Muse's fourth album is one of the year's most overblown records, mixing together huge, doomy soundscapes, snarling guitars and space-age sound effects with Matthew Bellamy's operatic wail and lyrics about stuff like death, injustice and "superstars sucked into the supermassive." This isn't so surprising coming from these sub-Radiohead gloomsters; what's surprising is that most of the time, Black Holes and Revelations actually works. There's room for melody on seductive songs like "Invincible," an epic with military drums and laser-beam guitar. Sleek, falsetto-laden lead single "Supermassive Black Hole" bangs like prime Depeche Mode, and "Starlight" sets sparkling patter and Coldplay-style swoons over an almost power-pop groove. A couple of sci-fi anthems "Knights of Cydonia" and "City of Delusion" are as ridiculous as their track names. But if you manage to suspend your disbelief a little, Black Holes and Revelations will push your pleasure buttons.

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."