Dead Inside - 8/10 Wasn't too keen on this as an opener when it was first released, but it's since grown. Good, stripped back sound, great guitar, better lyrics than expected, good single track. [Drill Sergeant] + Psycho - 8/10 Would be a much better track without the shite sampling, the ass, and the repetitiveness, but the riff is great and it gets the album off to a proper start. Mercy - 5/10 Relatively pleasant to listen to, but gets boring quick. Dislike the puppeteer line; the vocals sound very Biffy Clyro, whom are terrible. I feel like Muse have written this song several times over, there's nothing new here. I prefer Starlight, which is something I thought I'd never say. Reapers - 10/10 Colossal. I love everything about this track, and Matt seems to have balanced all of the experimentation of the last two albums perfectly on this one song alone. The Handler - 10/10 Heavy and dark. Flawless track, and something I was anticipating from this record. Lots of Absolution nostalgia with this. [JFK] + Defector - 10/10 I adore the build-up, the strings, and the guitar teases, and Defector oozes glam and Queen; a keeper and a personal highlight. The riff reminds me of Beetlebum by Blur for some reason. It's also pretty hilarious, in every good way possible. Revolt - 2/10 What fucking shit is this? Aftermath - 8/10 Very Pink Floyd in the beginning, and the first forty seconds reminded me of Eyes Wide Shut/Blade Runner. I love the chord progressions. Lyrically it could be tightened, and the vocals are all over the place, but that doesn't warrant a skip. There's a lot of beauty to be found here. The Globalist - 10/10 Tied with The Handler for best track of the album. I don't mind the transitions, they work. Nothing on Citizen Erased, or Knights of Cydonia, but a really, really strong bit of music. So glad to hear some acoustic guitar in there. Drones - 6/10 Unexpected, and can be listened to in a full sitting, but I'd usually just stop at The Globalist. Matt sounds amazing here, though. Overall, Reapers > The Handler > [JFK] + Defector is an incredible run. These are the sort of things I would expect from Muse, and hopefully the next album follows in this light. Rating: 8/10 Skips: Mercy, Revolt, Drones Songs Ranked: The Globalist The Handler Reapers [JFK] + Defector [Drill Sergeant] + Psycho Dead Inside Aftermath Drones Mercy Revolt