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

[Heretic]

Matt Bellamy might be absolutely mad.

[abydos]

Well that was boring. So typical Muse, for me, nothing seems to be changing. Add more dubstep

[faemir]

Melodies were nice, though it was a pretty slow song - doesnt seem like single material to me.

edit: one good thing? The mix/master so far look superb for this album, which is great, considering Muse's track record  - Absolution, what the hell were they thinking?

[ariich]

Melodies were nice, though it was a pretty slow song - doesnt seem like single material to me.

edit: one good thing? The mix/master so far look superb for this album, which is great, considering Muse's track record  - Absolution, what the hell were they thinking?

Yeah, as much as I adore Absolution for the quality of the music, the production is shoddy, and the albums before it were no better. They've been a bit better since, but this is the best sounding stuff we've had by far!

The new songs are all very cool, and so completely different. I agree with Rob, this album is going to be MAD.

[The King in Crimson]

Madness was neat.  When it first started, I began to regret my decision to preorder the album.   

BUT it got much better fairly quickly.  I like it a lot better than Unsustainable , which is almost like 2 unfinished songs squashed together.

[ariich]

Well, Unsustainable is the first of two parts in The 2nd Law, so I guess I don't think of it as a full song anyway. Hoping the second part is a bit more coherent. I love the ideas though!

And yeah, Madness starts real slow, but it builds up nicely and the second half of the song is gorgeous.

[Bill Carson]

I really like it, very melodic and builds nicely. The more you listen, the more hypnotic it gets.
Definitley hear the Queen vibe, but the verse melody reminds me of George Michaels Faith....not sure why.
Anyway, can't wait for the new album !

[adace]

I've listened to Madness a couple times now and I have to say it's just a great song. My anticipation for the album has been at least partially restored.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

I love Madness. I LOVE Madness. Screw the haters, the song's hooks are extremely strong.

[TheVoxyn]

I love Madness. I LOVE Madness. Screw the haters, the song's hooks are extremely strong.

I'm with you on this.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

 

The last minute and a half or so is amazing, so strong.

[ZeppelinDT]

Really digging this stuff so far.  I like that they seem to be going back to a more experimental direction.  Felt kinda bored with their last two albums, but this has the potential to be the most interesting stuff they've done since Origins...

[ZKX-2099]

Unsustainable... that orchestral build was awesome. And the rockstep really clicks when the strings kick in.

[LCArenas]

Been into this band lately, Absolution and OOS are my favorites currently. About the last singles: Unsustainable... No. I don't like it, I don't like that the giant-massive orchestral build-up ends in a total mess of sounds (I don't like dubstep at all) and it seems like they mashed two unrelated songs together. Madness, however, is definitely a grower. It did nothing on me at first but I surely love it now.

[Nel]

Haven't heard Unsustainable yet, but I really can't stand madness. Slow and boring, just like a good chunk of The Resistance. I am soooo hoping The 2nd Law surprises me.

[The Letter M]

I heard "Madness" on the radio today while driving a work van! I was pretty excited to hear Muse on the radio, let alone NEW Muse!

-Marc.

[robwebster]

Been into this band lately, Absolution and OOS are my favorites currently. About the last singles: Unsustainable... No. I don't like it, I don't like that the giant-massive orchestral build-up ends in a total mess of sounds (I don't like dubstep at all) and it seems like they mashed two unrelated songs together. Madness, however, is definitely a grower. It did nothing on me at first but I surely love it now.

I've kind of had the opposite thing with Madness. Loved it first time I heard it, but right now I'm not loving much of the song aside from the "maaa-aaa-AAA-AAAAAD-NESS!" harmonies during the verses. I probably overplayed it.

Survival, now that's the real grower for me. Brilliant song. I can't listen to it without turning the speakers right up. So intense. So fiery. So Muse.

[cyberdrummer]

It's out there...

[adace]

Turns out Chris is an awesome singer too. Save Me is really great. Reminds me of Anathema.

[EdenHazard]

I just listened to it over a legal stream, and I have to admit it's a terrible record. I've had my share of problems with Resistance, but in the end it was sub-par and that was that, 1-3 songs I liked, the rest being poor or forgettable.

But this...wow, I'm really astonished. I'm really not somebody who is not open to different styles of music, as I like something out of every genre, but every song feels like a rip-off of something else and just all in all completely uninspired. With the exception of Liquid State, which is average, and Madness, of which I understand the appeal though I don't like it myself there is nothing that stands out or works out in any kind of way. Some songs sound like bad James Bond theme songs, most don't do anything at all. Just a bad, bad record.

Sorry, I know I'm sounding like the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons, but I loved Muse for the most part of the career and this is just so bad to me it's almost funny.

Edit: I just realized my avatar is very fitting considering this post. You're tearing me apart, Matthew!

[Zantera]

Yeah, the new album is really bad.

[cyberdrummer]

On my third listen now, I can't believe how far downhill this band has gone in the space of 2 albums.

[namgalsipsclar]

I think its pretty decent, with some good and some terrible tracks.
Supremacy is kinda cool, could suitably be a Bond theme, has some nice screams from MB
Madness is nice I guess
Panic Station is really cool and funky, although I think it might come across as lame for a lot of people
Survival is meh, but the Prelude to it is quite nice.
Follow Me I literally cannot remember
Animals is really good, has some really nice guitar work, hoping for the vocal lines to grow on me really
Explorers is A LOT like Invincible from BHAR, I swear some of the chord progressions are exactly the same! But I guess its quite good and builds well.
Big Freeze I dont really remember either
Save Me sounds like a completely different band, Chris as a singer reminds me of Steven Wilson and a bit like the guy from Haken(awesome prog band) Overall a great track
Liquid State was kinda cool
Unsustainable is rubbish, I really dont like it at all. Also the thermodynamics news sections are really lame, and made me cringe a lot
I kinda hoped Isolated System would make up for it but it doesnt, although its a bit better, loses the dubstep and goes all trancey. Very little MB vocals on it and still not much good

Overall, from my first impressions I actually think its quite good. Standouts for me are Supremacy, Panic Station, Animals and especially Save Me.


Edit: I absolutely LOVE Save Me. Chris's voice is really good, and its nice to see Matt Bellamy take a back seat and let the other guys have some freedom. Also Liquid State is really good. Maybe Chris should do a solo album 

[ResultsMayVary]

I actually liked the album a lot except for Survival and Unsustainable.

[krands85]

I can't believe how far downhill this band has gone in the space of 2 albums.

Same here. Just not my cup of tea anymore unfortunately. I liked Unnatural Selection and Exogenesis from The Resistance, but that was about it.

With The 2nd Law, I was expecting things to be even worse. And although it wasn't actually as bad as I thought it was going to be, Supremacy was the only track that was decent.
 
Listened to an epic playlist of some of my favourites by them afterwards - they used to be so good 

[JRundquist]

I received the promo late last night. I got 6 tracks in and I couldn't finish it, I had to delete it. its an embarrassment to me to a band that could write albums like Absolution and Origin of Symmetry to writing....this.

[robwebster]

Available for streaming on the Guardian website.

Love it to bits.

Trying not to listen again until the release date, but Panic Station is far and away my favourite song first time through. All subject to change, though. All I know for sure, at this point, is that it blows the Resistance right out of the water. Maniacal, diverse - couldn't stop grinning. Stupendous.

[WindMaster]

Not liking much of what I'm hearing.

its an embarrassment to me to a band that could write albums like Absolution and Origin of Symmetry to writing....this.

Unfortunately, I agree. What a shame.

[Heretic]

I really liked Save Me, and maybe one or two others. Otherwise it's just average I'd say.

[ResultsMayVary]

I enjoy this album a lot more after several more listens. It's not THAT different than the material on The Resistance, so this album really shouldn't have surprised anyone, with the exception of the last four tracks (which is very different than what we're expecting from Muse).

[skydivingninja]

My thoughts, recorded on my first listen through:

Supremacy had some cool stuff going on in it.  Can't remember a lot of it off the bat (just need more listens), but its already a massive improvement over the Resistance in that it wasn't uber repetitive like Uprising. 

Madness is a lot better listening to a higher-quality version than a youtube video, but I still think that its a pretty meh song overall.  Some cool textures going on, and once the song gets going at around the 3:30 it gets a lot better.  I guess my problem is that it isn't change all that much to keep me interested, or starts off with a great hook right off the bat the way a repetitive song like Time is Running Out is.

Panic Station.  Dat bass riff.  Reminds me of The Game-style Queen.  Then horns come in!  Now here's something more engaging than most of The Resistance.

Prelude/Survival.  Still a fun song.  Lyrics are still cheesy and silly.  Again, more engaging than most of The Resistance.  This is some of the most epic stuff Muse have done.  I was jamming out to it by the midpoint. 

Follow Me.  Not very good lyrics.  Not very interesting.  Then we hear that stupid "VROOP VROOP VROOP VROOP" sound effect I feel like I've heard in too many club/party songs or whatever.  Then it turns into a pop song that doesn't grab me.  Makes me miss the rocking Muse that used to exist.  Supermassive Black Hole was poppy, but it still rocked. 

Animals.  I like the guitar work and all the instrumentation.  The vocal melody is a bit boring though.  Shame, the song was so close to being awesome.

Explorers.  Started off kinda sleepy.  Got more into it as it went on.  But I don't really remember it very well, oddly enough.  Like all new albums it'll need more listens.  I did notice its the longest song on the album.  Remember when Muse wrote 6 minute songs like Knights of Cydonia, New Born, or even 5 minute songs like Butterflies & Hurricanes?  The song kinda remains static for 6 minutes.  Its not a good fit. 

Big Freeze.  Seems to me that Animals, Explorers, and Big Freeze got no press in the interviews and videos Muse have done to promote the album.  Again, a very poppy song that doesn't sound like Muse could have written it. 

Save Me.  This song is fantastic.  Maybe Matt should split with Dom and Chris.  He can do all his dancey pop stuff with orchestras and Dom and Chris can write great songs like this.  Chris' voice is actually really good.  I hope this leads to many more contributions from him in the future. 

Liquid State.  Music's good.  Chris is good.  Guitars should sound heavier I think.  They sound a little subdued and lack a real punch to them.  Other than that it looks like Chris is 2 for 2. 

UN ZZSUS TAIN ABLE. BEEEEEEEEEEEEYOOOOOOOOOOOOO WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH UN SUS TAIN ABLE BEEEEEEEEEEYOOOOOO WICKYWAHWAAAAAAAAH UNSUSTAIN UNSUSTAINABLE.  *ahem*  The orchestral stuff is good, mimicking dubstep with actual guitars is cool.  That newscaster lady having all those weird effects on her voice is annoying though.  Still a cool song though.

Isolated System.  Started off with really good music.  Those stupid samples killed the mood though.  Because Unsustainable, Animals, and Explorers didn't hit us over the head with the message already and God forbid Matt Bellamy wants us to enjoy music without listening to some newspeople elec-lec-lec-lec-lec-lectronically modifying their voices.  Maybe not the most exciting song, which is something the album definitely needs, but its still a very good closing track and instrumental.

So yeah.  Overall, more cool things than the Resistance, but definitely fewer cool things than Origin, Absolution, or Black Holes.  I really want to see more rocking Muse again, or at least rocking Muse that really went out of the box, rather than a "hey we're a rock band doing POP STUFF isn't that exciting?" kind of Muse.  Think more Hoodoo and less Follow Me.  I'm also open to Chris doing a solo album. 

[Implode]

On my third listen now, I can't believe how far downhill this band has gone in the space of 2 albums.

And I think the exact opposite. I love the direction Muse has been going. One man's trash is another man's treasure I guess.

[EdenHazard]

Trying not to listen again until the release date, but Panic Station is far and away my favourite song first time through.

This was by far the most cringeworthy moment of the whole record for me. The ugly lovechild of Prince and Stevie Wonder married to INXS.

Definitely will give the record a few more plays, but I could not warm up to resistance at all, so I don't believe my opinion will change all that much. But let's see.

[Mladen]

I liked Unnatural Selection and Exogenesis from The Resistance, but that was about it.

Ooh, those were my two favorite songs on that album as well. 

I'll try to listen to the new one as soon as possible...

[robwebster]

Trying not to listen again until the release date, but Panic Station is far and away my favourite song first time through.

This was by far the most cringeworthy moment of the whole record for me. The ugly lovechild of Prince and Stevie Wonder married to INXS.

That's fair! I'd call it the maverick daughter of Franz Ferdinand and the Scissor Sisters, myself, but it's not like I can convince anyone to like it. Personally, though? Can't listen to it without hopping around the room. So much fun, but I can see how it'd be polarising. I'd definitely give Animals or Explorers a few more listens, though, if you're a bit of a traditionalist. They could slot right into Origin and Absolution, I'd say.

Ah well. Nothing new. Black Holes & Revelations shed half the fanbase a couple of years ago. Turnover's a shame, but absolutely inevitable. Progress marches on. On my third listen right now, and where I'm sat, Muse sound alive again. Loved them in all their flavours, and now they've got twelve brand new ones. Bliss.