Dead Inside: 6/10
A grower after the initial bad first impression. The raw emotion almost compensates for the cringeworthiness of the robot noises and backstreet boys influence.
Drill Sargeant/Psycho: 5/10
Fits the concept well, although the Drill Sergeant doesn't come across with any authenticity is just plain bad. Killer riff though, but the song could have been so much better done differently.
Mercy: 3-10
A bad version of starlight, lacks any warmth and musically doesn't fit the concept as well as other tracks.
Reapers: 9.5/10
The best song released since Black Holes and Revelations, amazing sense of urgency in the music fits the concept and shows off the absolute best of muse in a musical sense. This one came as a real surprise given the overall direction in recent years.
The Handler: 9/10
Another excellent track. This is the muse I started listening to years ago, the bridge is excellent and does well to mark the turning point in the album.
JFK/Defector: 8/10
The transition between these two is amazing. Caps off the best sequence of tracks on a muse album I can remember. Defector is really good, although the lyrics are just a little more than clunky at times.
Revolt: 1/10
WTF.
Aftermath: 5/10
I quite like the beginning of this but then it starts to remind me of Aerosmith or something. Doesn't do it for me in the same way a track like blackout does.
The Globalist: 6/10
This could have been awesome. Three really great sections at an individual level that sound like they're thrown together because of bad transitions.
Drones: 6/10
Interesting way to finish the album and somewhat fitting. I quite liked this, despite the oddness of it all.
Overall: 6/10
Drones is great in parts, cringeworthy in others. The run from reapers through to defector is incredible, but the last half of the album is pretty forgettable and the concept loses steam with Revolt in a musical sense. a middle of the road album as a whole, lacks some of the extreme highs and lows we've seen in the past.