Defector is a bit of a nonsense, and obviously Drones is a waste of a few minutes but The Globalist & Reapers are decent enough. Revolt is silly enough but I like it. Lots of decent tracks with nothing particularity outstanding though

I think apart from some good drum work Revolt is Muse at their safest, pop rocky worst.

Hmmm.... the drum work/timing of the song is what roped me into the song. I did think the chorus was a bit bland and simple, but I didn't quite think of it as worst anything.

I didn't like the songs on their own as they were released via singles and the lyric videos. The visuals of some of the videos are distracting and juvenile and lyrically it just wasn't working for me. Once the whole album hit Spotify and I heard it from start to finish I was won over. I love that the album is pedal to the metal for the most part all the way until the last 3 tracks. It balances out the catalog following the last two albums.

Not to compare it to The Wall, but I do view hearing those tracks early and out of context much like hearing tracks from the Pink Floyd album. If you heard In The Flesh with no context on the radio with lyrics about throwing folks into the oven.... you'd be WTF.

I'm a huge Def Leppard fan, so of course the fact that Mutt produced the album had my attention. Mutt has a penchant for albums that tend to be very consistent. I can listen to them from start to finish and not find much in the way of weak spots. He seems to have done that here.

What it comes down to for me is those songs being taken to the stage. Psycho is already mowing down the audience. These songs were meant for the stage.

Somehow, I doubt that is what their reasoning was. The bit has been well documented over the years, so they knew it was going to be identified. I'd be interested in seeing the band address their reasoning directly, if it hasn't been already. I'm quite sure they felt it was a great riff, to which I agree, that they wanted to document as a full fledged song on an album.

I don't see them as having lost their muse, nor do I confuse this album with either Resistance or The 2nd Law. This is a much more in-your-face album.

The album is growing on me. I just find the Globalist and Drones incredibly pointless, so that really just leaves an 8 track album for me. Surprisingly, Defector is the one that's kept me listening the most often.

They better come to Minneapolis this winter...

I kind of figured. It does come off as an album that grows on you. I just didn't post anything until after I had moved beyond the "Meh, I don't know about this sh**." phase.

I'm sure U.S. dates are going to come up fairly soon following Mexico City. They are getting the full stage (looks like it's going to be in-the-round.) So it's ready to be transported around North America. South America is getting some stripped down stuff from layout I've seen. I was considering heading down there, but nah. I want the full production.

The Europe dates are all Festivals this year, correct? I'm hoping they have more dates next year with the full production. I'd really like to head back there for them and be among a proper audience. The Los Angeles audience is actually more rabid than usual when it comes to Muse, but it still is never on par with Europe.

I listened to this album twice in full but I did not grow on me. I liked the Resistance, 2nd Law had only 3 good songs and this album is even worse. I am officially done with Muse as there is not 1 song on this one that's worth listening.

- TS