Muse - Hullabaloo - Live At The Zenith Paris DVD > Reviews > The Perfect Advertisement For Pre-Absolution Muse

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Soundtrack	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	Muse at their best, lengthy set
Disadvantages:	Strange camera work

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Filmed in October 2001, Hullabaloo features Muse's famous performance at Le Zenith in France. The DVD was recorded from footage taken over two nights and merged together to create a concert which without knowing beforehand, feels like one gig on it's own.

It's worth noting that there are NO songs from Absolution on this DVD. Absolution was released two years after the filming and the songs are from OOS and Showbiz. Also, look out for the fantastic "Dead Star" and "In Your World" which were released as a double A side. They never found their way on to a studio album, and the live performances on this DVD make you wonder why. They're both incredible songs and some of Muse's finest work to date.

When i first watched this concert though, i was a little disappointed. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the performance itself. Matt, Chris and Dom are in top form throughout. However, the camerawork is so frenetic that it would be no exaggeration to suggest that the pictures skips enough to render you in to an epileptic fit. There's some fine shots in the production, but rarely do you get a chance to enjoy them before it cuts to another angle. If you're holding a party and enjoying the music alone, that shouldn't be a problem. If you'd like to take in the concert at a rate that isn't going to make your eyes bleed, you might want to look away.

On the subject of camera angles, there's an inventive view of Mister Bellamy's left nostril which proves quite interesting. Why the team felt the need to attach a camera to the microphone is anybody's guess, but it's an unusual shot to put it lightly.

Musically, these guys are in a league of their own when it comes to live performances. Nobody can touch Muse at this moment in time when it comes to putting on a show, and Hullabaloo captures them in their prime. It's amazing that a band who'd only recorded two studio albums at the time could put together a seventeen song set and have it sound as brilliant as this.

The band play a spectacular rendition of Citizen Erased which is for my money, one of the finest rock songs to come out of the last decade. Bellamy works his usual magic with Yorke-esque falsettoes backed up by genius work on the guitar and keyboards. Citizen Erased highlights this to the extreme, it's just a fantastic song.

Other standout tracks include the opener Dead Star, the incredible New Born, Muscle Museum and a beautiful version of much forgotten love ballad, Unintended. If you're a fan of earlier Muse albums, you'll absolutely adore Hullabaloo since it brings out the very best of the band before they escalated in to almost operatic rock.

The band do a superb job timing the set to perfection. It's nice to see the tracks from Showbiz showcased alongside the heavier OOS material. As touring for their fourth album gets underway, we can expect to see classis such as Muscle Museum and Cave only on rare occasions - both are featured on Hullabaloo and it's easy to see just what shot Muse in to being one of Europe's premier bands in the first place.

Extras wise, there's a documentary on the second disk which features strange cuttings of clips and random extracts of the band touring. If you've seen Radiohead's "Meeting People Is Easy" documentary, think something along those lines, although not quite as stylish. There is however, a hilarious clip of Dom impersonating Slipknot. Funny stuff, but lets face it, you're only going to enjoy the documentary if you're a die hard Muse fan. Several of their B sides act as a soundtrack to the visuals, and it provides a nice insight in to touring with the guys. But it's not worth the price of the DVD alone. If you're buying this, it'll be for the gig itself. In that case, you won't be disappointed.

If you're a new Muse fan and your main experience of them is through listening to Absolution, i'd recommend that you purchase the Origin of Symmetry album before this. If you like what you hear, it's worth the price. I'm not too fond of Absolution personally, yet i'm a huge fan of the older material, this DVD was perfect for me.

Also, look out for Muse's new album in May 2006. Having heard a few of the proposed songs, it sounds extremely promising.