Herald Express 1999-10-14 – Muse blitz spin-off hope grows for Teignmouth
This transcription may be inaccurate as we have not seen an original copy.
Muse blitz spin-off hope grows for Teignmouth
Media hype is good news for home town
It's make or break time for the South Devon rockers tipped for the top. Former Teignmouth schoolboys Muse have just released their first album, Showbiz, and big things are hoped for it. The trio have been signed up by Madonna's Maverick label in the USA in a million-dollar deal, and a big publicity and marketing campaign is now underway to try to ensure that vital initial breakthrough into the charts. If some of the pundits are right and Muse do make it, they will be the first Devon group to achieve national, and maybe even international stardom for 30 years.
And any success will also have a huge publicity spin-off for Teignmouth, despite the lads slagging off the old home town as "a living hell"! Their profile has rocketed after a blitz of reviews and promotions in the national mediaand the famous three, Chris Wolstenholme, Matt Bellamy and Dominic Howard, have been making personal appearances at record stores around the country after flying back from Los Angeles. The new album is being heavily hyped and most of the write-ups for showbiz in the music press and national newspapers have been encouraging.
The top selling "bible" of the pop world, the New Musical Express, gave it six out of ten, with a three column spread and a photo of the boys, captioned, Beware The Dark Side of, Erm, Teignmouth. The critic declares: "In Devon, no one can hear you scream. Muse's story is the familiar tale of late-teen provincial hell and, hailing from the dead-end resort of Teignmouth, it's no wonder they've fashioned themselves as champions of black clad outside chic." He goes on to say the album inevitably draws comparisons to Radiohead, and is not as clever as they think it is. But he concludes: "It's not for the frivolous, but with a little fine tuning, escape from an oblivious West Country seems increasingly likely." The monthly Select is more encouraging, awarding the album four out of five. "Radiohead is a name likely to adhere itself to Muse like lint on velcro - thanks to singer Matt Bellamy's tremulous, Yorke-ish vocals, and the way the guitars crash in on the fraught Muscle Museum.
But to dismiss them for this would be ill advised. Muse have plenty of their own identity. "They may sound like a band with the world on their shoulders, but you get the impression that it's an oyster-shaped burden rather than one that will crush them," is the Select verdict. Four out of five is also the rating by Rock Sound, which raves: "Muse, potentially Britain's biggest new rock band, have been quickening the pulse of anyone who's fallen for their spell in the last 12 months. "Huge, soul-changing music, ambitious, unafraid and wickedly twisted, it goes straight to the heart. "Matt Bellamy's voice is the secret weapon. And it could flatten China. "The scope and range of of this debut album is immense. It may take a while for its charms to unfold, but if you're swayed by intelligent, literate, twisted rock you'll be seduced by Showbiz within hours.
"Few British bands are putting out records this intense, challenging and, to be honest, just darn good, and Muse deserve all the adulation that threatens to come their way," Rock Sound sums up. The same magazine also featres a four page picture spread of Muse on tour around the UK, and there is praise for the music department at Teignmouth Community College from Chris who says they were lucky to have lots of equipment to use. Q magazine was not so enthusiastic, awarding Showbiz only two out of five, with the summary: "Teignmouth trio weighed down by excess deferential baggage."
The Daily Mail was kinder with three out of five, and proclaiming: "Muse bring a theatrical grandeur to the 12 songs...with Matt Bellamy's flamboyant playing style recalling Queen's Brian May." Manager Dennis Smith, who is based near Totnes, said the group were currently caught up in a hectic schedule, and he was convinced they would soon be household names. "It is hard, gruelling work at the moment, but after years of obscurity they are delighted at all the attention." And he emphasised that despite hardly ever now being in Teignmouth, they still valued their local roots and came home whenever they could. Showbiz is released on the Mushroom label, and one of the tracks, Muscle Museum, is coming out as a single on November 22.