Muse - v. Will of the People (rel Aug 26, 2022)

[ariich]

I liked the stuff before the brostep thing (that's not real dubstep btw), and I liked the brostep part a bit less, but still liked it. I will buy the album.

One thing though... If Matt isn't doing that shit on guitar, I won't like it as much. I don't want a good band like Muse resorting to programming every single second of their songs. They already sound a bit too synthetic for my tastes.

Not sure why you'd have that worry, you can clearly hear the guitar and drums in that "dubstep" section. And all the orchestral parts in the buildup sounded real as well, like on the Resistance.

[Nihil-Morari]

I want this album man.
The whole band doing dubstep thing is a bit old now, but I've never heard a band doing that sort of dubstep before (yeah, I hate the term brostep). But the orchestral intro sounds really really good.

[robwebster]

How long do we expect it'll be before we start seeing t-shirts with the robot that says UN-SU-ZZZTAIN-ABLE on?

I reckon we should get ahead of the game and give it its fan nickname right now. My suggestions are "Darren," "The robot that says UN-SU-ZZZTAIN-ABLE," or "Darren, the robot that says UN-SU-ZZZTAIN-ABLE." I am aware that only one of those is particularly catchy, though.

[Kosmo]

meh

I'm all for bands trying new things and a more electronic style would really suit Muse, but this particular bit sounded so bland. It's the sort of dubstep that bros put on their Call of Duty videos on Youtube.

It's definitely more impressive since there's actual drums and Matt is doing that sound on his guitar and with the pad most likely but it still doesn't make it sound interesting, it's just your typical brostep only done with instruments.

I'm still getting the album and I still have high hopes for it, that's only a trailer.

[Pinga]

(that's not real dubstep btw)

I think it's too late to convince people otherwise, unfortunately.

[robwebster]

I think it's more that brostep's a distinction that only afficionados particularly care about. Not unique to dubstep - metal's got "djent," most genres have their own subdivisions, all with silly names and their own meanings that are completely lost on the wider music world. But just as I can't abide it when people ask for something "djenty," I'm afraid I just plain don't care what counts as "true" dubstep and what doesn't. Certainly not enough to start using the word "brostep" without a hint of irony.

I'm sure it is properly frustrating, because you can hear the distinction so clearly, and it must seem so obvious from where you're standing, so there's no disdain aimed at any of you personally. I'm wrong and you're right, absolutely. But if my disdain (for the lingo, not its fans) is showing through a little, then... yep, that will happen. You're from a world where it helps to put tags on different subcategories of dubstep to help communicate different ideas to each other and make sure everyone's on the same page. We're all coming from a world where that distinction is entirely unnecessary. Culture clash.

[skydivingninja]

Just thought of something.  Muse is preaching about sustainability in this song, yes?  They probably produce so many carbon emissions from flying around the world and putting on their huge stage shows with energy-sucking lights and amps, not to mention all the people using gas to get to their shows.  It's a little hypocritical. 

On a more musical note, what if that dubstep sound is made with a guitar rather than an electronic program like FL Studio or something?  That would certainly increase my opinion of it.  Not because dubstep/electronica isn't real music or doesn't require talent (it does) but because it would show Bellamy using the guitar in a Brian May-like way and that's just plain cool. 

EDIT: The more I listen to it the more I'm hearing guitar.  That's honestly pretty cool.

[robwebster]

I think, judging by the images, they're applying the second law of thermodynamics to the economy, rather than the environment. Message being that all the borrowing, lending, living outside our means was always UN-SU-ZZZTAIN-ABLE. Nothing to do with nature, I don't think.

They've always been more about the politics of corruption, paranoia, etc., than the U2 side of things.

Yes, I'm pretty sure it's mostly guitar - probably with a fair helping of Kaoss pad stuff.  I reckon there's a thin layer of synth beneath it, but nothing thicker than what they've been doing since Black Holes & Revelations. More Map of the Problematique than Undisclosed Desires.

[Bill Carson]

I think, judging by the images, they're applying the second law of thermodynamics to the economy, rather than the environment. Message being that all the borrowing, lending, living outside our means was always UN-SU-ZZZTAIN-ABLE. Nothing to do with nature, I don't think.

They've always been more about the politics of corruption, paranoia, etc., than the U2 side of things.

Yes, I'm pretty sure it's mostly guitar - probably with a fair helping of Kaoss pad stuff.  I reckon there's a thin layer of synth beneath it, but nothing thicker than what they've been doing since Black Holes & Revelations. More Map of the Problematique than Undisclosed Desires.

 

[skydivingninja]

Fair enough.  At the same time, they're contributing greatly to the consumption of energy for reasons I just mentioned, and energy is something they made a big point in that video.     I'm not particularly serious in that criticism, just an interesting question to consider given bands like U2 who preach about all this stuff and then do elaborate 360 tours. 

[Riceball]

Personally I get the feeling they are jumping on the 'down with hypercapitalism' train; if yourfirst teaser of the album is quite specific in its themes, I dare say thats where the rest of the album will head. I am prone to being wrong 95% of the time, however.

[theseoafs]

I might be wrong, but I don't hear any guitar whatsoever. Besides, the angry dubstep computer is definitely saying something (though I can't tell what it is), and it sounds more like a vocoder to me than a guitar with some crazy effects that somehow resemble speech.

EDIT: listening to it more, I think I hear the guitar in the measures between angry dubstep computer vocal lines. I still maintain that the voice is done through a vocoder, though.

[skydivingninja]

Well the robot voice obviously isn't guitar    The actual dubstep music is, I'm pretty sure, made with a guitar + KAOSS pad effects.

Personally I get the feeling they are jumping on the 'down with hypercapitalism' train; if yourfirst teaser of the album is quite specific in its themes, I dare say thats where the rest of the album will head. I am prone to being wrong 95% of the time, however.

Again, this isn't really Muse getting on a train, its getting more vocal about it after riding that train for the last ten years.  Matt Bellamy is very big into conspiracy theories, NWO, and such.  That I wasn't surprised about at all. 

[ariich]

Yeah Bellamy has always written lyrics along those lines, definitely nothing new.

[robwebster]

Personally I get the feeling they are jumping on the 'down with hypercapitalism' train; if yourfirst teaser of the album is quite specific in its themes, I dare say thats where the rest of the album will head. I am prone to being wrong 95% of the time, however.

"Rise up and take the power back, it's time the fat cats had a heart attack, you know that their time is coming to an end, we have to unify and watch our flag ascend, COME ON!"

"War is overdue, the time has come for you to shoot your leaders down, join forces underground."

The only bit that I disagree with is "jumping on the train" - they've been driving that train for a good six years now.

[Fluffy Lothario]

Just thought of something.  Muse is preaching about sustainability in this song, yes?  They probably produce so many carbon emissions from flying around the world and putting on their huge stage shows with energy-sucking lights and amps, not to mention all the people using gas to get to their shows.  It's a little hypocritical. 

Radiohead once had a big study done on their touring's environmental footprint, as they were quite concerned with it and wanted to reduce it as much as possible. The study revealed that the bolded part was by far the biggest contributor, and, unless they started playing small clubs, or restricting their venues to places with the most brilliant public transport known to man, or banning people who drove from entering the gig or something insane like that, or simply stop touring, was absurdly difficult to reduce. I never heard anything more about it, so I wouldn't be surprised if they tweaked what they could and largely abandoned the idea. Point being, unless a band wanted to turn their own fanbase against them, they can inevitably only do so much about this.

As for the music, don't like it at all. Didn't like the Resistance, only liked half of Black Holes, almost certainly won't be checking this out. I think Muse have just taken their sound to a place that's not for me.

[Jirpo]

Interesting post Fluffy! Never knew that.

[SystematicThought]

Uh huh, but they also use huge trucks (usually more than 4) to carry their gear and lighting equipment and than a big tour bus to travel from city to city. As much as it may be the fans, the bands themselves do a lot to the environment.

Interesting to hear some other sides to it too though. Nothing against what you posted though, I just hate when bands preach about the environment but do more harm to it

[Sigz]

Considering that the vast majority of greenhouse gases and air pollution come from sources other than transportation, whether or not they drive a big bus is kind of irrelevant.

[FlyingBIZKIT]

Meh, at least I'll have other albums to look forward to.

[SystematicThought]

Considering that the vast majority of greenhouse gases and air pollution come from sources other than transportation, whether or not they drive a big bus is kind of irrelevant.

No, but I've been to an REM concert where Michael Stipe told the audience that our cars are hurting this planet and we need to stop driving so much. Don't tell me to stop driving my car to and from a concert and than hop on an airplane or tour bus with an entire fleet of trucks that house your instruments, lights, stage, etc. for 9 months out of the year.

It's kind of like when a celebrity says to stop driving so much, but than employs a fleet of cars to drive them to a premiere. Tom Hanks did it once to drive him to a Conan O'Brien taping. He had a police motorcade and three limos to escort him to the theater to tape the show.

Anyways, back to the music. This should be an interesting album. I am looking more forward to see how die-hard Muse fans react to it.

[Jirpo]

I hope they experiment a bit with this one.

[skydivingninja]

I hope they experiment a bit with this one.

Well you've already gotten your wish if the trailer is any indication 

[Kotowboy]

Considering that the vast majority of greenhouse gases and air pollution come from sources other than transportation, whether or not they drive a big bus is kind of irrelevant.

No, but I've been to an REM concert where Michael Stipe told the audience that our cars are hurting this planet and we need to stop driving so much. Don't tell me to stop driving my car to and from a concert and than hop on an airplane or tour bus with an entire fleet of trucks that house your instruments, lights, stage, etc. for 9 months out of the year.

It's kind of like when a celebrity says to stop driving so much, but than employs a fleet of cars to drive them to a premiere. Tom Hanks did it once to drive him to a Conan O'Brien taping. He had a police motorcade and three limos to escort him to the theater to tape the show.

Anyways, back to the music. This should be an interesting album. I am looking more forward to see how die-hard Muse fans react to it.

Then they say that we should turn off our TVs at night instead of leaving them on standby 


Also - Dubzzzzzzzzzzzztep   

[ariich]

Considering that the vast majority of greenhouse gases and air pollution come from sources other than transportation, whether or not they drive a big bus is kind of irrelevant.

No, but I've been to an REM concert where Michael Stipe told the audience that our cars are hurting this planet and we need to stop driving so much. Don't tell me to stop driving my car to and from a concert and than hop on an airplane or tour bus with an entire fleet of trucks that house your instruments, lights, stage, etc. for 9 months out of the year.

It's kind of like when a celebrity says to stop driving so much, but than employs a fleet of cars to drive them to a premiere. Tom Hanks did it once to drive him to a Conan O'Brien taping. He had a police motorcade and three limos to escort him to the theater to tape the show.

Anyways, back to the music. This should be an interesting album. I am looking more forward to see how die-hard Muse fans react to it.

In fairness, it's fundamentally different in that driving around the gear is literally the only option to get it from place to place. Without driving it, they can't put on a show. Whereas a lot of people, particularly in the US it seems and the UK isn't a great deal better, will drive somewhere simply because they can't be bothered to walk or get public transport. That's what people should be cutting down on, not driving when they actually need to.

[ZKX-2099]

I can't think of what would be worse... a Muse/dubstep album or that preview just being a small bit from one track and the rest being the same ol Muse...

[Kotowboy]

I can't think of what would be worse... a Muse album or ...

nothing's worse than that .

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

That sounded frickin' awesome. Clearly they won't be doing a full album of it (come on, even in that teaser trailer it was only the last 20 seconds that was dubstep) but the epic buildup leading into that solid dubstep was really nicely done. I was actually getting a bit unfussed about Muse in the last year or so but this has got me really excited again!

[Gadough]

those teeth

[SystematicThought]

I never understood why he made that thing.

[Riceball]

Personally I get the feeling they are jumping on the 'down with hypercapitalism' train; if yourfirst teaser of the album is quite specific in its themes, I dare say thats where the rest of the album will head. I am prone to being wrong 95% of the time, however.

"Rise up and take the power back, it's time the fat cats had a heart attack, you know that their time is coming to an end, we have to unify and watch our flag ascend, COME ON!"

"War is overdue, the time has come for you to shoot your leaders down, join forces underground."

The only bit that I disagree with is "jumping on the train" - they've been driving that train for a good six years now.

I mean environmental-ness-ism. I know they've always been a "down with the machine" kind of band, but from what I've paid attention to/can remember they haven't done much on the 'vironment.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

I never understood why he made that thing.

It explains your avatar, for sure.

[SystematicThought]

You don't like Theo Huxtable?

[robwebster]

New Muse song arriving in 5h30! Being played on Zane Lowe's radio show first, but it'll be available to buy off iTunes or muse.mu immediately after, so don't worry - nobody has to listen to Zane Lowe bellowing about how "IT'S GUNNAH BE THE BIGGEST RECORD IN THE WUUUUHLD."

It's called Survival, and it's being played because it's been picked as the official song of the London 2012 Olympics!

Not a clue what that entails - maybe it has to run a lap - but good news all round! Brilliant pick, bandwise. Can't wait to hear it.

[Mladen]

Ooh, exciting news!