A Muse Retrospective – Part 3: Redemption

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:

1. The politics of the album are too unsubtle, and come across as the words of a “frothing conspiracy theorist” (TimeOut) 
2. 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 2^nd 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 2^nd 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.

A Muse Retrospective - Part 2: Cross-Pollination

As most fans are probably aware, Muse are currently on tour performing Drones for the first time, and I recently got the chance to go see them, performing live at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow. I've previously
mentioned that Muse were the band that got me into music in the first place, and it was incredible to finally see them in the flesh after six years of loving their music. It was an amazing show, well worth the seven hour drive up to Scotland, and it’s left me in a very Muse-y mood recently.

So considering it’s long overdue, I thought now would be the perfect time to return to this retrospective, especially as seeing them live has really helped me to remember how great their songs are, even reinvigorating my love for some songs that I’d previously burned out on.

Following on from Absolution, their fourth album, Black Holes & Revelations, completes the super star trio along with Origin of Symmetry. Now I spoke out of turn in my last post, so I’d like to quickly rectify that. Absolution is not my favourite Muse album. I’m not sure what I was thinking exactly, Absolution is fantastic, but I don’t think it ever has in my mind, or ever will, top the sheer brilliance that is Black Holes & Revelations. Before we go any further, the cover.

Another Storm Thorgerson masterwork, and one that’s nearly as good as Absolution, although it doesn’t strike with the same kind of enigma as that did. The image depicts four burly men, dressed in the height of Martian fashion, sitting around a wooden table somewhere on the surface of Mars. It’s certainly a surrealist image, but it’s one I find quite amusing. Firstly, the burly men look incredibly confused, as if they’ve turned up for a job as a bouncer, and instead have been hustled around a table and told to “look photogenic”. Secondly, just thinking about the circumstances of the situation amuses me. Perhaps they’re from the Mars branch of Ikea and got lost trying to deliver some flat pack furniture. Maybe they got the wrong directions for their fashion support group. Maybe they’re the miniature unicorn appreciation society.

Anyway, onto the songs. BH&R has one of the most glorious (yes, that’s deliberate) track listings of any album, including several of my all-time favourite songs. The highlights are Assassin, an often overlooked blood-rush of guitar and drums, Knights of Cydonia, one of Muse’s greatest anthems (and an absolute spectacle when performed live, using the Man with the Harmonica theme from Once Upon a Time in the West as an intro) and Map of the Problematique, which is not only my favourite Muse song, but also one of my favourite songs, period. Seriously, if you haven’t had the honour of listening to it yet, please educate yourself; you will not regret it.

Other top tracks include the escalating opener Take a Bow, the emotionally charged Hoodoo, the Mexican ballad City of Delusion and the guitar-heavy Exo-Politics. Starlight and Supermassive Black Hole, while good songs, are a little tainted by the fact that they’re mainstream favourites, and end up being played all the time. Seeing Starlight live did help me re-appreciate it, but both still remain the most tired songs on the album. Which leaves Invincible and Soldier’s Poem. Invincible is a song I’ve never really gotten into until rather recently. It takes a little while to get going, but once it does, its climax puts it on the upper tier of the album. However, Soldier’s Poem is the unfortunate low point of the album. Revisiting it recently, it’s not a bad song, but I feel it breaks the flow of the album somewhat, and would have worked better as a B-side to Invincible. Interestingly, the best song to replace it with on the album would be Glorious: Invincible’s B-side. It’s a truly fantastic and emotional song, and tempo-wise, it’s the perfect bridge from the excitement of Map of the Problematique down to the slower and calmer beginning of Invincible. Switch Soldier’s Poem for Glorious, and you have a near perfect album.

So yeah, suffice to say, this is one of my favourite albums, not just of Muse’s catalogue, but of music in general. Only downside is its forty four minute runtime: the shortest of any Muse album to date, and while it means it doesn’t overstay its welcome, it also means the album’s over a little too quickly. Five stars, easily.

But for every peak, there’s a trough. Getting a bit of traction in the charts with numbers like Starlight and Supermassive Black Hole, Muse were beginning to seep into the mainstream. With the introduction of a new audience, Muse experimented a little with the next album, moving more towards a more symphonic and arty sound. The result was The Resistance. Now I’m not saying that they shouldn’t experiment but…..

This album cover is a difficult one for me to talk about because I’m not entirely sure what to think of it. Firstly, there’s a dude standing on what appears to be an orange version of the hard light bridge from Portal 2, with the Earth in the distance. Then there’s a load of hexagons. Coloured hexagons. I guess? I just don’t really know what to make of this cover. I find it a little visually exhausting, and I still don’t really get what it’s supposed to show or how it really relates to the album and its themes. Definitely not their best.

The Resistance was my first exposure to Muse, as my dad played the CD often in the car, to the point that when I got my first iPod, Uprising was the very first song I had and listened to on it, marking the start of my musical interests. So you’d think I’d have nostalgia for this album? Surprisingly, no. In fact, I’m still burned out on this album. It’s got less of the heavier stuff from earlier albums in favour of more symphonic and R&B tracks, and while these aren’t bad as such, there isn’t enough of the old good stuff to help balance it out. Uprising is the obvious best song: a synthrock anthem about government conspiracies that still holds up against their other classics. Unnatural Selection is probably the silent hero of the album, rarely talked about, but by far one of the strongest tracks on the album, and has a lovely progressive structure to it. Resistance, United States of Eurasia, MK Ultra and even the R&B Undisclosed Desires are all decent as well, while Guiding Light and I Belong to You bring up the rear. Closing the album is the thirteen minute Exogenesis Symphony, a series of three tracks that, truth be told, I'd never really listened to prior to writing these retrospectives, but now I have, these are definitely worth a look.

The first part, Overture, is a haunting and suspenseful build up that really makes your hair stand on end, conjuring images of falling down an infinite abyss. Part two, Cross-Pollination, has more of a focus on piano, with a slightly rockier section in the middle. I'd say it's about the same level as United States of Eurasia. The final part, Redemption, has echoes of Absolution, sounding like a calmer Ruled by Secrecy mixed with the lyricism of Fury. In total, it's certainly an interesting listen, but, like the rest of the album, never quite hits that peak. Overture is definitely the strongest of the three, and Cross-Pollination's middle section is reasonably enthralling, but otherwise, the symphony never quite gets the hang of that Pink Floyd formula of build-up, climax and progression that seems so key to these long progressive tracks.

Overall, it's not a particularly bad album, but it's certainly one of Muse's weaker efforts. There are certainly some highlights here, but unfortunately the peaks just aren't frequent or enough to counterbalance the 'meh' songs. I give it three stars.

Fast forward now to 2012. The Olympics are scheduled to take place in London, and as summer approaches, the hype is building. The planning committee need an official song for the Olympics, I guess as some kind of marketing thing. Who should step forward but Muse, to the delight of my fourteen year old self, presenting their newly written song, Survival, apparently about a murderer trying to track down and kill his family, but intriguingly that went over the heads of the committee, as it became the official track for the sporty festivities. And it was here that Muse finally broke through the barrier of the mainstream into the common public consciousness of modern music. At the time, it was great; finally I could ask someone if they'd heard of Muse, and instead of hearing "No.", I now got to hear (and still do) "Yeah, I liked the one about the black hole."

Anyway, as Muse were now mainstream, their new album (which released the same year) needed to be a little more 'hip with kids', and what should be popular at the time but the cancerous garble of audio that was dubstep. Guess what, guys? It's time for The 2nd Law, the album where Muse went dubstep on us.

Before I continue with my rant, let's quickly go over the cover. It's pretty good; good enough to hang as a poster on my wall. It depicts.....something. I think I read somewhere that it's an imaging of a human neuron network, which is pretty neat. Regardless, it's full of colour, striking, memorable, and iconic, if a little hard to draw in your textbooks.

Now, as I sort of hinted at back there, I'm not a fan of dubstep (and that is somewhat of an understatement), and unfortunately, in Muse's continuing attempts to experiment, they decided to dip their toes in the liquid shit of the mainstream trend of making people's ears vomit. There is, however, some good on the album. Supremacy and Survival are a refreshing breath of fresh air after The Resistance; a return to the heavy rock sound and exhilarating guitar of before, with the newer sheen and polish of modern alternate rock. The former sounds very much like a modern Bond song, possibly intended to be the theme to Skyfall, which also released that year. Survival, while initially not being quite my cup of tea, has really grown on me, becoming, in my opinion anyway, one of their strongest songs. I urge anyone who hasn't to give it a listen, especially to the Queen-inspired build-up of the beginning and the blistering guitar climaxes towards the end. Panic Station is also fantastic, managing the difficult task of being both a catchy pop song that could get played at parties, while still being, you know, a good song: a direction that they unfortunately didn't really take later on in the album. Liquid State is also a good listen, rarely talked about, as it lurks near the end of the album, but a surprisingly cool song, written and sung by bassist Chris Wolstenholme, in an intriguing subversion of the established routine. Animals and Big Freeze are also decent, and while not really as memorable as some of Muse's other songs, they still qualify as some of the best on the album, primarily because the rest of the album is stuff like Madness.

Oh, Madness, why do people like you? A surprisingly popular track, even being played up at Glasgow, I've never really understood what people see in it. At best, it's a dull attempt at a mainstream sound that never really does anything interesting enough to give it merit: it was the only point of the entire live performance that bored me. There's also Follow Me, a track that has a reasonable start and build up for the first minute or so and then, as it's getting good, "surprise dubstep!" and the quality suddenly dips. Save Me and Explorers are rather forgettable, and that leads us to the turd hanging awkwardly to the end of the album, The 2nd Law.

Unsustainable actually has a pretty promising start, with some reasonably epic string build up, and even the glitching news report isn't bad. But then there's, you guessed it, dubstep. And it suddenly sounds like shit. To my dismay, there is actually some cool guitar work and rock music smothered into the background, which could have made for a much more interesting rock track. But no. Isolated System, interestingly, is much better. No dubstep, and instead a nice little instrumental piece, but it's not very good as a song. It feels like someone took the intro and outro from a much longer, better prog rock track and then spliced them together. Definitely not as painful as Unsustainable, but a disappointing way to end a disappointing album. Is this Muse's worst? Debatable. The Resistance is consistently dull, but The 2nd Law jumps between really fucking good and really obnoxious, so they probably average to the same area. I'd say The 2nd Law is the better album, just because the songs which are good outshine The Resistance's track listing by a mile. This album probably averages to three stars.

Fuck me, that was much longer than I expected. If you've stuck around this long, thanks for sifting through this ream of text, and sorry it's taken this long to get out (I actually redrafted this post from scratch after the initial, which contributed to the delay). The third and final part will go live on the 8th June, the one year anniversary of Drones, which will also be the topic, so stick around for that. In the meantime, thank you for reading, and go enjoy some Muse!

EDIT: I have since found out through idle research that the guys on the front cover of Black Holes & Revelations are supposed to be the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Sooo, no miniature unicorn appreciation society?

Oscar Results 2016

It’s that time of year again, folks; the biggest event in every film-goer’s calendar, Oscar night. In the early hours of Monday morning (for me, at least), the 88^th Academy Awards ceremony began, and the world finally got to see who and what had been chosen as the supposed ‘best’ of 2015’s cinematic output. While I wasn’t able to watch the ceremony, I did keep up with the live results via social media and several different websites covering the event (unfortunately, the BBC’s live feed cut out around 2am, so yes, I basically spent several hours continually refreshing IMDb’s homepage). For those who missed it and for those who want to hear my opinion on the winners, here you go! I won’t comment on the ceremony itself, since I didn’t see it, and I probably won’t cover every category either: just the one’s I have an opinion on. You guys know the drill, on with the show.

Best Supporting Actress

I’m still bitter over Ex Machina being snubbed for so many awards that it should have at least been nominated for, so it made me happy to see Alicia Vikander win an acting Oscar. Ok, so it wasn’t for Ex Machina, but at the end of the day, she still has an Oscar, regardless what film she won it for, so what I’m saying is that I’m counting this as a win for Ex Machina, and there’s nothing anyone can say to persuade me otherwise.

Best Actor

The whole world waited with baited breath as the Best Actor winner was announced, everyone on the edge of their seat, the big question turning in their minds: “Will we have to put up with another year’s worth of memes about Dicaprio and his Oscar?” Thankfully not, as the Academy finally honoured Leo’s obvious talent and gave him the award we’ve been collectively coveting for him for the past couple of years, to the sound of a thirty second standing ovation. It was a very warm and emotional moment, and while Leo’s speech about climate change seemed a little off-topic, this will probably be one of the most memorable Oscar moments of this decade. Did he deserve the award? Yes. For this film in particular? Sure. While I wasn’t a massive fan of The Revenant (yes, I have finally seen it), Leo’s performance, while fairly minimalist, at least dialogue-wise, was still a tour-de-force of emotion and borderline-savagery. And when considering his other roles as well, it’s almost impossible to deny he is a versatile actor.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Mad Max: Fury Road swept almost all of the technical awards, with a grand total of six Oscars by the end of the night, more than any other nominated film, most notably The Revenant and it’s measly three. And while Mad Max: Fury Road was technically excellent, I am slightly hung up on makeup and hairstyling. It was great, don’t get me wrong, but I feel this is one The Revenant should have taken, in particular Leo’s grisly injuries and matted hair seemed particularly impressive. Let’s face it, the hair in Mad Max: Fury Road wasn’t exactly plentiful or particularly complex. On another note, it does make me happy to see the actual best film of 2015, one that was a genuinely impressive and memorable film and not Oscar bait, has gone on to win the most Oscars. It shows a positive step for the Academy, even if these were only technicals.

Best Music

I’ve snowballed two categories into one, here. First, original score, and it’s about damn time Ennio Morricone won an Oscar. One of my absolute favourite cinematic composers (arguably better than John Williams), Morricone has done hundreds of memorable film soundtracks, including The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West, and Tarantino’s latest string of films. Working since the early 60’s and still going strong, it’s about damn time someone handed this genius an Oscar. Secondly, original song. I’ve already stated my opinion of Writings on the Wall, but I don’t mind it winning. Could be worse: could’ve been Fifty Shades of Grey.

Best Production Design

As much as I feel Ex Machina should have received a nomination, I feel out of the nominees, The Martian should have snagged this one. Yes, I’ve seen that one now, too. It’s difficult to choose which one should have got the Oscar, since both had equally impressive and interesting looks, but judging on the juggernaut that Mad Max: Fury Road proved to be, it probably wouldn’t have hurt to give The Martian one of its seven nominations.

Best Visual Effects

EX MACHINA! WOOO! Ok, Nick, calm yourself. So yes, as you’d probably guess, I was very happy with this win. When choosing between Ex Machina, Mad Max: Fury Road and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, it’s hard for me to say exactly which one I found most deserving. Partially, I think Mad Max: Fury Road’s use of mainly practical effects, with CGI just for backgrounds and environments makes it most deserving, and similarly for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, in praise of a modern Star Wars film that actually has practical effects in it. In a perfect world, all three would have gotten the Oscar, but then in that perfect world, Ex Machina would have about six nominations, so back in reality, we just need to make sure Ex Machina actually gets at least one Oscar.

Best Cinematography

Lubezki won for the third year in a row, being his second year in a row working alongside Iñárritu, and he really deserves it. While I am in the minority in thinking that The Revenant’s cinematography wasn’t his best work, he is easily my favourite cinematographer at the moment, and I’m glad he’s getting so much attention. However, I do feel sorry for Roger Deakins. I didn’t see Sicario, but regardless of the quality of the cinematography in that film, Deakins desperately needs that Oscar. He’s the Dicaprio of cinematography, having worked on such films as Fargo, Skyfall, The Shawshank Redemption and No Country for Old Men, being nominated thirteen times yet still no win in sight. Now that everyone’s finished with Leo’s Oscar campaign, maybe we can now focus on Deakins. Next year, make it happen!

Best Documentary

Having recently watched and studied Senna in film studies (and it is a phenomenal documentary), I am excited to someday see Amy: it’s made in the same style, using only archive footage, and if its anywhere as good as Senna, it’ll be well worth watching.

Best Directing

I’ve figured out that Best Director is basically the Academy’s version of a Best Picture runner up. Which may go towards settling James Gunn’s angered tweet about the director Oscar going to a different film than best picture, but doesn’t quite explain why Whiplash didn’t get it last year (as that was easily at least the second best film that year). Anyway, with this in mind, it makes logical sense to me that The Revenant got it. Not only is Iñárritu a fantastic director anyway, but The Revenant was a very popular film that didn’t quite fit in the mould of conventional best picture, so the runner up prize allows them to still honour it, while leaving the top place open for….

Best Picture

…Spotlight! Told you so! In fact, not only did I mention in my last post that this was most likely to win after The Revenant, but in the days running up to the ceremony when discussing predictions with friends, I went so far as to make Spotlight my official prediction. What exactly tipped me off? Well, between this and The Revenant, this seemed much more in line with what the Academy usually vote for: it’s much more topical and current in terms of its story and subject matter, features slightly older actors and while both may be based on true stories, I think Spotlight is probably much closer to the events that inspired it. So, as you may have guessed, I’m pretty satisfied with that one. Haven’t actually seen Spotlight yet, of course, but I may rectify that in the coming weeks if I get the opportunity.

And there we go! That wraps it up for another year. A Muse Retrospective will resume shortly (Part 2’s been taking a while, since it just broke 2000 words). In the meantime, enjoy the best that cinema has to offer. No no, not the Oscar films; I was talking about The Room. Obviously.