The new
Muse album is familiar yet fresh. The
guitars are deep, epic, and symphonic.
Everything is still as grand as it was on The Resistence. However,
what was that? That deep rumbling; might
you call it…a…wub? Yes, several of the
songs on this album incorporate our newfound fascination with Americanized
dubstep. It is subtle at times, such as
on “Madness”, and pretty much non-existent on most of the album. While bands like Korn went all out in their
incorporation of “brostep” (a term I fully endorse for artists like Datsik,
Skrillex, and Excision), Muse takes an approach very fitting of their
style. “Madness” in particular utilizes
synthesizers in a manner that is reminiscent of “Starlight” if it were updated
for 2012. “Follow Me” has a distinct
breakdown in the chorus of the song that feels immensely appropriate. It is not overwhelming, yet it shows their
audience a glimpse of what we might see taking a more focal presence on their
next album. I don’t know what to make of
it, but Bellamy lets out some very “Bono-esque” wails at the end of this track. The second to last track, “The 2nd
Law: Unsustainable” features the brostep influence most prominently. It begins with the symphonic buildup that
heavily characterized their last album, and then goes all out with the bass
drop.
Aside from
these three songs, the whole album is guaranteed to please all of their
fans. I enjoyed the entire album and
felt that these songs might even be essential to its character. As we all know, Bellamy’s goal in life is to
become Freddie Mercury, and on “Panic Station” the bass line even sounds like
Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust”.
In addition we’ve got some very funky horns. This is one of my favorite tracks. Honestly I can hear some U2 influences on this
album as well, especially looking at tracks like “Big Freeze” and “Follow Me”. Especially in the backing vocals, I feel like Bono wandered into the studio. Let me bring this review full circle and leave you with this; what if U2 did
dubstep?
Big Freeze- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e37F8gBC8g0
Panic Station- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OihrZeI06tA
Nice little review Brian. I agree with your comments on some of the vocals being Bono-esque at times.
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