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| That's actually a pretty cool concept |
Being that this is Muse's seventh studio album, a listener should expect a band to change a bit from their original sound. Of course, everyone knows that Muse has morphed from cocoon to butterfly a few times through their career and they set out to do that again with
Drones.
What's different about this time though is that the goal was to revert to one of the previous butterflies (we're still using this metaphor?). Did they succeed? Well, yes and no. It's kind of like they used the same mother as the past but let some kind of Michael Jackson/Techno DJ father get involved.
That sounds like it could be interesting, right? Yeah, you would think. But, when it comes down to it, this album is just boring. The biggest snooze fest that we've had from Muse so far. Just about every song feels phoned in. It's like they sat down in the studio and realized that they didn't have any new ideas so they came up with (or possibly stole) some Rage Against the Machine guitar riffs, had Matt do some random falsetto stuff, and called it a day. Just about every song feels like this.
Now, for Muse fans, this isn't necessarily bad. If Muse can do what Muse does best, then they should do it. However, even when compared to previous songs, it's just not as good. Everything seems to lack excitement, passion, and inspiration.
A good example of this would be "The Handler." This song has a decent hard rock riff (but mostly unmemorable) with pacing that would fit in on Muse's debut album
Showbiz. However, the tempo is a touch slow and Matt Bellamy's vocals are toned down for no good reason. "Dead Inside" will remind you of "Panic Station" (which I hated) but it's not even as good as "Panic Station" because it just drags on for the longest 4:22 you ever heard with poor transitions and boring instrumentals.
The worst song on the album is "Psycho" which has, by far, the worst lyrics I have ever heard in a Muse song and is probably a top contender for worst lyrics in an alternative song this year. It's bad, I mean, really bad. When the emphasized part of the chorus is "Your ass is mine," I can't help but to be reminded of some even worse lyrical content revolved around female behinds.
But I digress. "Psycho" isn't bad exclusively for it's lyrics; it's also bad instrumentally. If you want to talk about how this album is phoned in, this song sounds more phoned in than the rest. Just try to imagine the simplest, most overused, blues riff that you've ever heard and you can't come up with one as boring and as cliche as the riff in "Psycho." And if you thought "Dead Inside" dragged on, "Psycho" infests itself for a whole 5:16, three minutes more than it probably should. It suffers from the same problem as "Madness" from the previous album. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat...for all eternity or until 5:16 is up. But beware, as you get closer to the 5:16 mark, time may slow down and your sanity may lessen.
Moving on, one of the most annoying things that happens throughout this album is the obnoxious use of falsetto. Being a Muse fan, I'm no stranger to falsetto and think that Matt is very good at it. However, this album just over uses it. Frequently, Matt will sing a one note falsetto in the middle of a verse for seemingly no reason. Falsetto works best at climactic parts in a song whether it is right before a chorus, at the end of a chorus, or at the climax in the bridge where it's time to show your stuff, so to speak. But more than a few times during this album Matt will sing a one note falsetto right in the middle of a line in the verse. It sounds so out of place that you would swear that Matt's voice was actually cracking during the take and they left it in. It's dumb; I don't like it; I don't get it; It's annoying as shit.
The album does have some good qualities. Throughout the album, you will hear some pretty awesome synth lines which really put the cherry on top. However, if you're putting the cherry on top of a pile of boring old grits, it's probably not going to do much. The same goes for the harmonies. Matt does an excellent job throughout the album layering his voice two, three, sometimes four times over with different harmony parts which turn out beautifully.
If you like pop-rock, Muse stretches their bounds with the song "Revolt" which has an incredibly catchy 4 chord pop chorus. Why this song wasn't a single over "Psycho" is beyond me.
By far, the best part of this album is the song "The Globalist." It's interesting because this particular song is what a Muse fan would have hoped that this album would have been like throughout. "The Globalist" is a ten minute opus combining various movements involving western music, a slow part that will remind fans of "Sing for Absolution," harsh and powerful hard-rock guitar work that will give you a thrashing like "Stockholm Syndrome" did, piano work that reminds you of the brilliance of "Butterflies and Hurricanes" and "United States of Eurasia." The choir and orchestral accompaniment is just perfect. The vocals are beautifully sung. The drums transition in and out of each section masterfully. You can feel the inspiration and emotion at every turn in this song. It lives up to its lyrical content in every way where the protagonist of the album gets vengeance by using his new found authority to unleash nuclear annihilation against the country that sent drones to kill his family. It's a very emotional and conflicted end to a decent idea for a concept album.
Too bad the rest of the album didn't live up.
Drones sounds mostly like a b-sides album. From the outset, it sounds like songs that couldn't make the cut on the last few albums and only get worse as you explore them further. It's lackluster, uninteresting, but mostly, it just exists and doesn't really do much else other than disappoint Muse fans.
Except for "The Globalist" check that out RIGHT NOW!!! It got taken down from YouTube for copyright reasons (probably) but here's a link where you can listen to it.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2suxy4
Cover image: http://dis.resized.images.s3.amazonaws.com/540x540/99902.jpeg
