It begins with a signature grimy rocker — all throbbing, fuzzy bass; keening vocals; spacey keyboards; noodly guitar bit; chanting and handclapping; strident, marching beat. It ends with a sweeping 13-minute orchestral piece in three movements, called 'Exogenesis'.

In between — the bit the songwriter calls "epic and strange" — are flashes of George Orwell's '1984', sleek R&B electro-pop, Chopin's 'Nocturne in E Flat Minor', Queen at their most unhinged, disco mirror balls, that clarinet off 'Sgt Peppers', lyrics like "coercive notions re-evolve" and an interlude with an unpronounceable name from Saint-Saens' French opera 'Samson and Delilah'. Sometimes all at once.

Business as usual then for the overambitious Muse?

We will be victorious

Not quite. Despite 'United States of Eurasia' threatening to break out into "Bismillah! We will not let you go" at any second and 'Unnatural Selection' occasionally dipping into the vocal melody of ABBA's 'Lay All Your Love On Me', the trio's epic fifth album finally exposes the true Muse. Even as they swoop from one style to the next, 'The Resistance' is the teeming work of a band who have internalised their eclectic influences to create a sound all their own — a sound that was only hinted at on predecessor 'Black Holes and Revelations'.

The first single and album opener, a rousing 'Uprising', continues where the 2006 release left off — with Bellamy declaring "we will be victorious" over a militant groove. But within five minutes, as the title track kicks in with ambient Jean Michel Jarre keyboards, they're in uncharted territory. Electronic rhythms threaten to overtake Dominic Howard's rolling drum fills, the almost camp chorus has echoes of a '70s musical, and the song shifts from intergalactic dreamscape to all-out rock anthem. But, like the rest of this sprawling collection, it works. Not even the slinky 'Undisclosed Desires' — which with a few "uh huh's", mentions of "lady lumps" and guest rap from Jay-Z could have topped the urban chart — sounds out of place.

And they haven't even got to that "epic and strange" bit of the album ushered in by the Freddie Mercury-worshipping 'United States of Eurasia' that comes complete with lavish Arabian Night orchestrations, unexpected piano interlude, operatic backing vocals, and Brian May guitar histrionics all stuffed into six minutes. Clearly no good idea goes to waste — and they keep coming.