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I was lucky enough to see them at the NYC/iheart/Mayan gigs and the new stuff is some of the best live material they've done (seen them 25 times since Absolution Tour). Psycho doesn't translate on the album that well, but holy poo poo, it's one hell of a live song. The Handler is awesome live too (during soundcheck at least). I'm just hoping Mercy replaces Starlight and Dead Inside replaces Madness because it'd be pretty redundant to have all four in one gig.
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Jun 5, 2015 02:24
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Just picked up my CD/DVD set. Can't wait to go home and listen in full quality. The artwork in the booklet is really bizarre. Every song has its own artwork, which is cool, but they're a mixed bag. Some reek of angry 14 year old. (edit: here's the digital booklet so you can see all the artwork: http://imgur.com/a/TZCgm) I'm really disappointed that the DVD only has the making of The Globalist and Defector, which got leaked months ago. I was hoping for a full album documentary.  At least there's 4 live videos too.
Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 03:45 on Jun 5, 2015 |
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Jun 5, 2015 02:59
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Thanks for posting the artwork. Can't wait to get mine today (hopefully, according to UPS)! That is disappointing about the DVD -- I love their 'making of' docs. But I am super excited to see that live video for the Handler.
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Jun 5, 2015 13:34
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electricHyena posted:That is disappointing about the DVD -- I love their 'making of' docs. But I am super excited to see that live video for the Handler.
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Jun 5, 2015 14:04
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Paperback Writer posted:This exists? It's a soundcheck from the Exeter Hall gig. It's kinda funny to see the band rocking out to this dark heavy song while sunlight streams into a totally empty hall, while some tech crew wander around adjusting equipment. Solid performance though.
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Jun 5, 2015 14:46
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Oh neat. Just like I enjoy the edited version of Unsustainable I have without the "dubstep" breakdowns, I think I could use a fade-out after the heavy part of The Globalist and right before Afternath turns into Shania Twain's "From This Moment" and Bryan Adams. E: here's a cool little Globalist easter egg btw http://youtu.be/DFA7F3aIwIQ Paperback Writer fucked around with this message at 21:28 on Jun 6, 2015 |
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Jun 5, 2015 21:07
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So, this review is actually pretty terrible because it really never even discusses the music itself, but it does make a pretty solid critique of exactly why the lyrics are so bad: http://www.timeout.com/london/music/muse-drones-album-review quote:But the greatest sin of this record is that it’s tactless and crass. Bellamy’s supposed narrative is as dull as dog food – told with the wishy-washy flim-flam of a frothing conspiracy theorist. Again, really not a good music review but I do tend to agree about the lyrics. Beyond yelling things like "DRONES! HERE COME THE DRONES!" they don't really say anything thought-provoking about the subject. Not that Muse has ever really done that, but I think maybe this is one of those topics where if you're not going to go in-depth, it's better not to go into it at all. I mean, maybe one or two songs would be okay, but a whole concept album kind of needs to have something interesting to say about its concept.
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Jun 6, 2015 13:08
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Sir Lemming posted:So, this review is actually pretty terrible because it really never even discusses the music itself ... Again, really not a good music review but I do tend to agree about the lyrics. That's a great review. The lyrics are part of the music, and ostensibly a major part of this particular music. It's the premise the entire album is built on, and so worthy of thorough discussion. Besides, the author nails the non-lyrical part of the album here: " For devoted fans, the uncomfortable truth is that they’re stuck in a glam-rock rut ... Yes, the grandiose opera-meets-dubstep ambition of last LP ‘The 2nd Law’ has been reined in, but we’re a long way from the slash-and-burn riffery of ‘Plug in Baby’." That's kind of all that needs to be said.
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Jun 6, 2015 16:23
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I was thinking of this today when I divided to give Defector another listen. So Muse have been singing about fighting the system for at least 3 albums now, and although The Resistance was kinda ficticious, Drones and in particular including a JFK quote brings it closer to home. And the content of that quote is chilling, when you think about it and what happens to Kennedy. So its kind of serious matter and could go into a political song. And what do Muse produce. Free. Yes I'm free. You can't brainwash me. You've got a problem. He also says how they're losing power, somehow, as if he is doing something about them. How weal and wishy washy. For someone who is so transfixed on having this rebellious conspiracy political content to songs, they dont actually say anything. If Muse are so worried about drones, with their global platform, what do they do? Write awful lyrics and address nothing. I could deal with the lyrics if I felt they believed them or acted on them. But its just nothing.
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Jun 6, 2015 22:25
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Yeah it's a bit like how they talked about unsustainability on the last one while travelling round and round the globe on a world tour with a crew of 50+ people. Their carbon footprint must be epic.
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Jun 6, 2015 22:49
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Matt's said he's more concerned with making the lyrics sound right in a song from a vocal perspective, and that they're the last part of the process for him (as if that needed to be confirmed). Alright fine, I would agree with that if they're going to make them totally indecipherable anyway (microcuts is just random words thrown together), but since BHAR he's been working on a cleaner vocal style that emphasizes his lovely lyrics over using his voice as another instrument in the mix. Can't have both sides of it, Bellamy.
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Jun 7, 2015 01:00
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It's not the hypocrisy that bothers me. It's the way they assume the anti-authority guise so dimwittedly, like it's loving exciting. It's not even misguided adolescent smash-the-state stuff, because at least that's sincere.
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Jun 7, 2015 01:02
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Here's a tiny Muse mystery: the abundance of tambourine in their newer albums. Check it out on the verses of Psycho or last chorus of Reapers, for example. It's a really weird choice because tambourines have connotations of indie and folk, and here it is mixed into their motorbiking rhythm section over crunching drop-D riffs. What the hell is it doing there?
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Jun 7, 2015 18:16
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Muse are apparently one of Glenn Becks favourite bands which says a lot about the level of political nuance they're operating at.
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Jun 8, 2015 07:56
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Had my first listen and overall it's a pretty good album. A big step up from The 2nd Law and probably of at least The Resistance quality; some of the early tracks will easily stand up in their catalogue, whereas there's a couple of poo poo ones towards the end. Quite like Absolution in that regard. Might do a track by track in a bit.
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Jun 8, 2015 12:10
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mfcrocker posted:Had my first listen and overall it's a pretty good album. A big step up from The 2nd Law and probably of at least The Resistance quality; some of the early tracks will easily stand up in their catalogue, whereas there's a couple of poo poo ones towards the end. Quite like Absolution in that regard. Uh I think you'll find Absolution has no bad songs 
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Jun 8, 2015 12:23
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All of Muse's problems can be traced back to when Matt stopped eating shrooms and started doing coke.
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Jun 8, 2015 12:25
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Correction to the correction the only bad song on Absolution is Ruled By Secrecy. It's so dull. There is one moment in Matt's life I think we can all be jealous of. At one point, his in-theory father-in-law was Snake Plisskin. Maybe Snake likes tambourines
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Jun 8, 2015 13:06
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Hedrigall posted:Uh I think you'll find Absolution has no bad songs Fat Turkey posted:Correction to the correction the only bad song on Absolution is Ruled By Secrecy. It's so dull. Yeah because everyone is clamouring to hear Thoughts of a Dying Atheist at their next Muse gig TbT (ignoring lyrics because they're just universally poo poo): Dead Inside: A decent opener. I think I'm in the minority where I prefer the first half of this song, not the second. Drill Sergeant/Psycho: I think I'm starting to like the intro, which just doesn't seem right at all. It gets me excited for the song to follow. I will basically never not adore the 0305030 riff. Mercy: Originally I thought this was another Guiding Light. It's not quite that bad, but it's really bloody bland. Reapers: JONES. An absolute stonker. I love the arpeggio tapping, the verse and chorus are both very Showbiz and it rips off the best RatM riff. The Handler: I'm looking forward to hearing this in my car as the Spotify version seems a bit muted. I can foresee having a good stomp to this at my next gig. JFK/Defector: I'm always a bit worried by Muse's happier songs but this is surprisingly good and heavy. It's like a tighter version of Survival and I grew to really like that song so this should be a winner going forward. Revolt: A big long wet fart. With this title and in this place in the album this needed to be the heaviest song on the album; maybe something like Liquid State? Instead we got this, the true Guiding Light of the album. Worst Muse song ever may be a bit strong but it's in the conversation. Aftermath: Eh? It's definitely what you want before the next track's big finale and at times sounds really good; I get a lot of Gilmour-era Floyd from the intro guitar especially. However, it just falls a bit flat with the singing. The Globalist: I love it and wish it was the actual final track. The final movement (the piano bit) is a bit weaker than the rest of the track but I think it holds together well. It's a shame about... Drones: which is loving ridiculous. Oh well.
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Jun 8, 2015 13:47
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Absolution does have a few weak tracks. Nothing outright bad, but stuff that could be trimmed to keep the quality high and the running time low. Falling Away With You is first against the wall - definite B-side material and doesn't fit with the urgency and grace of the rest of the album. Sing for Absolution is a bit bland and the sounds are dated. I'd probably kill TSP too - I like it but when you're competing with Hysteria and Stockholm Syndrome for high-octane rockers, you're gonna fall behind.Fat Turkey posted:Correction to the correction the only bad song on Absolution is Ruled By Secrecy. It's so dull. I beg to differ. Inevitably Jones has got me looking back at classic Muse again, and Ruled by Secrecy is the one I've been appreciating in particular. It exemplifies a lot of their strengths. It's grandiose without being camp. It's sinister without being cartoonish. It's simple - piano, bass, drums - with a simple structure that works well - building tension before exploding into the bridge. (Like I said before, workmanlike but built like a brick shithouse.) The bridge itself is a smart extension of the verses, using the same chord progression but exploded into cod-classical drama that doesn't outstay its welcome. The vocals are glassy and chilling, especially the harmonies. Even the lyrics are good - nothing to set your world on fire, but they do the job, serve the mood and don't have ideas above their station. Ruled by Secrecy rules.
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Jun 8, 2015 14:53
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Fat Turkey posted:Correction to the correction the only bad song on Absolution is Ruled By Secrecy. It's so dull. RBS has everything Popcorn just said. It's one of Muse's best album closers, in my opinion. And the lyrics give me a chill every time. mfcrocker posted:Yeah because everyone is clamouring to hear Thoughts of a Dying Atheist at their next Muse gig Hell YES I'd love to see it live. It's a bonafide rarity these days and would be awesome if it popped up again. It's short and sweet (the perfect length for the kind of song it's trying to be) with a great guitar solo, and lyrically it really delivers. Popcorn posted:Falling Away With You is first against the wall - definite B-side material and doesn't fit with the urgency and grace of the rest of the album. Sing for Absolution is a bit bland and the sounds are dated. I'd probably kill TSP too - I like it but when you're competing with Hysteria and Stockholm Syndrome for high-octane rockers, you're gonna fall behind. Falling Away with You has the always-classic arpeggiated synths in its chorus (which Muse could use in songs from now until eternity and it would never get old, it's such a signature sound for them) and the ringing percussion in the beginning is sublime. Also it leads perfectly into Interlude which leads perfectly into the bassline of Hysteria, and I wouldn't change that track order for the world. Sing For Absolution brings the eerie melody, the wall-of-noise guitar in the chorus, the huge build up, and stunning falsetto — one of the best examples of Matt's vocals in any Muse song. It's also pretty much the album's title track, thank you very much. And as far as Muse's stock-standard piano-guitar-piano-guitar singles go, this came before both Starlight and Mercy and it still rules them both. And it has an awesome music video to cap it all off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ck6Hcg2cjk The Small Print is a fantastic little rock song like Thoughts, but the chorus vocals dance all over the place, giving the song a neat vocal hook; not to mention that great bass breakdown from Chris. And if you're arguing that any Muse album needs fewer rock songs, then you're losing an argument. Moreover, every single song on Absolution deserves its place on the album because they all fit the overarching theme of the album so well: they're all emotional reactions to endings (whether that ending is of the world, a relationship, or both). It's a perfectly crafted album. Muse's best, and one of the best rock albums of the 2000s
Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 15:20 on Jun 8, 2015 |
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Jun 8, 2015 15:16
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By the way, "Jones", is this a thing you are doing to be funny? It's not really working dude.
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Jun 8, 2015 15:17
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All of those songs are better than any song on Jones, apart from possibly Reapers and The Handler. They played Ruled By Secrecy at one of the Wembley gigs for the Resistance tour a few years back and it was awesome, pretty much 90,000 people standing in silence listening.
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Jun 8, 2015 15:30
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Not really liking Drones on first listen. The end of Reapers is kind of cool but it just reminds me of geek USA which is a why better song. Otherwise there were some individual moments I liked and it's better than 2nd Law and probably the Resistance but still nowhere near their early albums. There's enough there that I'll give it a second listen and see if it grows on me though.
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Jun 8, 2015 16:02
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Hedrigall posted:By the way, "Jones", is this a thing you are doing to be funny? It's not really working dude. That's exactly the question I want to ask Matt Bellamy.
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Jun 8, 2015 17:03
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Well, put that as evidence as to the strength of Absolution, it had solid songs all around the rockier numbers towards the end may not be as definitive as Stockholm or Hysteria, but that's unfair to compare them to the absolute cream of the crop, they still out perform these later album rock tracks. They have actual guitar solos that aren't just a repetition of the verse! And they pump me up for football or running like no other. I also love Falling Away With You. It fits into the cheesier end of the Muse sound, but they uses to do it so well that the song was still great. Why fixate on calling it Jones (which is a pretty weak swipe) when I'm still confused why they had their JFK voice pronounce covert as 'covet', like a word that means something else. Its like he throws in a deliberate mispronunciation in all the new albums. He mispronounces 'Reponds' in I Belong To You, which is in French admittedly, but he covers the song so he should know what it should sound like). I'm sure I spotted one in 2L too but I can't place it ATM. Fat Turkey fucked around with this message at 17:53 on Jun 8, 2015 |
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Jun 8, 2015 17:50
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Fat Turkey posted:Its like he throws in a deliberate mispronunciation in all the new albums. He mispronounces 'Reponds' in I Belong To You, which is in French admittedly, but he covers the song so he should know what it should sound like). I'm sure I spotted one in 2L too but I can't place it ATM. The man has a lisp, and he's also just a bit crap at words. United States of Eurasia: "You and me / fall in line." Grammatically speaking, that should be "You and I", and more to the point then it would loving rhyme.
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Jun 8, 2015 18:03
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Fat Turkey posted:Why fixate on calling it Jones (which is a pretty weak swipe) when I'm still confused why they had their JFK voice pronounce covert as 'covet', like a word that means something else. Pretty sure that is a real recording of JFK. Sorry his Boston accent doesn't live up to your expectations.
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Jun 8, 2015 18:41
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I like Thoughts of a Dying Atheist too. It's upbeat but still feels vulnerable and endearing - it's sincere, cute, and sorta funny to boot. It works really well as the penultimate track before Ruled by Secrecy sends us home with our tails between our legs. Seriously, though, I get that SFA and FAWY have relevant lyrical themes, but the apocalypse thing was always pretty loose anyway, and they're the weakest links. The album's a little bit baggy and overlong and something's gotta go. e: I do at least appreciate Jones's brevity, despite that 10-minute clunker near the end.
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Jun 8, 2015 21:19
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So I just listened to this album and it's really the worst album in Muse's career and one of the worst albums I've ever listened to. The thing is, I want to like it. Dead Inside is legitimately catchy and there are numerous other tracks on the album which almost hark back to their second album. The problem is, the lyrics are so insufferably pretentious. The Globalist may be a sequel to Citizen Erased, but it's loving awful compared to that song because at least Citizen Erased seemed to have a degree of sincerity in it somewhere. The lyrics steep everything in this cloying, preachy 'WAKE UP SHEEPLE' tone which makes the entire album painful to listen to. Revolt is so, so bad. Ugh.
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Jun 8, 2015 23:12
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Hedrigall posted:By the way, "Jones", is this a thing you are doing to be funny? It's not really working dude. I could say the same of you posting this thread. NETVERK posted:The lyrics steep everything in this cloying, preachy 'WAKE UP SHEEPLE' tone which makes the entire album painful to listen to. Among the world's most horrifying truths is that Matt Bellamy was taking himself seriously the whole time. I can defend everything up to BH&R as tongue-in-cheek grandstanding, but Bellamy can't continue to rake in tons of money from major record labels while simultaneously throwing fits about "fat cats" and the military industrial complex or whatever the gently caress. Pirate Jet fucked around with this message at 03:10 on Jun 9, 2015 |
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Jun 9, 2015 03:07
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If you listen to Revolt and get angry instead of just laugh at it, I don't know what to tell you. Now, "Mercy" I can't get through the first minute of. Probably Magic fucked around with this message at 04:30 on Jun 9, 2015 |
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Jun 9, 2015 04:24
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NETVERK posted:The Globalist may be a sequel to Citizen Erased, but it's loving awful compared to that song because at least Citizen Erased seemed to have a degree of sincerity in it somewhere. The lyrics steep everything in this cloying, preachy 'WAKE UP SHEEPLE' tone which makes the entire album painful to listen to.
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Jun 9, 2015 05:35
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NETVERK posted:So I just listened to this album and it's really the worst album in Muse's career and one of the worst albums I've ever listened to. I've given it a full listen or two in the last couple days and the conclusion I've come to as of right now is that I feel that it's a great bad album. It's kind of like the Plan 9 of albums. The Handler is objectively a good song and I want to go so far as to say that on subsequent listens that Aftermath is pretty good too, if only because of the Pink Floydish stuff going on at the beginning. But when you take into account that Drones is supposed to be a concept album/rock opera, it feels like there are about 3-4 missing tracks to further flesh out what's going on. Making albums like that is one thing, but doing them well is another. I'm still really confused about how Dead Inside leads into Psycho aside from making up some story of "a teenage guy gets dumped and then goes into the military because he's sad." Drill Sergeant as a standalone track is pointless and should have just been put into the Psycho track like how it was in the video, if I'm remembering right. I'm not the first to say this but the issue likely is that the first few Muse albums had its lyrics covered up by good music so that they were pretty much harmless. Mercy is a lovely Starlight replacement because of the lyrical content (never mind that it's just not as good musically). I think The Globalist would have just been better broken up into 3-4 separate tracks, even if it wouldn't have fixed how disjointed some of the jumps are in musical style. I dunno what else to say right now.
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Jun 9, 2015 05:45
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A human heart posted:Have you considered that Muse are completely sincere but also incredibly stupid? This seems to be the case, but I found it easier believing it was a act to drive sales. triple sulk posted:I've given it a full listen or two in the last couple days and the conclusion I've come to as of right now is that I feel that it's a great bad album. It's kind of like the Plan 9 of albums. I tweeted that they kinda strike me as the Michael Bay of music. Glossy, overproduced bombast with war themes. The only difference is that Bay is seen as glorifying the state and military whilst Muse have a whole 'government bad' theme. Really, Muse seem to be taking on themes Radiohead took on 14/15 years ago with Kid A/Amnesiac. Except Radiohead took these themes with subtlety or what I define as sincerity. Muse (well, Matt) may seriously believe they are being deep with their past three albums, but their usage of these serious themes like drone warfare just comes off as lyrical window dressing. Most pop songs are love songs, or they have love or partying as a theme. Muse do that but with 'drone war evil' or 'government evil' as the theme. It doesn't feel like they really know or care much about it beyond making their songs sound 'provocative'. The insane thing is that they actually do know and care, seemingly? They just are really really bad at writing lyrics and are so deadly serious about it loops back around and makes them sound insincere. Radiohead, and other bands which kinda have similar anti-establishment themes in their music, treat it with a degree of subtlety where it never feels preachy and fake. Eh, I don't know why I bother or care. The last paragraph of the Pitchfork review for Drones kinda hits upon how I feel about the band. They would be good, if they didn't take themselves seriously, but they want to be seen as deep and mature and it kinda has a detrimental effect to the entire thing. I guess I kinda hosed up with the wording up there. What I mean is that Muse treat these lyrical themes without any sort of 'respect' or nuance. Drone warfare is a kinda messed up thing which could certainly make an interesting concept song/album, but if GY!BE or Radiohead or BoC or anyone else who didn't spring into my mind then did a song about it, it'd be different. (Maybe?) Muse treat these themes as 'things to use to make their songs sound different'. I am not a music critic. So I don't really know. NETVERK fucked around with this message at 10:46 on Jun 9, 2015 |
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Jun 9, 2015 10:27
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the truth posted:Pretty sure that is a real recording of JFK. Sorry his Boston accent doesn't live up to your expectations. Oh wow, yes, a quick YouTube finds the speech and does seem to be the same. Its kinda funny and there must be a term for it, but I've heard so many impressions of Kennedy that when I hear his actual voice, without the exaggerations, I didn't recognise it as him. But he still says the word 'covet' not covert, and its not just missing the R, the words have different stresses. But that's on Johnny K not Matty B. Only heard snippets of the album. Revolt sounds bad, Aftermath sounds like it had potential, only heard first minute or two of Globalist and that was pretty nice. Waiting till I hear it on proper headphones before I fully comment though.
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Jun 9, 2015 12:50
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Take a Bow, Soldiers Poem and Exo-Politics (maybe Assassin) show Muse could write good enough songs of a political nature. Not the great Muse songs, but songs I wouldn't skip and would happily hear. Probably because they didn't turn it into a stripped down us and them narrative, and went into a bit of detail. But even then Take a Bow seems like the same formula. The lyrics just aren't so cringeworthy, or maybe they are but the music covered it up. I thing I hate the most I think is the songs that have a steady, slow, marching beat like Uprising, Psycho and Revolt.
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Jun 9, 2015 12:57
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You seriously don't skip Soldier's Poem?
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Jun 9, 2015 13:07
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Nope, it's nice. Probably too much barbershop, but the song is about 2 minutes long so it doesn't outstay its welcome. Its a decent diversion.
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Jun 9, 2015 13:10
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I love Soldier's Poem. I know I'm in the minority but I think BHaR is their most complete record. Maybe my favorite album of all time even. The only song that hasn't stood the test of time THAT much for me is Invincible, and even that is pretty good for being cheesy. Play Hoodoo, Exo-Politics, or City of Delusion live sometime boys.
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Jun 9, 2015 13:14
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