top notch music, but I don't enjoy the
album as much as I feel I should. Add the claustrophobia of a very dense sound, and that might be exactly what's going on.