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

[KevShmev]

The 2nd Law's a good shout. Big, diverse, with lots of very striking songs which should, likely, hit you like Madness did. It's a very new album, not two weeks old, so reactions are a little unsettled at the moment. I don't know how fair an overview I can give you, or how likely it is that anyone who's not a massive Muse fan will like it. But it's the album with Madness on, and it's got a lot of rock songs, a lot of electronic songs, and I have a lot of fun listening to it. Hopefully, you will too.

Alternatively, Black Holes and Revelations is probably the next closest. Fourth album, widely considered to be among their best (but not so often their very best), and again very diverse. Sort of space-western theme to it from track seven onwards. I'd think, if you liked Madness, you'd stand a good chance at liking Starlight, Supermassive Black Hole or Map of the Problematique - and again, it's a very immediately striking album, which a couple of their albums aren't so much, so it might have a better chance of getting you into the band.

And I'll also vouch for The Resistance. It's like a sort of milder 2nd Law. Not as amazing as the above albums either side of it, but it's eleven pretty cool songs. Very safe album to start with. Mild-er, as opposed to mild, because it still ranges from glam rock T-Rex style calls-to-arms to Orwellian piano-rockers about Europe and Asia uniting to control the world, and it culminates in a three-part symphony about leaving the planet. But if The 2nd Law is Muse turned up to eleven, The Resistance is them dialled down to... oh, eight or so? That might be good, though. Might make it a very effective entry drug. And, again, there are songs that don't match, but are in a similar vein to Madness, which is true of the above two (one has a song that's identical) and not at all of the three below.

Of the other three:
- Absolution's full of cracking songs but it's too dense.
- Origin's great, and it's a grower that you should definitely get eventually... but it's a little difficult to absorb in places, and never sounds anything like Madness. The band's Awake.
- Showbiz is their first album and offers a very primordial view of what Muse is.

As always, incredibly well-said.

My only beef with The Resistance is it lags in the middle of the CD.  The first four and last four songs are all really good, but Guiding Light and MK Ultra are pretty forgettable, and Unnatural Selection, despite starting great, loses its way once it slows down.  Like I've said before, I think they tried to do another Citizen Erased with that song, but failed.  Should have kept it rocking all of the way through. But I Belong to You is still one of their most underrated songs ever.

  Relistening to BH&R right now, and yeah, I still just don't see how this album is good. Map Of The Problematique is still a top 5 Muse song, but the rest, ugh. Supermassive Black Hole is absolutely terrible, and everything from track 5 to track 10 ruins itself by either droning on and on, or having some random noises/spaghetti western themes going on in them that just don't work for me. Only Knights... makes the western motif work.

I have no words for how much I disagree with this.  But to each his own.

[Nel]

But there are people out there who like things I don't like and and it makes me argnasjfahfuagefugfsa!

[Accelerando]

Checking out Origin of Symmetry now since that seems to be the most recommended. Really liking New Born

[bout to crash]

After a couple of listens, I'm still absorbing it but really digging this album so far. They aren't coming to Denver, though, and I don't quite think I like it enough to travel to see them...

[ariich]

I never understand why, when someone asks for recommendations, people just post their own favourite albums.
 

Agreed.  However, in the case of my recommendations, my favorites are also the highest rated/most popular. 

Oh definitely, at least among the old school fans, but yeah same point I suppose - the most popular ones aren't necessarily the ones a particular person will like.

[robwebster]

I tend to find that in pretty much all media, the fan favourites are rarely the most newcomer-friendly, and that only multiplies as you go deeper and deeper into message-boards and insular fan societies and so on and so forth. Connoisseurs tend to gravitate to the more challenging stuff.

We on this website, for instance, are pretty close to the top of Dream Theater's pyramid of nerdiness, and as our breadth tapers off to a fine point, so does Awake massively increase in popularity. Pretty much all albums tend to get re-evaluated, more often increasing in favour as time passes, but even within that, dear Papa Cronos tends to favour the dense, moody, "listen to this for two years and you might finally 'get' it" albums over the more vibrant caffeine shots. Poll Scarred versus Forsaken on DTF.org, for instance, and Scarred is likely to win by miles. Poll it on Last.FM, and the result is quite likely to skew the other way.

An album like Origin of Symmetry, likewise. I went for years just liking a couple of tracks before it eventually caught me on a good day, and I went "Actually, this is pretty darned good." Heck, I saw Citizen Erased live and it still didn't manage to squeeze a snifter of emotion out of me - just felt like another of those samey, meandering Origin songs. They might as well have been playing Space Dementia. (Which I also love now - funny how things change!)

I'd say I like Origin more than the Resistance nowadays, certainly did when I tried to rank them a few days ago, and the fanbase definitely does, but to get someone into the band? Wouldn't think it's the easiest sell. The Resistance is striking, it's immediate. It lashes, and crashes, and rolls. That kind of thing, while it wears off in the long run, is invaluable to a new fan. Once you're hooked, you'll be more persuaded to forgive the trickier stuff. More likely to keep coming back to the albums that might not always work straight off the bat. But I think it's very important that a starter album has, regardless of any depth or enduring quality or meticulously crafted atmosphere that swells up on repeated listens, lots and lots of surface character. If it has the other things, great, but a lot of fan favourites tend to include some tougher-skinned albums. From my own experience, I'd personally include Origin among those - but experiences do differ!

So, yes. To me, I'd say Origin vs. Resistance is like... Terria vs. Synchestra. Or like how I prefer Deadwing but I'd recommend a newcomer starts with In Absentia. Might not be a bad call, might be just what someone's looking for, but I wouldn't personally depend on it to leave an impression on a newbie.

[Accelerando]

I did discover Dream Theater by asking for recommendations way back when (I think 2005ish is when i started listening to DT). Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence was the most recommended, and I fell in love with that album, and the band. I have many people come to me knowing that im a hardcore Alter Bridge fan asking me what album they should listen to first, and like many AB fans, always recommend Blackbird first.

So far, Origin of Symmetry has won me over. What fucking awesome album. Plug-In Baby, Bliss, New Born, and Space Dementia are so far the highlights. I've only had one spin of it, but I'm definitely going to listen to it more.

[robwebster]

And that's the flip side of recommending a tougher album. If you love Origin of Symmetry, you definitely love Muse.

Welcome aboard! It's going to be a cracking ride. Yes, those songs are brilliant. q:

[Jaffa]

From my own experience, I'd personally include Origin among those - but experiences do differ!

Indeed.  Citizen Erased was the first Muse song I ever knowingly heard, so I can personally vouch for its ability to hook some listeners.   

[orcus116]

If you love OOT, get Absolution, Black Holes and then stop from there. It only goes way downhill.

[Dark Castle]

If you love OOT, get Absolution, Black Holes and then stop from there. It only goes way downhill.

Or you could just let him decide for himself, I mean The 2nd Law and Resolution are fucking awesome in some people's, including my opinion..

[orcus116]

You mean The Resistance?

[Dark Castle]

 
Yeah, you can tell I'm tired when I completely fuck up album titles.  This also happens with Ghost Reveries, which usually becomes Ghost Revolutions or Ghost Revelations

[robwebster]

The song that piqued his interest was Madness. He'll like the 2nd Law. And while The Resistance isn't quite up to the same lofty standards, it's a perfectly pleasant listen in its own right. It'll be fine.

From my own experience, I'd personally include Origin among those - but experiences do differ!

Indeed.  Citizen Erased was the first Muse song I ever knowingly heard, so I can personally vouch for its ability to hook some listeners.   

Good! Excellent. Brilliant song!

[Mladen]

I'll be the first one to tell you not to miss out on Showbiz, which has some of the catchiest songs I've ever heard. It's very accessible and less progressive than their later works, but that's the beauty of it - its simplicity.

[njdtfan]

Let me preface with I am not a huge Muse fan, I like them but to me they are just good, not great. Thats aid, I went into this album with a bit of worry after hearing/reading lots of mixed reviews. I gave it a spin when it first came out and decided i needed to devote a bit more time/listens to it. Then the new Between The Buried and Me and As I lay Dying albums came out & thats all I have been listening to the past 2 weeks. So late last night I gave a listen again to the Muse album and again on my run this morning. I guess I am still on the fence about it but I will admit it is growing on me. Now bact to BTBAM .

[Jaffa]

From my own experience, I'd personally include Origin among those - but experiences do differ!

Indeed.  Citizen Erased was the first Muse song I ever knowingly heard, so I can personally vouch for its ability to hook some listeners.   

Good! Excellent. Brilliant song!

Definitely.

And for the record, I didn't mean to come across as argumentative.  Just commenting on the uniqueness of experiences. 

[fps]

They ran out of riffs a few albums back and have now totally lost it. A shame. Still, 2 1/2 fantastic albums, and that's more than we get from most bands.

[theseoafs]

Nah, Muse doesn't need riffs to be good.

[Implode]

Can someone explain to me why their newer albums apparently suck?

[MasterShakezula]

Can someone explain to me why their newer albums apparently suck?

(Aside from their older songs played on the radio) I've only heard The 2nd Law.  It's not bad at all.  I really dig the Queen-ish qualities of Survival + Madness, Survival's really ought to be a James Bond song, and Panic Station's way groovier and dance-able than I'd expect from a prog-influenced alt-band.  I didn't find the rest as memorable, but it's all good enough to make me get around to listen to the other Muse albums lying around my hard-drive. 

[KevShmev]

Can someone explain to me why their newer albums apparently suck?

It's simple:

They don't.

[Nick]

Can someone explain to me why their newer albums apparently suck?

It's simple:

They don't.

Correct. The 2nd Law is awesome. However, for the most part The Resistance does pretty much blow.

[theseoafs]

Correct. The 2nd Law is awesome. However, for the most part The Resistance does pretty much blow.

What's wrong with The Resistance?  I've found the majority of the songs overwhelmingly strong.

[KevShmev]

Agreed.  Like I said before, the middle of it is pretty average, but there are four or five really good songs on it, and then a few other good ones.  Okay, there is nothing I would call a top tier Muse song, but so what?

[Jaffa]

I enjoy The Resistance whenever I listen to it, I just don't feel compelled to do so very often.  It's all pretty middle-of-the-pack for me. 

[The King in Crimson]

I'd say it's better than Showbiz, but that's about it.

[ariich]

I pretty much agree with Kev, although I think I like the album overall probably a bit more. But yeah it starts and ends very strongly, but there are a couple of songs in the middle that are less interesting, plus there's Guiding Light which is just horrible.

[Silver Tears]

I wasn't a massive fan of the last two albums but I sure don't think they're as terrible as lots of people make them out to be

[Nick]

Too be fair The Resistance isn't "terrible", but after two really good tracks and one absolutely stunning one the album ranges from meh to uninteresting and makes listening past Undisclosed Desires completely pointless.

[Implode]

I really don't like the first two tracks, but I really like Undisclosed Desires, United States of Eurasia, I Belong to You, and Exogenesis Symphony.

So I guess my sneaking suspicions were correct. I just like what everyone else doesn't.

[The Letter M]

Listening to their last 4 albums, I really get a sense that these guys are truly the modern-day progressive rockers - each album changes slightly more so with each release - something is new or different, and each song tends to sound more different than the last on each album. All the songs have character, and they don't suffer from sounding all the same.

This is a band with a lot of growth, and while their changes may not appeal to all, one can at least try to appreciate what it is they are doing - progressing. Their growing, changing sound is something that I can liken to prog bands of the 70's. They started out with some more straight-forward stuff, riff-y songs, more pop-like things, then move on to more experimental sounds and instruments and instrumentation, arrangements and forms.

What interests me the most about The Resistance and The 2nd Law is that they aren't Absolution and Black Holes & Revelations rehashed. Sure, they could pump out a dozen singles that sound like "Supermassive Black Hole" and be chart-toppers for a couple more albums, or they can make more interesting music that doesn't back-step on their catalog. In some ways, they're kind of like Rush in that they seem to be making music that pleases THEM, and it shows in that a lot of fans of their older material are starting to fall away from the band because they're not who they used to be, or release the kind of Muse-music they made back during their first 3 or 4 albums.

But it is for THAT reason that I enjoy them, appreciate them, and applaud them for doing what makes THEM happy.

-Marc.

[Mladen]

An album that has Exogenesis symphony and Unnatural selection can't be bad. It's still my least favorite Muse record, though...

[Bill Carson]

I actually really like The Resistance from start to finish, i'm not a huge fan of the 2nd Law but I really appreciate how each album is different and like a previous poster has said, progressive.
Some of the genres they play around with do show their shortcomings for me e.g Panic Stations. I know that there a lot of people on this board that absolutely love this song.
It fuses elements of funk with rock and I can hear the appeal but its just that I have heard this done so much better by other artists
There are some good bits but it comes across as a band that just does not have the feel for that style.
To be honest I do admire anyone who has a go instead of playing it safe, so in that sense well done Muse for taking the risk.

[Cedar redaC]

I've borrowed my brother's copy, so far, it's really quite cool. Follow Me is good!