PANIC STATION; AKA MUSE WHAT ARE YOU DOING

There's been talk floating around for a while of the next single/video from Muse's The 2nd Law being Panic Station, and lo and behold stills/gifs from that video began to surface recently. Then the video itself dropped today. 

What.

The.

Fuck?

See for yourself...

I can't embed the video so here it is

ALBUM REVIEW; MUSE - THE 2ND LAW

MUSE; THE 2ND LAW

10/10

Bombastic fantastic. Diverse perfection from the Devonshire gods.

The 2^nd Law is Muse's 6^th studio album, and shows just how far they have come since their first album Showbiz, more than a decade ago, from angsty teenagers to a band that have played a huge part in the evolution of modern prog rock. 

The most striking thing about The 2^nd Law is the way it merges together different styles of music, with a distinctive Muse spin, through the distinctive vocals (in particular the falsettos) of Matt Bellamy and the strength of the guitar, bass and drums in differing combinations. For example, opener Supremacy wouldn't be out of place in a Bond film with a healthy dose of dramatic strings alongside a huge riff, while next track Madness takes a sexy electronic detour with a naughty-bits-a-quiver synth bassline and wonderfully emotion-filled vocals. Candidate for best song on the album is Panic Station, the main port in Funk City – there a awful lot of groove going on here. (Non-disco) slappa-da-bass, trumpets, crazy guitar and a generally punchy rhythm that asks you to shake dat ass. Then there's the bombastic brilliance of Survival, a suitably rousing and over-the-top Olympic theme song, before diving into a Nero-produced beautiful maelstrom of swirling synths and bass drops (no dubstep here) in Follow Me, which feels like the most personal track on T2L – it contains a sample of the foetal heartbeat of Bellamy's son Bing as a base rhythm.

Animals is a concoction of melody with a fairly large riff; it remains almost haunting for a lot of the song, before picking up at the end, yet without becoming...raucous (I feel like a grumpy old man, writing the word 'raucous'), while Explorers is a quite beautiful piano-led quasi-ballad and Big Freeze is almost pop like in it's upbeat echoing guitar and bouncy drums. Then, the most interesting part of the album unfolds; the two tracks in which bassist and backing vocalist Chris Wolstenholme takes over on lead vocals for the first time on a studio album. Chronicling Wolstenholme's long, yet ultimately successful, battle with alcoholism, Save Me is deeply personal and rather lovely, showcasing a truly beautiful voice with matching, twinkling guitar work. Liquid State is also very personal, but by contrast is awarded Best Riff – the opening bass is classic Muse, and it is a different style of song to Save Me insomuch as it's much heavier - but both do Wolstenholme proud.

And then, to finish, we have the almost-instrumental almost-dubstep of Unsustainable, though done entirely on guitars. Backed by a driving strings rhythm, it's a fantastic moment when the 'drop' comes in, and the middle section, with squeaky guitar, powerful bass/drums and the strings once again, makes for one of the band's best compositions ever. Then, the very final track Isolated System carries a haunting guitar/piano harmony through subtle electronic beats to bring a close to an incredibly diverse and overall excellent album.

It really is a remarkable feat, what Muse have achieved. Several years in the making, musically perfect throughout and so well balanced; it is superb. It's not decided yet, but given how this has surpassed my expectations, will be in the running for the best album of 2012.

WE HAZ THE SEXY MADNESS

M-m-m-m-m-m-mad-mad.

First and foremost - Muse are not going to win many new fans with their new stuff, I don't reckon. They will probably lose fans, given their departure from the styles of albums past. New single Madness has divided opinion between bland, generic pop-sounding beige-ness and a sexy electronic evolution of their sound with the sort of subtle wubbing to set your naughty bits a-quiver. 

My opinion falls on the side of the latter opinion. 

I love it. No, it's not what you might expect from them. GOOD. Thinking outside your box is essential to music for it to grow and evolve. Madness is as Chris described it in an interview - a simple bass hook, that draws you in. It's one sexy-ass mo-fo. End of. Here's the video, out today.

MUSE 2ND LAW TRACKLISTING!

As a devout Muser, this makes me happy.

September 17...

BOMBASTIC FANTASTIC - MUSE; 'SURVIVAL' 2ND IMPRESSION

If I'm perfectly honest, my initial reaction of new Muse track Survival was not entirely favourable. I didn't hate it as such, just didn't know how I felt.

My how times change.

I can honestly say I love it, and I can't wait to witness it live. It's over-the-top, bombastic, ridiculous, rifftastic, everything that makes Muse Muse. And if you're not a fan, well...

You tell 'em, Bells. Bring on The 2nd Law, I can't wait. 

On a slightly different note, this here playlist was created by It's A Muse Thing, You Wouldn't Understand on FaceyB. Listen and enjoyez. 

SURVIVAL OF THE MOST-QUEEN-SOUNDING - MUSE'S NEW SONG

So. Survival. 

I just don't know. 

It has several things that make it distinctly Muse; a few badass riffs, ridiculously grand orchestral-nicity, and the inimitable vocal stylings of Mr Matthew Bellamy. These are good things, but yet, I'm not sure. It's very Queen in several places, and it seems to me to lack a little coherence.

I'm basing this post on literally one listen to the song, and on the whole I'm not 100% convinced. It still, to me, sounds a bit The Resistance, when I (and I think a lot of people) were hoping for Absolution meets Origin Of Symmetry, I personally don't entirely think it's quite there. But hey, it's perfectly suited for the Olympics, as it is now the theme song, and further listens may bring with them more insight. So for now, I rate it 7/10. 

n.b. I realise this is like the 3rd consecutive Muse-themed post. Not deliberate, I've been working ridiculous hours the last few days and this is the only news I care about atm. There is the new Gallows song as well that I'll listen to soon.

THE FIRST NEW STUFF MUSE IN TOO LONG

Disclaimer: it's not a full song, but in fact an album trailer. And Muse's new album appears to be called...

THE 2ND LAW

Watch the trailer and judge for yourself. It starts all Butterflies & Hurricanes/Exogenesis Part 1, then wham. Dubstep. Kinda Enter Shikari-esque. I AM SO CONFUSED. I trust them wholeheartedly, and I think that if they can bring the difficult-to-do-well genre in with every other sound/genre they use, it will be incredible. I don't know how they'll incorporate it, or whether this trailer is just epic trolololing, and I'm not going to judge this new album on a shade over 2 minutes of sound, but what it comes down to is...

GIVE US A NEW SONG, DAMNIT.

But anyway, watch and judge.

n.b. Album's out September, by the way.