When Muse released their debut album Showbiz in 1999, the Radiohead and Jeff Buckley comparison were unavoidable. Lumped in with Coldplay, Paloalto, Ours, and other bands whose male vocalists utilized a falsetto, the band never actually quite fit in, and their tragectory in the 2000s is evidence they were thinking bigger. While so many music critics were happy to cast aspersions of Matthew Bellamy for his vocal approach, the actual music got less attention than it deserved. Only a three piece, the rhythm section of bassist Chris Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard were largely overlooked, which is a shame. Plenty has been written about Bellamy's vocals, but combined with the melodic basslines often harmonizing with with the vocal, or the variety in Howard's playing, that slyly incorporates non-rock rhythms like on the tango-influenced "Uno," the band is much more adventurous than any of its contemporaries.
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