Saint Rockwell Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I believe Diversity is also an old wooden ship... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blype Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 When I said collection of songs, I meant it wasn't cohesive and didn't flow like an album should. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seaking Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 The 2nd Law review: The 2nd Law presents some new aspects to Muse and yet in many ways retains their classic sound more than previous albums have. I liked the album although I feel as though it suffers from Absolution/The Resistance syndrome. There are some tracks I find fantastic yet overall the album suffers because other songs drag it down. It's not a coincidence that those two (three if you count The 2nd Law) albums are all Muse's longest. They each could have greatly benefited from song omissions/replacements. The first 2/3's of the album is great. However, it really dips in quality near the end. It's incredible how much of a contrast there is between these two parts. Supremacy kicks off The 2nd Law and it is a return to old Muse while retaining Muse's new symphonic direction. It features a massive 7 string riff and well the trademark falsetto. Those two elements blend with military style marching drums and together they make for quite an interesting Muse song. The album then takes a massive genre shift. Madness is a pop song. Does that make it bad? No. I like it quite a bit. Lots of build up but also lots of pay off in the end. The vocals are fantastic throughout and it features a very Brian May-esque guitar solo. The 2nd Law's diversity continues with Panic Station. Well what can I say about Panic Station ... It's fun song oh ya and it's a funk track. Yet for a funk track it seems to have very aggressive vocals and a very 'classic' Bellamy style riff/solo section. It is another song that is very different from anything Muse have ever done yet it still retains a part that is almost trademark Muse. Survival seems to have grown on me. If you are going to do something over the top why not got all the way. Love the piano intro and the riff sections are well done. Follow Me is a song that has garnered quite a bit of controversy. Yet it is actually quite a traditional Muse track. Wait what? Ya you heard (read) me. A chorus with heavy bass it in ... where have I heard that before? Oh ya almost every Muse song (exaggeration but you get my point). The arpegiatted electronics throughout are well done. Very Bono style vocals from Bellamy, yet delivered in Bellamy's 'hero style' of singing. Also, drop =/= dubstep (a note for the Muse board). Animals is quickly rising through the ranks as one of my favourite Muse songs. Like Supremacy this song is a return to old Muse (think Showbiz era but done better). A very alternative rock song with flairs of Radiohead throughout and political/economical lyrics. Almost quite down to earth in terms of instrumentation. Explorers is a piano ballad that has a heavy Queen influence. The piano and bass could almost have been done by Freddie Mercury and John Deacon and no one would have noticed the difference. Even the vocal melody has a familiar Queen hook to it. These elements blended with classic Muse elements make for quite the nice and reflective track. So far the album is fantastic. However, Big Freeze hits and when you listen to the song you wouldn't mind if a big freeze actually happened ... ok that was shit but so is Big Freeze. The album suffers and takes a turn for the worst. This song feels as though it is a U2 cover with a cheesy choir layered over top. Ok so one bad song. Moving on. Except it continues to suffer with Chris Wolstenholme's bland songs. Save Me and Liquid State are just very average. I cannot find any redeemable qualities. The 2nd Law: Unsustainable seems great but that's only because it is juxtaposed with Liquid State. It's an ok song. Although the middle section of the song is really its saving grace and features quite a nice combination of "dubstep" elements with orchestral elements. The 2nd Law: Isolated System is a twinkly piano tune that almost every indie band in the world has done at one point in their career. The news reporter alongside the strings give it a near epic feel. An interesting and new way (for Muse) to end an album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furygirl Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 tl;dr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seaking Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 tl;dr If I wasn't banned this would have been spread out over two weeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainingradioheads Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 third listen: Favorites: Supremacy, Follow Me, Animals, Unsustainable, Isolated System Supremacy is possibly the lowest ranked of my favorites, though that might be because I'm trying to arrange it. Good riff, brilliant vocals, which make up for the dull chorus. Follow Me is a good bouncy track. Animals, obviously very nice guitar work, and very beautiful chord progressions, though the lyrics are a bit iffy (which you could apply to every Muse song, I suppose). I know Unsustainable has garnered a lot of criticism for the ~dubstep~ influence, but I actually like it a lot. Gorgeous string and vocal melodies, and I really like the robot, oops. Isolated System, obviously a beautiful piano riff, and just sort of eerie in general. Both The 2nd Law tracks are nice changes for Muse. Meh songs: Madness, Panic Station, Survival Something about the vocals and the ridiculous guitar solo make me dislike Madness. I much prefer Undisclosed Desires (if you wanted to compare those two, dunno if that's a thing). I know Panic Station should technically be something I like and it will probably grow on me if I choose to listen again, but as of now, there's something about it that irritates me. Points for vocals on that track, though. Survival's only here because it makes me laugh, which is nice. Ugh no songs: Prelude, Explorers, Big Freeze, Save Me, Liquid State And here we see the majority of the album. I think everyone's covered that Prelude is unnecessary. The best part of Explorers is how I can sing Invincible along with the chorus. Big Freeze isn't even memorable. I listened to it about half an hour ago and I can't tell you one thing about it. Both of Chris's songs are terribly dull, tbh. Save Me is a lullaby, not in a good way. I remember hearing the first chord of the track immediately knowing it was going to be a bad one. I swear I've heard the same song before as well. Liquid State sounds like a generic Foos song. Flow is a bit odd, as everyone's mentioned. Overall, it's hard to say where this ranks in my Muse album list as I haven't listened to them in so long. Judging on my memories of each album though, I would have to put this one at the bottom. After typing this all up, I found out I like a lot more songs than I imagined I did. I think it would probably move its way up the list a little if there were less terrible songs and more meh ones (like The Resistance). bad feeling about this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim59 Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 I liked your review James (read it with an emphasis on I) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kueller Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Ugh no songs: Prelude, Explorers, Big Freeze, Save Me, Liquid State And here we see the majority of the album. But you had as many favorites as Ugh no songs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic. Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 S'alright. Got some brilliant tracks on there (namely Supremacy, Animals and Isolated System) and a lot of other good ones. Drags on a bit for me though, few songs too long. Would rather they'd have kept Explorers and Save Me off the album. Also not too keen on the tracklisting, like Madness straight after Supremacy? Nonono. In my iTunes I rearranged it like this and rather like it Supremacy Liquid State Animals Follow Me Unsustainable Madness Panic Station Big Freeze Prelude & Survival Isolated System Definitely prefer it to TR though and has some very promising elements on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diamond_writer Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Why does no one like Save Me? I love it. I think its beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobby Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Why does no one like Save Me? I love it. I think its beautiful. I do too. I think it goes on for slightly too long but I don't mind that the song never really 'goes anywhere'. The lyrics mean a fair bit to me as well so that might factor into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainingradioheads Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 But you had as many favorites as Ugh no songs i was also writing this at 11 at night and falling asleep while doing so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diamond_writer Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 I do too. I think it goes on for slightly too long but I don't mind that the song never really 'goes anywhere'. The lyrics mean a fair bit to me as well so that might factor into it. I like that it's soft, too. Nice change. I love singing it,too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic. Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 I like Save Me, just don't think it quite works on the album Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furygirl Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Why does no one like Save Me? I love it. I think its beautiful. I like it, but I wish they wouldn't do it live. Let Chris sing Liquid State instead! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croatian_Assassin Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 I like it, but I wish they wouldn't do it live. Let Chris sing Liquid State instead! This! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobby Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 (no future Muse release will ever beat Absolution or Origin of Symmetry, let's be honest) You say that, but I much prefer BHAR and T2L to Absolution. If they can keep going the way they are, then they have the potential to top OOS, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Rockwell Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 You say that, but I much prefer BHAR and T2L to Absolution. If they can keep going the way they are, then they have the potential to top OOS, IMO. I think I just had a heart attack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hipbones Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Why does no one like Save Me? I love it. I think its beautiful. I think it's boring on the CD and appears to be the same live. It just drones on and on and never really goes anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FabriPav Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 You say that, but I much prefer BHAR and T2L to Absolution. If they can keep going the way they are, then they have the potential to top OOS, IMO. I prefer T2L over BH&R and Abso. And I agree with the rest. I think I just had a heart attack. omg OoS best album of all time, dont touch ittt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dillyracer Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 I need more 'agressive' songs on piano. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobby Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 I think I just had a heart attack. Cool. I prefer T2L over BH&R and Abso. And I agree with the rest. I'm not sure if I prefer it to BHAR or not. It's a tie at the moment, until I let T2L settle and get used to the songs a bit more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chagi Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 I need more 'agressive' songs on piano. I count a maximum of six piano songs from their albums that I would consider "agressive" (and not counting anything from T2L being so). Do I have the wrong idea of what an agressive song is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyper_chondriac_muser Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Why does no one like Save Me? I love it. I think its beautiful. +1 It doesn't seem like many people like it. When I first heard it I had mixed feelings about it, but it's grown on me and now I love it. It's really melodic and I love Chris's voice - as Matt keeps saying, it's really smooth. The fact that his voice on both tracks sound sooo different to Matt's is part of the appeal: it makes the songs even more his own if that makes sense, lol. I admit, it's not the best live: the atmosphere of it on the album is better, but I do love watching Chris sing live so I don't mind haha! I desperately wanna hear Liquid State live - that'll be fucking AWESOME! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OriginOfAbso Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 I count a maximum of six piano songs from their albums that I would consider "agressive" (and not counting anything from T2L being so). Do I have the wrong idea of what an agressive song is? Space Dementia, Apocalypse Please, Ruled by Secrecy, part of Hoodoo, Cross-Pollination, and maybe the mid-section of B&H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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