frozenbanana
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My first post in 4 years, blimey. Here goes: Having gone through the entire discography over the weekend, I think that right now that as an album, WoTP is comfortably better than anything else since BH&R. Firstly, it’s coherent. It avoids the big issue TR and T2L have of whacking a big multipart suite at the end of the album which seems to have nothing to do with the songs that just came before. Sure, it’s like T2L in that it’s a genre mishmash, but so is BH&R, and probably because Matt’s lyrics are vague enough, it doesn’t matter to me. Secondly, it’s paced nicely. T2L, Drones and ST all have mid/late sections which are clearly less strong than the start of the album (and the end), such as Explorers > Liquid State and SH > Dig Down… but WoTP mixes up its fast, heavy and “commercial” tracks so there’s never really a clear point after which I’m going “ugh, strap in for these songs”. Third, it’s “lows” are nowhere near as annoying, skippable or straight up out-of-place as the bad stuff elsewhere. I think the worst song is Compliance, and that is still miles better than IBTY (not a terrible song, but sooo jarring on TR), Big Freeze, Save Me, Mercy (the lyrics…), Revolt, Aftermath, Get Up and Fight, Dig Down (OG version) and Something Human. Finally, not only is there Heavy Stuff, but it’s mixed so that it actually sounds heavy. TR and T2L killed their heavy songs with their production and ST didn’t really have any nasty songs. This has 3 excluding the title track, they’re spread out, and they kick hard. I have this album as an 8 out of 10. Faves are KoBK, Verona, and WaFF, but Liberation and WsD are guilty pleasures as a 2-parter. The band sound happy and comfortable in their skin. I’m comfortable with New Muse now too I guess - accepting we’re never ever getting another Origin-tier release, but that I can enjoy this stuff anyway.
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Even with the muddiness and mixing of some of its tracks, the best album is Absolution. It's the most sonically and thematically cohesive album the band has made except for Drones, its worst songs are still wonderfully bizarre and successful, it does aggressively catchy rock just as well as Origin but explores quieter and more vulnerable moments far more expansively too. The only thing stopping me from giving Origin top spot is my personal preference for the second half of Absolution over the 2nd half of Origin, which is a fantastic album but imo definitely sees a quality/pace drop in the 2nd half (Absolution has one too - TSP and ToaDA are basic as hell - but for some reason it bothers me less, and I think that might be to do with the fact they still smash along at 100mph) BH&R is my favourite Muse album but with its track ordering, lack of Glorious and presence of Exo-Politics, I know I can't say it's their best. Simulation Theory sadly can't be anywhere near the top 3 for me as it contains Get Up and Fight and Thought Contagion. An album without those 2 (and Dig Down) and with TDS Alternate acting as a reprise before The Void would be doing v well though
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Yeah it was Chris' bass at RAH right? Which makes it more likely that he was just using some guitar-y tones to produce what I'd always assumed was Matt. I'd just prefer if he played it even if it wasn't his part because I love watching Matt switch between them quickly (e.g. below) and know from personal experience how fun it is to try to sing and play that chorus at the same time [YT] [/YT]
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Top 5 (in a vague order starting from best): Redemption Algorithm Reapers The Dark Side (AR version) United States of Eurasia (Honourable mentions: The Handler, The Void, Overture, Unnatural Selection, Break It To Me, Animals, Isolated System, all of which could be 5th tbh) Bottom 5 (from least bad to worst): Explorers Get Up and Fight Thought Contagion Aftermath I'm Collapsing In Stellar Clouds of Gas
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Arena setlist even though they're not playing any in the UK Algorithm (with Matt playing the fucking guitar) New Born Assassin Psycho Dead Star Plug in Baby Starlight Supermassive Black Hole Map of the Problematique Muscle Museum Space Dementia (guitar outro) Hysteria Citizen Erased Ruled by Secrecy The Dark Side (alternate) Bliss Glorious Take a Bow Knights of Cydonia Stockholm Syndrome + riffs
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Muse Songs That Are Worse Than "Guiding Light"
frozenbanana replied to kueller's topic in Songs & Releases
About the same: I Belong To You Mildly worse: Get Up and Fight, Explorers, Revolt A fair bit worse: Thought Contagion, Overdue, New Kind of Kick, assorted B-Sides such as Prague, Pink Ego Box, etc Far, far worse (and incidentally really really fucking dreadful): Aftermath The worst thing Muse has ever put out: Big Freeze -
Lol I feel like you're at that same stage rn as when a person has just developed a serious crush on someone and finds every boring story they tell really interesting
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Thought Contagion needed to be cut from the album entirely
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What?? Can't you hear that guitar solo right before the final chorus? Y'know, the incredibly simplistic one that just repeats the same riff that we've already heard for what feels like 1000 times already in the song by that point, but with added whammy pedal?? (All jokes aside, I totally agree, and would rather have had no solo at all than that pathetic throwaway excuse we ended up getting)
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Also gave The Resistance a spin today to work out whether I prefer it to Simulation Theory or not. 4 takeaways: 1) MK Ultra is far less annoying than I remember it 2) I'm actually fond of Guiding Light now after all these years, it's the OG appallingly cheesy Muse song and did it more ridiculously, incongruously and successfully than anything since 3) Exogenesis has no place being on the album, 4) I Belong To You is shit and deserves more hate for how it tonally wrecks the album , it's a fucking comedy song about nonsense in the middle of this weird sci-fi 1984 love story conspiracy thing It's close... the highs of Simulation Theory are higher (except for Exo) but there are some great rock sections in The Resistance and I can't just say "except for Exo" and leave it at that, because it is on the album after all... Eeesh. Simulation Theory for the cohesion atm I reckon
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Am loving The Dark Side AR more and more with each listen, it's great. Also have been tentatively trying out an alternate album that runs as follows: 1. Algorithm 2. The Dark Side 3. Pressure 4. Propaganda 5. Break It To Me 6. Something Human 7. Dig Down 8. Blockades 9. The Dark Side (AR) 10. The Void Getting rid of the 2 dross tracks in a row and not having Dig Down --> The Void makes a big difference. Potentially Blockades --> The Void is a better transition than TDS AR --> The Void, but I like the idea of it returning as a haunting reprise of the original
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Also, I'm really growing to like this song a lot, despite how basic it is
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I also reckon in a year or so's time I will have dropped SH, DD, GUAF and TC from any attempts to listen to this album, and retreated into a synthy/space playlist containing Algorithm, TDS, TaB, MoTP, T2L: IS, Glorious, Knights, Exo Pts 1-3 and The Void (I'd mayyybe find room for Blockades and something like DI or UD in there too). I also think The Handler wouldn't sound too out of place if added in the right spot, who knows.
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Ratings: Algorithm: 10/10. I've said all I need to about this one already. It's possibly too epic and well-executed to occupy the same album as the more funky/weird stuff... The Dark Side: 8.5/10.Great song. They could have done more with the final chorus to give it a little bit more heft but it's all good. Pressure: 7.5/10. This is catchy af and I love the unashamed "let's get to the next headbanging bit ASAP" vibe it seems to have. However, it has one too many choruses, the final chorus again is too restrained and just like the others, and it needed a bridge or a solo just to provide some variety imo. Propaganda: 8.5/10. So around here is where I was starting to regret how tonally different Algorithm and TDS were in comparison to what followed them. Anyway, this song in and of itself is great fun, I LOVE the blues solo and the fact the whole thing doesn't hang around. Break It To Me: 8/10. Seriously, what the fuck is this song? Something Human: 6.5/10. This has actually gone up in the context of the album as it's kinda.. needed? It makes a good change from the madness of the previous 2 tracks. Thought Contagion: 2/10. No. It's awfully repetitive, uninteresting and sonically incongruous in the context of this album and I am never going to forgive the lyrics as well, so it can fuck off. Get Up and Fight: 5.5/10. Phwoar!! I have very little to say about this. The album is well into its weakest section at this point (the Revolt --> Drones section of Drones, if you will) Blockades: 8/10. The extraneous palm-muting of the chorus chords and those goddamn backing vocals aren't doing it any favours. But I had it in my head this morning and the bit at the end of the chorus saves it from getting too cheesy imo. Dig Down: 7/10. Improves in terms of how it fits in with the sound of the album, but still feels a bit insipid (and I hate the Garage Band strings). The final bit of the song is actually quite good though? The Void: 9/10. I wish it were longer, and built up a bit more before sort of abruptly ending after the drums properly got going. It's still brilliant. Again, this feels like it belongs on a separate album with Algorithm and The Dark Side. ------- Overall rating: 7.5ish/10. Denied status as a proper classic by the massive tonal inconsistency between the middle of the album and its front and back, and that run from Something Human to Dig Down. Given that my average rating for the songs we'd already heard was 6/10, though, am happy with how the new stuff surpassed expectations. Also, we got... Alternate and acoustic versions: Algorithm: 10/10 (again), The Dark Side: 9/10, Pressure: 8.5/10, Propaganda: 8.5/10, Break It to Me: 7/10, Something Human: 6.5/10, Dig Down: 7.75/10, The Void 9.5/10. My biggest problem with these were that the best alternate versions (Algorithm, The Dark Side and The Void) were already great in their original versions. If they'd found some way to make Propaganda or Something Human sound like synthwave fever dreams then it would have been properly great. Overall rating for the whole thing (original + alternates): 8/10
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The section of The Void from "it takes a leap of faith..." onwards is so gorgeous, bloody hell.
