Muse: Absolution (2LP)

"I don't think absolution is necessarily a religious word," Muse frontman Matt Bellamy remarked about the title of their third studio set. "I think it just suggests that the act of making music is a way of understanding things." With the sound of the 2003 album, the British trio tackled some heavy topics - including the war in Iraq and the fear of societal collapse. Counterbalancing the intense lyrics are the epic arrangements that mix art rock, progressive metal and orchestral flourishes on such highlights as "Stockholm Syndrome", "Time Is Running Out", "Butterflies and Hurricanes" and "Hysteria". Listeners responded to the band's towering ambitions; the album reached the top of the UK album charts and went gold in America, gaining Muse a huge following in the US as well. Anyone who likes dark, dramatic music played with unbridled grandeur should pick up "Absolution".