Skip to main content
The Wow! Signal, the U.K. neo-prog band's latest, is a predictably heavy lift
June 28, 2026
Tim Saccenti*
The 10th Muse album takes its name from the Wow! Signal, an unexplained radio transmission detected by a mind-blown astronomer in 1977 that’s been held up as a possible example of extraterrestrial communication. The amount of pomp and pump Muse can slam into one song can have a certain wow-factor; tracks like “Uprising” and “Supermassive Black Hole” made them leaders in fist-pumping arena rock. But as is often the case with this ostentatiously bombastic U.K. band, their music won’t blow your mind so much as beat it into numb submission.
