Tag: Muse

Muse – Something Human

“They’ve finally gone FULL POP.”

Tom: It’s been years coming, Tim, but they’ve finally gone FULL POP.

Tim: Ooh, well this could be fun then.

Tom: And I can respect that. The old-school, loud-guitar-anthems-only crowd are going to turn away from them, but that’s fine by me.

Tim: Yeah, it’s interesting – reminiscent of when The Killers teamed up with M83. I’ll be interested to discover how they’ll fit it into a live gig session, but yeah. Perhaps not surprisingly, it seems to be the heavier parts of it that shine through — much as I like the genre, the most engaging parts of it are definitely those like at the beginning of the middle eight.

Tom: This is still recognisably Muse — not least in the ridiculous lyrics and conspiracy-theory sci-fi video — but it’s some melding of synthpop and rock that ends up in a really fun place.

Tim: Hmm. I think that sums it up nicely.

Muse – Madness

Like a cross between George Michael and Freddie Mercury.

Tom: I know, they’re not remotely Europop. But they’re also one of the biggest bands in the world, and taking an interesting new direction – so let’s have a listen to this one.

Tim: Is that it? Because, well, that is an interesting new direction if they’ve pretty much dropped everything a lot of people associate with Muse (i.e. loud guitars and drums and rock stuff).

Tom: They’ve never been a band scared of experimentation, despite their mainstream popularity: they had a 13-minute symphony on their last album. And now? Well, they’ve found dubstep, released a calm track, and Matt Bellamy now sounds like a cross between George Michael and Freddie Mercury. In fact, Muse seem to be closest we have to a modern version of Queen – and I mean that as a compliment, not in the sense that they’re ripping them off.

Tim: Well, possibly, though I’d add Bono into that collective. It’s interesting how they use the instrumental break to pretty much completely switch genres, turning the dance stuff way down low until the very end when there’s nothing else left.

Tom: It’s the epitome of a slow builder, ending in a positively triumphant chorus. It’s not traditional Muse, and I don’t know what the fans will think – but I like it.

Tim: I like it too, which really isn’t the sort of thing I thought I’d end a review of a Muse track with.