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MalvaBlanco

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  1. Random thoughts: Liebestraum is certainly Matt's pick. RATM and Royal Blood is probably something all three of them are into. I'm (pleasantly) surprised by the inclusion of Iron Maiden. The work of Dom? Wonder who of them contributed D'Angelo and/or Florence. Cool that they chose Reapers, it seems to be one of their favorites from the album (early live premiere) even though they'll never release it as a single, heh.
  2. Matt, Chris and Dom have selected 12 tracks for their playlist: Ain't That Easy by D'Angelo What Kind of Man by Florence + the Machine Liebestraum no. 3 by Franz Liszt Freedom by Rage Against The Machine Tighten Up by The Black Keys Cherub Rock by The Smashing Pumpkins Elephant by Tame Impala Out Of The Black by Royal Blood Waters Of Nazareth by Justice Ready or Not by Fugees The Number Of The Beast by Iron Maiden and finally: Reapers by Muse Discuss.
  3. Yeah, I've read about that. Hard rock is supposed to have more blues elements while metal is more neo-classical, But going by that definition, Plug In Baby and a lot of other Muse songs would definitely be metal
  4. I dunno, Iron Maiden is pretty melodic isn't it? And it's the quintessential metal band.
  5. If there is one aspect of this album I can't find fault with, though, it's the bass. Just the right choices for every track. The thumping riff of Dead Inside, that gorgeous neoclassical pre-chorus in The Handler, the melody of the bassline in Mercy (by far the best part of that song); Reapers, The Globalist... Hats off to Chris.
  6. I love Matt's vocal delivery of the lines in the last third of the Globalist, but personally there are some points (for example: all the stuff about hunters and gatherers and human nature and only the best surviving) that make me imagine a drunk and depressed Matt singing his philosophical ramblings to random people in a bar. Which is not necessarily a negative for me. It's the right kind of goofiness IMO (unlike "you can't brainwash me, you've got a problem" or "you're not a droo-ooone").
  7. Even if the concept is fun and makes for a more coherent listening experience, overall the lyrics themselves are worse than they've ever been. Still, there are some memorable phrases like "War, war just moved up a gear" or "You will never - own - me again". Not great lines by themselves obviously, but they fit the mood of the music perfectly. I think that's where Matt's lyrics are at their best: when they paint a sentiment with very broad, simple strokes ("No-one's gonna take me alive"), relying more on the music to communicate. Directly mentioning the word "brainwashing" just isn't aesthetically pleasing.
  8. It might be the goofiest line in any Muse song, which is quite a feat. "Yellow belly" is an insult that you'd expect from Yosemite Sam, so it's hilarious to hear it sung by the thoroughly English Matt Bellamy.
  9. Some fun bits from the XFM interview (I'm loosely paraphrasing the quotes because I've only been able to listen to it once): - Matt apparently envisions the album's protagonist as a female. - They wrote and rehearsed the songs in Matt's basement and recorded demos before bringing them to Mutt. - They met Mutt randomly while in Switzerland. Matt mentions he was surprised by how much he was into the concept. It was Mutt who insisted they kept a narrative order in the songs, instead of just writing songs related to the theme. - They might consider playing the entire album live in order. "We've rehearsed all the tracks at least once". - Reapers was intended to capture their live sound. It's Dom's favorite track together with The Handler. Matt: "I threw the word 'babe' in there to throw people off" - Matt on The Handler: "production-wise it sounds a lot like our second and third albums". - They recorded Defector three times at slightly different tempos because they wanted to get "just the right amount of sleaze". They also call it a "throwback to the 90s" and influenced by grunge. - Revolt was intended by Matt to sound like a Broadway number. Originally it was written for piano. - Aftermath originally sounded more like a bluesy jam, but Matt allowed Mutt a lot of creative influence in this track, resulting in a song that is more "spacey" and "like a cheesy ballad, which is not really my domain" - The three parts of The Globalist were recorded seperately over the course of three days. Also, the track was originally called "The British Empire". - Drones was based on a piece by Palestrina, a composer long admired by Matt because his music was groundbreaking, especially for hsi time. He likes a lot of music that is centuries old because it "helps you connect to people who are long dead". Other fun Matt quote about the last track: "it's a bit edgy, but I think we got away with it"
  10. Goddammit this song is so bouncy and hilarious. Musically it has that feel of a kid going up to the local schoolyard bully and taunting him, sticking his tongue out and going "nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh" And that slight pause in: "We'll watch it get razed... (wait for it...) BY A DEFECTOR!"
  11. That criticism of Muse being humorless is one I'll never understand. Sure, Matt probably believes in what he peddles, or he wouldn't be droning about it for three albums (forgive me for that awful pun). But it's not like they don't realize how ridiculous or goofy their music can be, or the whole idea of a "concept album". Look at the making of videos for the previous two albums, where Matt bursts out laughing at Guiding Light or Survival. I don't think they take themselves nearly as seriously as many detractors say they do. I'm not a fan of this black and white thinking where either you make a Serious Album about a Serious Topic as a Serious Band, or you make an entirely goofy album about some nonsense and then it's alright because you're a "fun band" who knows their place. That said, I hope that with this album Matt has been able to get this Drone conspiracy stuff out of his system, because I think their music does fit better with a sci-fi / escapist theme than with scathing political commentary.
  12. There seems to be an aversion to hyper-melodic, happy Muse. In the BHAR days, people were complaining about Invincible like it was the worst song ever. I can appreciate most of those "happy" songs (except for Neutron Star Collision, that's just a mess. Worst chorus ever and recycled Knight of Cydonia drumming). It adds a dimension that was missing from their earlier albums, even though they probably pull of the dark stuff better.
  13. Let's do some Second Law defending baby! Supremacy is often derided as boring, which... you know, may be true for you, but I still find it pretty awesome. I remember when the shitty quality video from E-werk went on Youtube and everyone loved it. On record it may be not as hard-hitting, but "beef" is just not everything man. I love the melody, the theatricality, the build-up and the falsettos. But it does feature the worst Muse lyric ever written... Madness is even more shat upon by hordes of Muse fans. Fuck that. It's pop, yes, but it's a very satisfyingly written pop song. It's one of their best flowing songs - making the last part very cathartic, but a lot of people prefer Psycho because it's in a genre they like. Even though it's not New Born or Plug In Baby, I actually kinda understand why Matt thought it was his best song at the time (I guess he's changed his mind by now...) Animals... just a fantastic track, but like Supremacy many view it as a bore. Don't get it. It would fit right onto OOS and actually surpass quite a few of those tracks in quality. Love the use of the harpsichord, the barely suppressed anger and the ending riff. It may be Muse's most mature track on a musical level (not on a lyrical level, granted, even though I love the line "Kill yourself, come on and do us all a favor") Explorers... I actually understand the hate (it's basically Don't Stop Me Now and No Surprises with a Westlife key change at the end) but I find the song extremely listenable. It's so soothing, the sonic version of a warm blanket. I love those background vocals that everyone finds cheesy.
  14. Storywise the album couldn't be simpler, it follows a Hero's Journey format. I guess that makes it more satisfying to listen to as a whole than The 2nd Law. That said, they've missed an opportunity on the 2nd half on the album. "Revolt" is a bit redundant; you basically have two battle cry songs next to each other with Defector and Revolt. There should've been a track where the guy and his fellow defectors actually fight the oppressors and suffer great losses. Sound-wise it could be like Reapers, which is sort of a battle song, but darker. And now I've noticed Dee3Dee made almost the same observation as me. Whoops, back to not procrastinating I guess.
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