Muse - 2nd Law

[ForeverAutumn]

The new Muse album comes out on October 2nd. Normally I would be totally excited about this. But the two tracks that I've hear from it so far have done nothing for me. The first track is the song that they used for the Olympic theme. It was okay, but it kind of bored me. Then I heard a new track on the radio earlier this week and thought...meh.

I'm not going to be rushing to buy this one yet. I think I want to hear more of it first. I'll wait for the You Tube posts before making my buying decision.

[3LB]

So far, I like it about as well as The Resistance; I may even end up liking it more, but I'm tiring of Bellamy's bellowed vocal delivery, preferring he just sing. Its as though he's writing songs with that particular vocal styling in mind - there's one too many "Invincible" moments on the last two albums, IMO. And there is less emphasis on guitar and more on synths, not to mention that the studio is playing more and more a role from album to album. That doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing, but we all know where Queen ended up going that route. The first 9 tracks sound like they could have come from the same sessions that begat Resistance. The next two tracks, Save Me and Liquid State are the most straightforward songs here, the most pre-Black Holes sounding, and written and sung by bassist Chris Wolstenholm (I don't recall him singing on anything else). Closing out the album is the title track, which was leaked as a trailer months ago, feels rather tacked-on since none of the rest of the album resembles that level of experimentation. Not only that, the "second part" of the 2nd Law mini-suite, Isolated System, has little to do with the first part musically other than repeating some of the sound bites over a rather Parsons-esque electric piano melody and mechanical drum beat ala Genesis Ch.1 v.32 (from I-Robot) .

[Finch Platte]

USA Today's review:

Muse, The 2nd Law
Rock
* * * out of four stars

Like a film compensating for a sketchy plot with clever pacing and mind-blowing effects, Muse ratchets up the bombast, adding dubstep elements and funky horns to its prog-rock mix. Behind it is a heavy dose of humor or pomposity. Either way, it's a blast.

Brian Mansfield

Download: Madness, Big Freeze, Panic Station.

But I like Hifi's review better.

[ForeverAutumn]

So far, I like it about as well as The Resistance; I may even end up liking it more...

I really liked The Resistance a lot. There are some great moments on that disk. But I really didn't like the Exogenesis trilogy. It bored the hell out of me.