The Resistance received generally positive reviews; critics praised its concept, instrumentation, influences and Bellamy's vocals, although some found it overblown and clichéd.

[18] Muse announced the title The Resistance on their Twitter page on 22 May,[citation needed] while the first song was officially announced as "United States of Eurasia" on the official band website,[19] deciphered by fans from a picture of a piece of sheet music held by Bellamy in a photo uploaded on the Twitter page.

The band also performed a small number of shows at other venues in Europe, before they supported U2 for nine dates on the North American leg of their 360° Tour in September and October[27] and in South America in March and April 2011.

In June 2009, the band confirmed the dates for an opening European leg of the Resistance Tour, which they announced would comprise 30 shows.

[37] Andrew Leahey of AllMusic praised the album, highlighting "Guiding Light", "United States of Eurasia", and "Exogenesis", and calling it "by and large a fantastic record".

[38] In an interview with The Sunday Times, Dan Cairns wrote that "Muse have made an album of genius, brilliance and beauty".

[47] NME identified "Exogenesis: Symphony" as a highlight, describing it as Muse's most bombastic work yet"[48] Multiple reviews criticised the album as unoriginal, in some instances commenting it was a caricature of progressive rock.

[49][50] Rolling Stone lauded "Uprising" as an "industrial-flavored" song that proved that Muse could still "whip up an almighty roar", but dismissed the album as a whole as clichéd and derivative of Queen.

[45] Ben Patashnik from NME felt that the album was "genius" in parts, but criticised it for producing something "conceptually impressive but musically all too familiar".

[43] Pitchfork gave the album a mixed review, stating that the songs were "an outgrowth of wanting to make the music as big, inclusive and as singalong as possible, rather than any inchoate political impulses" and criticising its "mass-shout-along-ready lyrics".

However, the review concluded: "Judged on its own terms – out of control scale, genre-smashing ambition, musical and vocal virtuosity — The Resistance is a success.

[52] The Resistance was praised by the rightwing Fox News anchor Glenn Beck, and "Uprising" was used in YouTube videos advocating for conspiracy theories.

To me your songs are anthems that beg for choruses of unity and pose the fundamental question facing the world today – can man rule himself?

"[54] In September 2012, the American songwriter Charles Bollfrass sued Muse for $3.5m (£2.2m), claiming that they had plagiarised The Resistance from a science-fiction rock opera concept he said he sent them in 2005.

Produced for the band's track "MK Ultra", the video was launched globally across all of MTV's properties on-air and on-line on 17 September 2010.