Muse LP 7

In my opinion Reapers is such a great song! Best song of the record so far. The guitar solo is sooo freakin awesome!

 

The Handler has been released on Spotify and iTunes. Very Absolution-esque.

 

Except nowhere near as good.

 

+1

 

The album has leaked. People got it delivered to them early.

 

First listen notes:

Dead Inside - I really hated this song from the first time I heard it, and I still do. Was easily my least favorite pre-release song. The drumming is decent, though. Just about the only good part. God, this drags on way too long.

[Drill Sergeant] - What a needless interlude that was... Easily could have just been apart of Psycho like it was in the single version. Whatever.

Psycho - God that riff is still incredible. The vocals seem SO much better after listening to Dead Inside. The chorus is still cringe-y as all hell, though. The Drill Sergeant interlude half way through completely negates the need for having that first interlude seperate. The "solo" isn't too bad. The track feels about a minute too long, honestly.

Mercy - Cool intro. The vocals are pretty solid here. Really get that "desperate" feeling. Lyrics aren't awful or cringey as hell, either.

Reapers - That intro was really good. Some solid guitar playing there. Vocals are iffy, though. Lyrics aren't doing much either. That little ascending thing on guitar sounds so cool. Not sure how this is gonna be six minutes, though. That's a badass solo. Really cool effects on it. Definitely worked as a longer song. Made Psycho look so much worse. Pretty good stuff there.

The Handler - Pretty solid. Lyrics feel a tad cliche, but that's the entire album so far. Vocals are solid, though. Guitar is fantatsic.

[JFK] - THIS is how you do an interlude. Makes [Drill Sergeant] look like shit. Still just an interlude, though.

Defector - Holy shit, what a badass intro. I almost wish Bellamy would stop forcing high notes into these songs. They would sound so much better with a deep, creepy vocal. Still really good, though. Damn. Pretty solid solo. Best song so far, easily. If the momentum keeps up from here, this could end really well.

Revolt - This half ties together so much better than the first half. Wow. These lyrics are so shit. Vocals are much better though. Instrumental feels too plain, especially after Defector. Is this a pop song? It feels like one. Solo was pretty good. Still feels like it's trying WAY too hard to fall in that "up-lifting, no one can hold you down" thing.

Aftermath - Liking the cinematic intro on this one. Woah. This has some beautiful vocals. The album needed more of this kind of singings. The piano is incredible. I don't see any track topping this.

The Globalist - OH MY GOD! That's the most generic old west music I've ever heard! This is a long ass intro. 2 minutes. THIS should have been an interlude, not [Drill Sergeant]... Holy shit. 2:30. IT STARTS! Well, that's an entirely different tone... I guess it fits, but the drums contrast so strongly with what I just wasted nearly 3 minutes listening to. HERE WE GO! 4 and a half minutes in, and I'm finally liking the track. The heavy guitar and ambient choir match up really well. Really liked that section. YO! The piano and soft vocals really works for Matt. The second half of this song was INIFINITELY better than the first half. I almost would have preferred this be split into 3-4 songs. I'M SO CONFLICTED. The first half bored me, but this second half really grabbed my attention.

Drones - Interesting closing. "Killed by drones". I... I don't think I like it, but I'm not sure. It's really weird. There's, like, 50 Matts singing over one another. Nice callback to Dead Inside. It's kind of anticlimatic. I feel like Globalist should have ended it. Oh well. It wasn't too bad.

 

I really like the instrumentation on this album but I really fucking hate the lyrics. Some are hilariously bad.

 

Basically this. Not to mention the vocals in general are waaaaaaaaay too overly dramatic for their own good. Bellamy needs to learn that bigger isn't always better.

 

I'm honestly surprised Bellamy would put some of these lyrics on his album.

 

I hate to be that guy, but everyone's reactions and particularly this quoted reaction to Drones just reminds me of ATS.

ATS/Drones Comparison
The Radiance/Drill Sergeant: "What a needless interlude that was... Easily could have just been apart of [Insert Track 1 Name Here]"

Wisdom, Justice, and Love (AKA MLK)/JFK: "THIS is how you do an interlude. Makes [Insert Track 2 Name Here] look like shit. Still just an interlude, though."

Iridescent/Aftermath: "Liking the cinematic intro on this one. Woah. This has some beautiful vocals. The album needed more of this kind of singings. The piano is incredible. I don't see any track topping this."

Fallout and The Catalyst/The Globalist (AKA The penultimate tracks of each album AKA The _______st): OH MY GOD! That's the most generic [insert interlude music here] I've ever heard! This is a long ass intro. 2 minutes. THIS should have been an interlude, not [Drill Sergeant]... Holy shit. (Note that I'm taking Fallout and The Catalyst as one track as it flows so well together that it might as well.) 2:30. IT STARTS! Well, that's an entirely different tone... I guess it fits, but the drums contrast so strongly with what I just wasted nearly 3 minutes listening to. HERE WE GO! 4 and a half minutes in, and I'm finally liking the track. The heavy guitar and ambient choir match up really well. Really liked that section. YO! The piano and soft vocals really works for Matt. The second half of this song was INIFINITELY better than the first half. I almost would have preferred this be split into 3-4 songs. I'M SO CONFLICTED. The first half bored me, but this second half really grabbed my attention.

The Messenger/Drones: Interesting closing. I... I don't think I like it, but I'm not sure. It's really weird. It's kind of anticlimatic. I feel like _______st should have ended it. Oh well. It wasn't too bad.

 

... Except ATS arguable has the most mature and poetic lyrics of LP's career(inb4: "that's not saying much") and was a huge departure from there previous albums both in terms of structure and overall sound,
while Drones on the other hand is on the complete opposite spectrum in the Muse discography(what I've heard anyway), which makes the comparison pretty vague(expect the fact that they both are concept records).

And who hates The Radiance but loves WJL? Haven't seen one person having that opinion. I feel like you would either hate or be alright with both

On topic:
I'm really enjoying the studio version of Reapers.
Mercy has some nice vocals, very poppy - especially the chorus. The lyrics are.. pretty bad - still enjoyable overall
I am actually looking forward to listening to the whole album, despite disliking Psycho and being mixed about Dead Inside.

 

Lyrics aside though, I am pretty enamored with this album. The second half of it is by far superior to the first, and the ending section of Aftermath, The Globalist, and Drones is ace.

 

Muse continues their descent into corny generic alt rock. It might be slightly better than The 2nd Law, if I'm being generous.

 

I, for one, fucking loved this record. If you're interested in my mindset here, I did a track-by-track review:

http://dylanreviewsthings.tumblr.com/post/120650158195/muse-drones-album-review

 

It's a decent album. Liked it more than The 2nd Law and most of Resistance.
My favorite tracks are The Handler, Mercy and Reapers. I'm so confused about The Globalist

 

The Globalist is brilliant, it really has grown on me.

 

No one gives a shit about your tumblr page, Dylan.

I'll probably do a first thoughts thing when I listen to it Tuesday.