![]() Yet the even the slightest shifts in style are guaranteed to bring heaps of scorn. All bands must evolve to remain viable artistic forces, especially once they reach the half-dozen album mark, as Muse did with last year’s somewhat polarizing effort The 2nd Law. That’s been the case since before Led Zeppelin prowled the earth, and it’s been a poisonous thorn in the side of the best groups, from indestructible giants (U2 circa Pop) to collapsing cult heroes (the Replacements with Don’t Tell a Soul). But bands – like Muse, the exceedingly talented English trio that kicked off its latest North American tour Monday night at Valley View Casino Center in San Diego ahead of three shows this week at Staples Center – face a peculiarly intensive scrutiny the bigger they become. Pop stars can get away with hyper-stylized performance-art murder for the length of a rom-com so long as they open and close with hits. ![]() Fall the other way and you can wind up drowning in self-indulgence, denying audiences the pleasures they paid for in favor of dredging up deep cuts or directing your production too inwardly. ![]() Fall one way and lapse into too much mass-appeal production, losing distinctive identity by forsaking what got a group to such status in the first place. There’s a fine line every arena-level act must traverse, with career-threatening pitfalls on either side of the high-wire that can swallow reputations whole. ![]()
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