I heard Muse's Absolution last October, and really got into several of the songs. When it was finally released in America in March, I immediately picked it up.

Via NME.com, I'd heard great things about their recent headlining set at Glastonbury 2004, which is one of the biggest festivals in the UK. In front of a horde of thousands, the band stomped through their hits, later describing the set as "the best gig of [their] lives".

It turned out that the set was broadcast live via the BBC, and popped up on Sharing the Groove in mid-July. I couldn't resist downloading it.

And, holy crap, it really is that good. There is little more impressive than hearing a group of thousands singing along in unison as a band performs. (Case in point: Nirvana's performance of "Lithium" at the 1992 Reading Festival.) And hearing that, especially during "Time Is Running Out", is just amazing.

The whole show is basically a best-of, which is particularly nice granted that their second album, Origin of Symmetry isn't available in the US. And the performances are top notch. The show concludes with a particularly amazing version of "Stockholm Syndrome" that, as far as I'm concerned, trumps the album version.

Tragically, the father of Muse's drummer died at the festival about an hour after their set finished. And it's hard not to factor that into the emotional power of the set.

I've been going through a serious Matthew Good phase lately.

I've mentioned "Anti-Pop" and Avalanche previously, but I'll admit that I hadn't really taken the chance to listen to the older Matthew Good Band material. I'd even stumbled across the US version of Beautiful Midnight in the bargain bin at Media Play, but hadn't really given it much of a chance.

As much as I loved Avalanche, and after hearing two songs off of his new album, I decided to order it (and Audio of Being) off of his official site (since it's only available in Canada).

White Light Rock & Roll Review (or Revue, depending on if the picture on his site is the "new" spelling of the album) is a rather sparse-sounding album. Good decided to "go back to the basics" and record his band playing live rather than record each instrument separately. He also limited the use of overdubs to vocals and minor guitar parts, which is a complete 180 from Avalanche, which has layers and layers of instrumentation.

On some songs, the spartan sound doesn't help. For me, the lead guitar part in "Little Terror" is so forward that it sounds out of place.

But when the album works, it's amazing. Lead single "Alert Status Red" is a highlight, as is the more acoustic "Empty Road". But my hands-down fave is "Buffalo Seven", which has an unbelievably catchy guitar part during the pre-chorus.

While working through the new album, I also found myself spinning Beautful Midnight. It's often cited as Good's best album, and now I can understand why. It's loaded with really great rock songs like "Load Me Up", "The Future Is X-Rated", and "Jenni's Song".

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For the album's US release, Atlantic decided to replace a few songs with three songs from MGB's previous album Underdogs. Now, don't get me wrong, I love those songs. Some of the regulars say that their inclusion ruins the flow of the album, but they work for me, granted that I have yet to hear the songs they replaced.

But Atlantic also decided to bring in Chris Lord-Alge to remix them. I stumbled over a copy of Underdogs last week, and can again confirm my opinion that Chris Lord-Alge is one of the worst mixers in the business. While I like certain aspects of his remixes, the guy cannot mix drums. He makes snares sound like cardboard. With rock records, I love a good explosive snare (see: Nevermind), and this guy supplies the exact opposite.

I've hated his mixes in the past, but getting to hear how these songs sounded before he got his hands on them makes for a unique perspective. As I see it, they sounded a lot better before.

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Next stop: MGB's Audio of Being

This album was a chart-topper last year in its native Australia. And, somehow, when I hear that an album or band is huge somewhere outside of the US (and completely ignored within), it piques my interest. (See also: Muse)

Strangely, I get the feeling that if this were huge on American radio, I wouldn't listen to it. It's fairly mellow (though at times upbeat) pop-ish rock that wouldn't feel out of place between Coldplay and the Wallflowers on Top 40 radio.

But, granted that I've been listening to it by myself (especially in the car on the long drives downtown), I've really gotten into it. The lyrics are generally good, though, at times, they'll hit a cliché or two.

Initial faves: "Best Weapon", "Deja Vu", "Max Planck". Though I've been listening the heck out of "Letter to the Editor" lately.

The album appeared on several release schedules for release in America at the end of July, but it didn't happen. I'm assuming their tour schedule got nixed and that they're delaying its release here until they have a chance to support it with a tour. But who knows.

I do have to laugh: counting Muse's Absolution (before its US release), Matthew Good's two solo albums, and this album, I'm stunned by how much music I'm listening to that simply isn't available in the US. And I'm still trying to figure out if that's why I'm listening to it. I'll admit - there's something nice about getting to hear music free of the promotional garbage that can sometimes trail it.