Muse – Drones
 |
| Muse – Drones |
The most major turn I would find in their music would be a deeper focus on hooks and being catchy, which sometimes can really lead to a dementia when it comes to presenting something original and growth. And while I enjoyed their 2nd Law for large proportions of it, I can´t get away from the longing of nostalgia when I listen to Drones. Here I can enjoy every song, from the Starlight recalling "Mercy" to the groove of "Dead Inside". This nostalgia lies not within the music of Muse itself, not in a longing for them to go back and make different music, but in my longing to go back and be 15 years again, unknowing of the grand sonic craft of bands like Isis, Tool, Explosions In The Sky, Sigur Ros or artists like Tim Hecker and Oneohtrix Point Never. Listening to Muse, I am reminded of what listening to "alternative" guitar driven music meant before learning of thoroughly alternative, better said the whole experimental and "post-" movement of music. Their lyrics seemed to be super deep and their playing was mind-blowingly cool and they were my epitome of different at that time.
Knowing this, I can try to neutralize this bias and look at Muse from a not comparative standpoint. Because, and that is one major thing that just needs to be repeated over and again in your head if you´ve fallen into same patterns: They never tried to be the next big experimental thing and filling stadiums with their music was what they embarked on since "Sunburn" hit. Seeing this, their music remains to be greater than most other rock bands out there.
Drones not only shows Muse "having fun" as in the 2nd Law, but trying their hands on a tighter narrative album with political messages and great spacey rock music. While "Psycho" might stand as their worst song yet, after having lived through this hot mess, "Reapers" returns with some crazy negative funk guitar line and strong falsetto vocals by Matthew Bellamy, on point crunchy drumming by Dominic Howard and a resonating bass by Chris Wolstenholme – everything that makes Muse who they are, the great noisy outro after the four minute mark included. This is the kind of music that you can see a huge crowd going crazy over and the band giving it their usual high power performance playing it.
Overall, Muse do take a much heavier approach again on this album. The bass lines and especially Bellamy’s guitar work lean towards more frantic and metal aspects then they do on the uplifting and purely synthesized. "The Handler" is an exercise on the dramatic and psychotic leading, over the fitting interlude "JFK", to the hymnal and triumphant breather "Defector". While this song is not hard-hitting as the previous songs, the radio-friendly vibe is paired with a nice eerie guitar solo, remedying it from falling into something purely generic. The band builds on this high with "Revolt", an just ok iteration of "Defector" without the same energy. The song works nice in the narrative sense but doesn´t stand out in any way unfortunately.
The ending suite of this album however, lets me rejoice that Muse still deliver for fans of variety and tightly knit aural journeys. "Aftermath" has the band going back to symphonic elements, a love-songy track that marries the best elements of recent and past Muse for a dreamy, and narratively ambivalent moment. With the pair "The Globalist/Drones" Muse have created one of the best little symphonies and one of their best tracks yet. "The Globalist" goes from a western music, Ennio Morricone hugging intro to a metal outburst only to morph into a guilt ridden piano ballad. This track is to be understood as an spiritual sequel to "Citizen Erased" and sees the main character going from being an powerless follower into an dictator holding and using the key to destruction only to review his mistake of ending the world through the realization of just seeking to be loved. Sonically, this three part story is interesting and creative in every part; falling into a kind a cheesy, space western in the first part only to picture the destruction through instruments alone and get sullen and delicate at the same time. "Drones" sees Bellamy leading out of this total destruction with a chorus of himself singing "Killed by Drones" in an operatic fashion. As chilling as it is ironic.
The narrative of "The Globalist" gives pretty much a synopsis of most of the themes and storyline of the Drones. Muse describe a deeply dystopian but sadly realistic world in which obscure powers rule the world. The theme of drones as silent killers hovering over our heads becomes a symbol for the deceit of proxy wars and mind control. While for many the approach of Bellamys songwriting and thematic outlines might tend to be paranoid and sentimentally inclined, I can always identify with his mindset and message. Never before have Muse managed to package these themes in a colorful mix of hard hitting and catchy songs. One can easily forget the bleakness and political nature of this album over the grooves and radio-friendly twists and turns. I´d still wish for Muse to become even more left field as on "The Globalist" but remain confident in them keeping these elements in their music regardless of their success and urge to please large crowds. In conclusion, I´m sure that Drones will be able to attract teenagers of today, leading them to review their musical and political views and maybe even giving them the urge to seek out other acts like I did.
7/10
Comments
Post a Comment