A die hard Muse fan writing a less than complimentary review of his heroes? I wish I could praise every single track, but there really isn’t much to praise. “Supremacy” is a good track, but too much like a Bond title theme. However, if you’re a fan of Bellamy’s classic riffs and wailing falsetto, you’ll enjoy it. “Madness” is an odd one. When I first heard it, I was scratching my head, questioning if this was a positive direction for Muse. However, after a few listens, I’ve completely fallen in love with it. Bellamy’s vocal is smooth, yet powerful. It does sound like Queen, but I’m sure Muse won’t mind the comparisons.
“Panic Station” would be a great track on it’s own. Simple as that. It opens with a great, funk inspired bass line and Bellamy’s vocal is absolutely flawless. I’ve listened to the whole album numerous times, but it just doesn’t flow. It jumps from funk to “Prelude’, a completely instrumental piano piece, and it sounds pretentious and unnecessary. Then we have the official Olympic song “Survival”. You’ve probably all formed your own opinions; for me it sounds like Muse got the call from the International Olympic Committee the night before the opening ceremony, and hastily threw something together.
The album ends with a two-parter entitled The 2nd Law. The first part is ‘Skrillex inspired dubstep’, that sounds nothing like Skrillex, and the second part combines newscaster sound bites, ambient piano and heavily synthesised voices. Muse wanted to go in a new direction, but their sound so lovingly mastered in Origin of Symmetry and Absolution is what the fans want. Resistance seemed to be the beginning of the end, and their latest effort has done nothing to stem the tide.
