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

[krands85]

I preferred the first single. Probably shouldn't have listened to Compliance straight after this though:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhqzH_ALzZ4

Incredible talent!

[ariich]

I really dig the new song - super catchy and instantly memorable hook.

[Nel]

Is that seriously track 10's title? 

[Adami]

Dig the new song. Will definitely be buying this.

[KevShmev]

Gonna wait to hear the whole thing at once, but that last song title is definitely  .

[Zoom E]

Is that seriously track 10's title? 

I hope so 

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

The chorus just seems kind of there in Compliance, but I do really like the verses. I really liked The 2nd Law even most people didn't, but Drones didn't really interest me much, so maybe I'll get back on the Muse train with this album.

[Lax]

If it continues like that it will be an album of choruses...But it would be nice they remembered how to write intros, verses, solos, bridges and outros
Terrible to me

[krands85]

Kill or be Killed:
MUSE - KILL OR BE KILLED [Official Music Video]

[Metro]

New song is my favorite of the singles so far. Still only moderately excited for the new album. I’m getting the sense that this album is a mix of Drones and and Simulation Theory (ew).

[The Letter M]

First listen and "Verona" is an early favorite. Actually, Side B of the short 37:36 long album (last four tracks) are probably the best. This is their shortest album by far, where most of their full LPs have been closer to 55-60 minutes, this one is a quick jaunt of 10 songs that cover the wide range of sounds and styles the band is known for. This could be another classic Muse release but I'll need some more time with it to digest it.

-Marc.

-Marc.

[Zoom E]

Just gave Will of the People my first listen. It may be the best thing Muse have done in a while. I agree that Verona is a standout and that some of the strongest songs are at the back end of the album.

[SoundscapeMN]

Will of the People might be less is more in some ways.

Unfortunately, it still sounds overproduced which it seems almost every record they've made over the last decade been guilty of to an extent.

[KevShmev]

Reviews on this seem pretty mixed, but I am still looking forward to it.  Despite Simulation Theory not knocking my socks off, although I did really like a few songs, Muse is still an auto-buy and auto-see any time they come to St Louis.  Crossing my fingers for a good one! 

[DTwwbwMP]

I absolutely LOVE WOTP! It is short and sweet

[Fritzinger]

Unfortunately, it still sounds overproduced which it seems almost every record they've made over the last decade been guilty of to an extent.

I listened to it once and this thought popped into my head a few times as well.
Also, I'm not sure I like those vapid "political/revolution/we are the voice of the little people"-lyrics they've been doing over the last few albums. We are fucking fucked... really? 
I will give this album more spins of course as I don't really want to give a final opinion after just one listen.

[Metro]

After one listen, the theme of “Greatest Hits album” seems accurate. Not as in this being a collection of their greatest songs, but there are songs in here that definitely feel inspired by past albums, making this album seem like a culmination of Muse’s career up to this point. I can’t remember the names off the top of my head, but there’s a song that instantly reminded me of OOS, one that reminded me of Drones, etc.
Having said that, this album didn’t do much for me after just one listen. One thing that consistently underwhelms me about Muse is their lyrics. So many songs are just “The Government is going to kill us! Fight back! I love you!” and man it’s getting old. Gonna give this another spin or two today, but my opinion this far is just “Meh”. I like it more that Simulation Theory, but that is a very low bar.

Back in High School, me and some friends wanted to start a Muse cover band and play at this “Student Music Festival” kinda of thing at school. We made a setlist of like 6 or 7 songs, and I spent all my free time over the next couple of weeks learning them. We met up to rehearse once and no one else had bothered learning anything except Starlight. We opted instead to just play that song at the talent show, but were told we couldn’t because the lyrics were “Inappropriate” 

[SystematicThought]

The lyrics are over the top cheesy to me, but I actually didn’t mind the album!

I will say, I was so pumped for You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween from that YouTube clip, but I really wished that organ was used more! It sounds so great and huge but then they just kinda don’t use much of it prominently. I wish that intro when the drums and bass come in went on longer. I just love the way it sounds

[NoseofNicko]

I stopped caring about Muse a decade ago but I quite like the new album.

[KevShmev]

Bellamy was tweeting a bunch yesterday and said tour dates are likely for North America for Feb/March 2023. 

About to dig into the new album.

[Zoom E]

I don’t mind the lyrics. The “rail against the government” sentiment has become somewhat relevant given the events of the past few years. For me, the only song with questionable lyrics is You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween. Just goofy. 

I’m really enjoying Will of the People, and some of the songs are definitely reminiscent of their earlier material. I just wish it was longer than 37 minutes.

[soupytwist]

It's kind off fun, but has no depth whatsoever.  I don't know why they don't even try to write songs like Citizen Erased or Hurricane and Butterflies anymore.

[KevShmev]

Yeah, my early impression is not very positive.  It feels very going through the motions and, dare I say, lazy.  A few of the songs barely got going and then ended, almost like they were done with one idea and didn't bother to expand on it at all.  First album in four years and this is the best they could come up with?  Ouch. I love this band, but it feels like their prime is long past now.

[Nel]

I like several of the tracks. I agree with the person who said there are instances where they sound like 00s Muse. But I also agree that the songs don't feel like there's really any meat to get into. Every song's pretty short and the whole album almost feels like a pitstop.

[Metro]

I don’t know if anyone here watches Anthony Fantano on YouTube. I’m not a subscriber but I check out his reviews from time to time. I disagree with him pretty often but I do agree with him on his review of WOTP.

https://youtu.be/z9jMFiSUe5Q

I should note that I disagree with his notion of “If this is what rock music is today then maybe rock should die.”
There’s plenty of good rock music out there today. It’s just not mainstream anymore and the bands that are carrying the flag in the mainstream don’t seem to be doing the best job.

[KevShmev]

That guy is a nimrod of the highest order, and he is not getting a view out of me.

[Metro]

That guy is a nimrod of the highest order

Oh I agree. But as they say, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

[The Letter M]

That guy is a nimrod of the highest order

Oh I agree. But as they say, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Unless the clock is missing its arms.

-Marc

[Metro]

Well you got me there that's as far as I'm going when it comes to defending Fantano.

I gave WOTP another listen today, prior to watching that review, and I still feel pretty meh about it. It sounds like a band treading water. Like Kev said, this is all they've got after 4 years? I don't know if Muse knows what Muse should sound like in 2022 so they're just retreading old ground.

I wish they would commit to one style instead of jumping all over the place, sometimes within one song. It would never happen, but I'd like to see them go full-blown prog metal for one record. Songs like The Globalist and the Exogenesis trilogy have shown they can do prog if they want to, and they've got a fair amount of metal-ish songs in their catalogue.

Totally unrelated, but 2nd Law has 13 songs, Drones has 12, ST has 11, WOTP has 10. What are you counting down to, Muse? 

[KevShmev]

It sounds like a "hey, we need to release something, so let's write a bunch of songs that sound like our old ones" record.  Most of the songs are pretty solid overall, but the record as a whole just sounds so uninspired and lacking in excitement.  It almost makes Simulation Theory, which had a few great songs while being spotty overall, look like a masterpiece.

[Nel]

I enjoy listening to Fantano but I usually disagree more with him about anything musically than agree.

It sounds like a "hey, we need to release something, so let's write a bunch of songs that sound like our old ones" record.  Most of the songs are pretty solid overall, but the record as a whole just sounds so uninspired and lacking in excitement.  It almost makes Simulation Theory, which had a few great songs while being spotty overall, look like a masterpiece.

Completely agreed. Though I think I liked ST a tad more than everyone here seems to. 

[KevShmev]

Simulation Theory had some songs I loved, especially Algorithm and The Dark Side, but was pretty choppy overall, and since I became a Muse fan in 2006, it got the least amount of mileage in my CD player than any other Muse new studio album by a pretty wide distance. 

[Metro]

As much as I dislike WOTP, it's reignited my interest in Muse after Simulation Theory pretty much killed it for the last 4 years.

I listened to Simulation Theory earlier for the first time in ages today. I was worried about Simulation Theory from the moment I heard the first single, Dig Down.
Dig Down is a poor attempt at redoing Madness, which itself is overplayed to death.
Going back to the beginning, Algorithm sets the scene for the album nicely, but Dark Side sounds like some kind of stock music you'd hear in Dance Dance Revolution and has one of the worst guitar solos I've ever heard from anyone.
Pressure is just stupid.
Propaganda is the single worst song they've ever done.
Break it to Me is forgettable. Kind of a cool groove though.
I actually kinda like Something Human but I never go out of my way to listen to it.
Thought Contagion is Muse on autopilot.
Get Up Fight is a redo of Revolt from Drones, and funny enough, they're the same length. Just another milquetoast attempt at a protest song.
I have nothing to say about Blockades and The Void because I cannot remember anything about them.

I'll rank their albums because hey why not that's what we do here at DTF

1. Origin of Symmetry
2. The 2nd Law
3. Absolution
4. The Resistance
5. Drones
6. Black Holes and Revelations
7. Showbiz
8. Will of the People
9. Simulation Theory

[KevShmev]

Yeah, Dig Down is lame.  I remember them playing that when we saw them on the last leg of the Drones tour, and we were like, yeesh, that is bland as hell. I was hoping it would be a one off single that disappeared, but they threw it on the next album.

Agreed about Thought Contagion.  It sounds like a Muse cover band trying to write a song that sounds like Muse.

I like Pressure, weirdness and all.

Their albums are pretty easy to rank for me (cannot rank the new one yet, still too early, but I don't see it rising above last place).

1. Black Holes and Revelations
2. Origin of Symmetry
3. Absolution (could be 2 or even 1 with a less compressed mix)
4. The 2nd Law
5. Drones
6. The Resistance
7. Simulation Theory
8. Showbiz (the back half after Unintended is too lame to move it ahead of anything else)

[Mladen]

Unfortunately, I enjoy Will of the people even less than Simulation theory. Every track on it sounds like a lesser version of a Muse classic. There's not a single chorus or a riff that truly grabbed me, let alone a song as a whole. The album closer might be my least favorite Muse song ever. And lyrically, the album is way too unspecific and banal for my personal taste.

I cannot remember the last time I disliked an album this much.