So, here we are: the final
frontier. The last couple of thousands of words and eight or so months have all
been leading up to this one post. And on the one year anniversary of the
album’s release, I am finally able to give my official opinion on Drones.
So, without further ado, here it is.
Drones is quite possibly my favourite Muse album.
OK, so I imagine a lot of you
‘pure’, ‘hardcore’ Muse fans are already brandishing your pitchforks and
burning effigies of me, so let me explain this a bit.
Drones seems to have had a somewhat luke-warm reception, and the
two main criticisms that seem to pop up are:
- The politics of the album are too unsubtle, and come across as the words of a “frothing conspiracy theorist” (TimeOut)
- It’s too ‘studio perfect’, and not as raw as their older works
In response to the first one,
which is generally the criticism of the pretentious music magazines, such as Pitchfork and the quoted TimeOut, I feel anyone who bases their
entire one-star review of a music album on the lyrics rather than say, oh, I
don’t know, the actual music, doesn't understand music at all. Yes, lyrics are
an important part, but the quality of any album, even concept albums like Drones, does not rest on the lyricism
and meaning; the quality should be based on the actual music, which Drones excels at. And so what if the
lyrics are heavy-handed, what rock songs aren't?
And in response to the second
criticism, which keeps popping up by fans all over forums and YouTube comments
sections, is utterly ridiculous. Of course their music’s changed: the band’s
seventeen years old and this is their seventh album. If they still sounded the
same as they did in the days of Showbiz and
Origin of Symmetry, you’d moan they
were stale and repetitive. To stay as fresh and interesting as a band like Muse
has, you've got to keep updating and experimenting with your style, and with
this album they've finally got it right. This ‘studio perfect’ sound that keeps
getting moaned about, I actually really like. When I first listened to The 2nd Law, I remember
thinking if only the rest of the album sounded like Survival and Supremacy,
this could be Muse’s best album, and that’s exactly how Drones sounds for me. If anything, this perfectly tuned sound keeps
me more immersed in the music than the older, ‘rawer’ stuff.
So yeah, this post might come out
as a bit of a gush, but I still find it hard to believe how good this album
really is, especially after the lull of The
Resistance and The 2nd
Law. But before we get onto the songs, let’s take a look at the album
cover.
While not quite as simple as the other
album covers (there’s a few more things going on in this one), I still think
this is a pretty decent cover: better, at least, than The Resistance and Showbiz.
Depicted is the suited hand of a faceless government official, controlling a
white-coated man, who in turn is controlling an army of featureless, identical
soldiers. It’s a clear and obvious symbol of the disconnect between authority
figures and their actions, both mentally and physically, as they send millions
off to fight wars with little understanding of the consequences. Yeah, it’s
kind of heavy-handed, but as previously discussed, so is the rest of the album,
so in all, I think it’s a nice little visual summary of the album’s key
theme/message, as well as the bleak tone of the album in general. And hey, at
least it’s easy to analyse.
So, the songs then. I've got to
say, regardless of what everyone says about Muse getting all mainstream on us,
this is one of the strongest track listings I've seen of any band, even
probably the strongest of Muse’s
albums. With every other album I've talked about, there was always at least one
song which didn't work; even if it wasn't that bad, there was always some kind
of trough between the peaks. With Drones,
every song is fantastic, and while some are marginally better than others,
it definitely feels like an album of peaks.
Dead Inside, Reapers and The
Globalist are my absolute favourites from the album, all easily worthy of
being considering among my favourites of Muse’s catalogue. While admittedly
slightly more pop-y in sound, Dead Inside
is an exciting yet haunting start to the album, with addictive drum and guitar
riffs and some chilling lyricism that really gets you in the mood for the
album. Reapers appears to be the fan
favourite, with even those critical of the album and the “new Muse” admitting
to its brilliance. A fierce blitz of guitar and heavy drumming: it’s impossible
not to headbang to this song and I reckon this track, if no others, will be
considered among Muse’s best for years to come. The
Globalist acts as a sort of late centrepiece to the album: a ten minute
progressive rock track that charts the nuclear destruction of life on Earth.
After an atmospheric intro, complete with the sounds of rain and a
Morricone-esque whistling, the song transitions into a reasonably mellow rock movement,
before building up into an ever-accelerating heavy metal climax, closing with one
of Matt’s ever powerful piano ballads. This is Muse’s longest song to date, and
as a lover of progressive rock in the same vein as Pink Floyd, this is easily
one of my favourite tracks, and I implore any who doubt the “new Muse” to
listen to this track and see it for the powerhouse that it is.
Other highlights include The Handler, one of the heaviest songs
on the album, Psycho, often dismissed
but actually surprisingly good, if maybe a little too long, and Aftermath, an almost completely ignored
track preceding The Globalist, whose
haunting lyrics echo the apocalyptic themes of Absolution whilst the opening Floyd-esque guitar solo gives me
goosebumps just thinking about it: a truly underrated gem. While still great
songs, Defector, Revolt and Mercy are probably the weakest of the
album, straying a little bit further from the heavy rock tone of the other
songs, with Mercy in particular
feeling a lot like the token mainstream song for use in trailers and stuff
(such as the Arkham Knight trailer),
more so than Dead Inside, at least.
The final, titular track isn't great, but then it isn't really supposed to be
taken as a song, but more as a coda to the rest of the album, for which purpose
it works just fine, even if it won’t be making its way into any of my playlists.
So, there we go. It’s a great
album. If you haven’t already, ignore the criticisms and go give it a listen,
you’d probably be surprised how good it really is. For me, it’s still maybe a
little too early to tell, but this is certainly at least equal to Black Holes & Revelations, if not
better. Definitely five stars.
In summary, this has been a long
and challenging project, especially for someone with only a casual interest in
music like me: I'm sure this is a far cry from the quality of a professional music
critic’s writings, but oh well. It’s been an educational experience for me too; having to write about all these albums
meant having to listen to them all again, all the way through, and so if it
wasn't for this post, I wouldn't have discovered how cool the Exogenesis Symphony really is, or formed
my quite recent re-appreciation for Showbiz,
including its closing track Hate This and
I’ll Love You, which while I didn't comment on at the time, has been a bit
of a favourite recently. Then again, if it wasn't for this retrospective, I
wouldn't have had to listen to Unsustainable
or re-listen to Madness. Twice.
Muse are undoubtedly one of the greatest bands
still active, and really are the antidote to the argument that all modern music
is rubbish. Yes, they've changed and they will continue to change, as music
continues to evolve and they continue to experiment with new styles and
subgenres. Sometimes it doesn't work; sometimes they create something utterly
mind-blowing. But as long as we keep listening, I'm sure they will continue to
make great music for many years to come.
To Matt, Chris and Dom, and to all Muse fans across the globe, both old and new: take a bow.
