Muse | 'Drones' | Released June 2015
 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ronesCover.jpg

1. Dead Inside
2. [Drill Sergeant]
3. Psycho
4. Mercy
5. Reapers
6. The Handler
7. [JFK]
8. Defector
9. Revolt
10. Aftermath
11. The Globalist
12. Drones

Is anybody else interested in this release? I've been growing more and more fond of Muse over the last year or so. Some of their stuff is pretty laughable, but when they're good, they are ****ing amazing. I think Starlight is in my top 3 favorite songs by any artist ever. Probably won't ever tire of that track.

Hopefully the album is more along the lines of Origin of Symmetry or Black Holes and Revelations. About half of The Resistance and half of The 2nd Law were good, but the other halves were pretty crappy. The band is on record of saying that 'Drones' should have more of a return-to-roots style with more guitars and less electronic sounds. So far two tracks (Psycho and Dead Inside) have been released, and Psycho reflects that sentiment, whereas Dead Inside is quite synth-heavy.

Anyway, Psycho is pretty decent. I've found a version that edits out the annoying-as-**** drill sergeant, which makes it much more bearable. Dead Inside is pretty great. Very nice, stripped down, funky track with an excellent bridge with passionate vocals from Matt Bellamy.

Psycho:
Dead Inside:
'Drones' will be released worldwide by June 10th.

I would still regard myself as a fan of Muse but since Black Holes & Revelations their albums have been very average. They contain 2-3 really good catchy songs and the rest is filler IMO.

What hooked me with Muse was the Absolution album and their earth shattering Glastonbury headline performance in 2004 which put them truly on the map as world beaters. Everyone was up in arms over the choice of Muse as headliners of such a huge festival but they went on determined and won everyone over. https://youtu.be/9boYhBkPX5k Since then though they have kind of abandoned the hard rock / industrial sounds of Absolution and gone down a more overy dramatic proggy route which I can only take in small doses. I assume they are sticking with this sound as it suits the big live shows.

The one thing that remains the same in the paranoid dystopia theme running through every album which is also running a little tiring.

I really hope this new album turns the corner.

Have you heard Reapers? I really like the chorus and the solos by Matt. This looks like the new show closer. https://youtu.be/GdmwYyIHuEc

Just checked out that video of Reapers. Pretty good from what I can hear. I feel like the sound quality makes it seem a little sloppy, but that may be also due to the it being one of the first times they played this song. Something tells me this live recording doesn't do the song justice.

The 3 songs we've heard thus far don't strike me as fantastic, but they definitely make me quite eager to check out the entire album.

Been a big fan of Muse recently, a good friend of mine is a massive fan so I've seen them on the last few tours. Excellent live band, although the "show" seems to just be overtaking the music a tad, hopefully they rein that in a little.

Impressed with Psycho, despite some horribly corny lyrics. Dead Inside, the second half is better than the first.

Coming in late, I'm a weird one who prefers the later stuff as that's when I became a fan. I probably need to listen to the earlier stuff a bit more tbf.

One of my most formidable gigging experiences was at T in the Park back in yon day when Muse rocked up around the Origin album at about 1 o clock on the main stage and absolutely massacred the place.

Up until that point I'd tagged them as a snidey Radiohead knock off (muscle museum being the only thing I'd really heard of there's) but after seeing them live I was sold.

I lost interest a bit after Blackholes but the new stuff I've heard sounds dynamite and it's the first album I've heard about in ages that I intend to pick up.

The video for Dead Inside was released last week. I can't stop listening to this song. I wasn't too impressed originally but man has it grabbed me now. The bridge with the passionate vocals from Matt is awesome. I feel like this is what the band wanted Undisclosed Desires to be, except they nailed the execution this time.

Another single released this week, Mercy. I really like it, to be honest. It's a really good pop-rock song. People accuse it for ripping off of Starlight, mainly due to the piano chords, but I think it definitely is its own beast. The band is 3.5/4 for me so far (undecided on Pyscho still), so this bodes well for the rest of the album.

Also, we have a proshot version of Reapers now. The mix is tremendously shitty, but the song definitely sounds pretty great. Extremely progressive, but captivating at the same time.

BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend

http://bbc.in/1ArujoD

I'm not overly sold on the new material yet but this has the usual great sound and visuals from BBC productions.

It's leaked now. First impressions, with #spoilers for anybody who may not want to hear the album yet:

The first 4 we already had, of course. Dead Inside is fantastic, with an epic bridge. Psycho is........ Psycho. Mercy is decent, but forgettable. Reapers is fantastic and produced fabulously in my opinion.

The Handler and Defector (and the unnecessary JFK tidbits in there) both sound the same to me. Really bombastic, average songs for me. I like the bridge/solo of The Handler, but everything else is bland.

Revolt sounds like it could be a big pop-rock crossover hit. Definitely captivating and interesting, and definitely a welcome change from the previous two tracks.

Aftermath is interesting. The first minute or so bears a heavy resemblance to U2's "One", but it's a nice ballad, nevertheless.

The Globalist, supposedly the child of Citizen Erased, sounds more like a combination of Citizen Erased and New Born, without reaching the incredible heights of either of those songs. It also has a lot of elements of the piano-driven bullshit of The Resistance and The 2nd Law. All in all, it's so... okay. I don't think I'd ever listen to it out of the context of the album. I can't help but feel like so many elements of the song, and really the song in general, could be described as "unnecessary".

Drones (the song) ****ing sucks. I was expecting a good rock track to seal up the album, especially with the title and the album starting that way. This is like a ****ing church choir. Horrible.

All in all, the album starts really good, but they definitely gave us the best 4 already. The only one that is begging for another listen is Revolt. MAYBE Aftermath. I'm incredibly disappointed with the rest of this album.

On first listen it stinks on ice.

I think it's clear to hear that Muse have lost their... erm... Muse. Using a riff that has been played in live shows for the past ten years in a new single is the biggest sign yet that the creative well has truly dried up.

This album sounds like the last two Muse albums mushed together and watered down. The Queen rip off harmonies are bordering on nauseting now too.

Oh well. There's always the live shows.

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