[Your Perfect Muse Setlist]

Ditching the ‘piano section’ for the ‘acoustic section’

 

Algorithm

Map Of The Problematique

The Dark Side

Bliss (Ext.)

Propaganda

Break It To Me

Dead Inside

Hysteria

Muscle Museum

Citizen Erased

[Nishe]

Nature_1

Something Human

Falling Away With You

Dig Down (Gospel)

[We Are The Universe]

Uprising

Pressure

Supermassive Black Hole

Time Is Running Out

Plug In Baby

New Born

——

Dead Star

Stockholm Syndrome

Take A Bow

The Void

——

Psycho

Knights Of Cydonia

Showbiz

[Something Human]

The full acoustic version is so much better. I love it. I really hope they do this version on tour. Chris can get the old double bass out or an acoustic. Get Dom on some pots and pans. Morgan can do interpretive dance.

[Share your controversial Muse opinions II - More Radiohead talk]

I get the feeling they feel Matt's guitar live is there just to provide the top end, and Chris's bass can do all the rest. It just ends up feeling thin. Beef them both up.

 

That said, 2006 tones were dreadfully thin. TR/T2L they got it pretty spot on most the time.

[2018.12.03 Royal Albert Hall The Prince’s Trust charity Gig London, UK]

Yeah, Megalomania would be a mistake - been there, done that, come up with something else if you are going to use the organ.

[Album Eight: Simulation Theory]

The solo in Blockades is so underwhelming though . It starts nowhere and ends nowhere. It also sounds really low or muffled in the mix. It's almost like it's not the main focus of that sections of the song.

 

MK Ultra is pretty much perfect so far as I'm concerned. Absolute brute live too.

[Simulation Theory tour discussion]

How do I get the free album that's apparently included with the gig ticket purchase?

Put a tenner under your pillow before you go to bed.

[Album Eight: Simulation Theory]

Basically exo-politics?

Tbf, it's much better than Exo-Politics. Which is utter garbage.

 

But Blockades is definitely a load of pap.

[The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (Pressure)]

Chris nailing those Beach Boys backing vocals .

[Algorithm (+ AV)]

I turned this off first time I heard it but now..... it blows my mind. Either it will be very early on my Muse playlist, or the epic final track on it.

Anyone who ‘turns off’ the opening track of a new album by a band they love enough to sign up to their messageboard must have the attention span of a gnat .

[Simulation Theory tour discussion]

Royal Albert Hall and London Stadium. That’ll do me this time round unless they add Bristol and/or any other juicy one-offs.

[Break It to Me]

The remix is fucking great too. I love how it really accentuates the eastern feel. Those dramatic near-silences too are brilliant. Like a drop to nothing. So effective.

[Album Eight: Simulation Theory]

Astonished frankly at how much I love the gospel version of DD .

[Album Eight: Simulation Theory]

1. Break It To Me

2. Propaganda

3. Algorithm

4. The Void

[break It To Me remix]

[The Dark Side AR version]

[Dig Down acoustic gospel version]

5. The Dark Side

[something Human acoustic]

[Propaganda acoustic]

[The Void acoustic]

[Algorithm AR version]

6. Something Human

7. Get Up And Fight

8. Pressure

9. Blockades

[The Dark Side AR version instrumental]

10. Thought Contagion

[Pressure UCLA version]

[Thought Contagion live]

11. Dig Down

 

I think Thought Contagion will eventually end up my least favourite tbh. It's just shite.

[The Dark Side]

I love the AV version, save for the vocal delivery. The phrasing feels a touch disjointed when the lines flow into each other. It needs some breaks.

[Get Up and Fight]

This is just fine. If this was on Showbiz, no one would bat an eyelid. Same as Revolt. It reminds me of vvv early Muse. Obvs, much more polished/refined. The verses are very sweet indeed. I really like those soft synths. Great bassline by Chris too.

[Album Eight: Simulation Theory]

Finally got through all the alt versions a few times.

 

I think Dig Down is the only one I prefer to the album version, but they're all nice additions in their own way. Except alt Pressure. I hate the marching band vibe. It makes me nauseous.

[Pressure (single)]

The stadium sounds in the UCLA version is horrific.

[Share your controversial Muse opinions II - More Radiohead talk]

At this moment, no.

[Album Eight: Simulation Theory]

...but it doesn't .

[Algorithm (+ AV)]

The AR version has nothing on the plain album version.

[Share your controversial Muse opinions II - More Radiohead talk]

Blockades is just dreadful.

[Album Eight: Simulation Theory]

Dunno if this has already been discussed, but my copy of ST came with a sticker on it that reads 'featuring the hit singles Something Human, Pressure and Get Up And Fight'.

 

Mean, a couple of things:

 

1. On what scale were either SH or Pressure 'hit singles'.

2. GUAF hadn't even been released when that sticker was slapped on the album. I mean, that's more than just presumption, it's manufacturing a narrative that simply does not exist.

[Album Eight: Simulation Theory]

I love RATM, Radiohead, Prince and The Handler but somehow I listen to BITM and think "What is this shit?"

Great. I'm not here to change your mind. I'm here to express why I love it .

[Album Eight: Simulation Theory]

Break It To Me is so fucking good. That RATM riff, that Linkin Park shuffle, that Jonny Greenwood glitch solo, those stabs of Musey theramin/Kaoss, the wubbage, the brittle guitar tone, the fat af beat underpinning everything, the little tiny but vital guitar scratches, the absolutely excellent percussive choices, one of Matt's most unique, intriguing and urgent vocals, the best whispers of any Muse song, the absolutely off-piste melody in the second half of the first verse, the descending eastern vibe of the little post-chorus bit backed by the guitar riff, the sheer chug of the whole thing, the fact they've written a very Princy track that is absolutely reminiscent of him while also sounding totally modern, the fact it is short/concise and never outstays its welcome, the fact it feels like the focal point of the album yet it's not a cheap or throwaway song at all, the sparse but effective use of strings, it's just a brilliantly conceived track that truly is the most interesting and innovative thing I can recall by Muse for quite some time.

 

And, come at me bros, but I think the nearest musical cousin it has in recent years is The Handler. There are so many touches in it that remind me of the detailing that went into that song. Yes, the vibe and sound is completely different, but The Handler was absolutely the first Musey reference point that came to my mind when I heard BITM.

 

Best Muse song since Map / Take A Bow. Srsly. Apart perhaps from Dead Inside.

[Album Eight: Simulation Theory]

Propaganda and Break It To Me are the only wholly coherent tracks on the album imo. They sound to me as if they've had 2/3 times more time spend on them than some of the others and as a result, are utterly terrific. I think Propaganda will be huge live.