Muse

Muse is a band you either love or hate. Although born in the same gloomy environs as Radiohead, Muse enjoys more rock kick. Its stadium-size roar is like British prog (see King Crimson/ELP) filtered through the cheesy melodrama of Coldplay. But if you let it, the epic sweep of the opulent arrangements, coupled with the lyrics' broad emotional appeals, will suck you in. On some level, of course, it's ridiculous, but so is sci-fi, and that doesn't prevent it from being entertaining.

On its latest, Black Holes and Revelations, Muse perfects its elegant, melancholic sound. Oceanic melodies swell to the very limits of pomposity on the album-closing single "Knights of Cydonia," which opens with galloping horses charging into an elegiac chorus, over eerie organ peals that culminate in an endless guitar solo.