Jump to content

Italian review of Drones (19/5/2015)


Tesseract

Recommended Posts

1 - It's a concept album

 

In a not-so-far future we'll be able to kill people comfortably sat on our couch. The men with cloaks will take power of the system and turn us into robots: inhuman entities, executing orders without feeling any emotion. Taking hints from a technology extremely relevant today, Muse portraits a dramatic, dystopic and conspirational scenario. The main theme is narrated in a very straightforward way: except for some sporadic bold statements, you can see that the band is trying to communicate the concept very explicitly. Between science and science fiction, Bellamy & co's plot faces the matter of brainwashing (of clear Orwellian influence) in a concept album full of both seducing and disturbing contents.

2 - The beginning is the end

 

The single Dead Inside serves both as a premise and a solution: it's a cry for help from a tamed robot, finally realizing to have become an "handler" as well, capable of lying and killing to recruit new followers. The military speech serving as a prelude to Psycho introduces a sort of flashback: the drill sergeant's promise of turning the "guinea pig" into a ruthless killer. The moment of the abduction is portraited by Mercy, while Reapers focuses on the figure of the oppressor. From The Handler, hope comes into play: the captive seeks for the light at the end of the tunnel in humanity and JFK's touching speech ends with the line: "Men will be what they were born to be: free and independent". At this point, the sense of hope morphs into rebellion with Revolt, whereas the final trifecta tastes like surrender - but here personal interpretation has a fundamental role.

 

3 - Better listen to it from start to finish, with no breaks

 

Drones really does shine when listened from start to finish. But it's not only a matter of lyrics: it's actually hard to separate a track from the others. Taken individually, the songs don't live up to their full potential (don't know how to translate this better). Henceforth, if you want to fully enjoy the album, do yourself a favor: on June 8, give yourself one hour just to listen to Drones without skipping, replaying or shuffling.

4 - Promises have been kept

 

Muse said that since the beginning: their intention was to go back to their roots, i.e. writing without too many frills (with a more sparse usage of synths and avoid going too far with experimentation). Their promise has been kept. Whereas The 2nd Law was lacking any aesthetic boundary, falling into the temptation of dubstep, (in Drones) there are no songs completely veering off that rock sound. This doesn't mean that the album sounds 'samey' all the way through. Infact, we have the steady funk of Dead Inside, the distorted verses from Psycho, a piano riff a bit reminiscing of Starlight from Mercy, proceeding to the sublime hard rock of the shifty Reapers. In The Handler there's room for some tapping and double-time (can't tell if it's accurate btw), Defector kicks in with a cinematic ending (this line was a bit wtf, but anyway), Aftermath is a ballad midway between a national anthem and a Christmas ad for Coca Cola (which may sound cheap, but it actually isn't, trust me). The ending title track is a full blown acapella piece. And then there's The Globalist...

5 - The Globalist is the best track on the album

 

Let me get this straight, tastes are tastes, and there's not doubt about it. But The Globalist - track number 11 and climax of the album - is one of those songs capable of taking your breath away since first listen. It was supposed to be the highly anticipated sequel to Citizen Erased, and partly it is: the general vibe is the same of the legendary tune off Origin of Symmetry, one of the biggest fan favourites. The song starts with a Morricone-y section, slowly carries on until a countdown explodes into something epic, and closes with an intimate section featuring piano and singing. The "chapter" structure reminds a bit of Bohemian Rhapsody, and even though comparisons with Queen's anthem are always somewhat hazardous, goosebumps are guaranteed with this song.

 

 

 

Yeah, i don't have a life :LOL:

Edited by That_Italian_Guy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 - It's a concept album

 

In a not-so-far future we'll be able to kill people comfortably sat on our couch. The men with cloaks will take power of the system and turn us into robots: inhuman entities, executing orders without feeling any emotion. Taking hints from a technology extremely relevant today, Muse portraits a dramatic, dystopic and conspirational scenario. The main theme is narrated in a very straightforward way: except for some sporadic bold statements, you can see that the band is trying to communicate the concept very explicitly. Between science and science fiction, Bellamy & co's plot faces the matter of brainwashing (of clear Orwellian influence) in a concept album full of both seducing and disturbing contents.

2 - The beginning is the end

 

The single Dead Inside serves both as a premise and a solution: it's a cry for help from a tamed robot, finally realizing to have become an "handler" as well, capable of lying and killing to recruit new followers. The military speech serving as a prelude to Psycho introduces a sort of flashback: the drill sergeant's promise of turning the "guinea pig" into a ruthless killer. The moment of the abduction is portraited by Mercy, while Reapers focuses on the figure of the oppressor. From The Handler, hope comes into play: the captive seeks for the light at the end of the tunnel in humanity and JFK's touching speech ends with the line: "Men will be what they were born to be: free and independent". At this point, the sense of hope morphs into rebellion with Revolt, whereas the final trifecta tastes like surrender - but here personal interpretation has a fundamental role.

 

3 - Better listen to it from start to finish, with no breaks

 

Drones really does shine when listened from start to finish. But it's not only a matter of lyrics: it's actually hard to separate a track from the others. Taken individually, the songs don't live up to their full potential (don't know how to translate this better). Henceforth, if you want to fully enjoy the album, do yourself a favor: on June 8, give yourself one hour just to listen to Drones without skipping, replaying or shuffling.

4 - Promises have been kept

 

Muse said that since the beginning: their intention was to go back to their roots, i.e. writing without too many frills (with a more sparse usage of synths and avoid going too far with experimentation). Their promise has been kept. Whereas The 2nd Law was lacking any aesthetic boundary, falling into the temptation of dubstep, (in Drones) there are no songs completely veering off that rock sound. This doesn't mean that the album sounds 'samey' all the way through. Infact, we have the steady funk of Dead Inside, the distorted verses from Psycho, a piano riff a bit reminiscing of Starlight from Mercy, proceeding to the sublime hard rock of the shifty Reapers. In The Handler there's room for some tapping and double-time (can't tell if it's accurate btw), Defector kicks in with a cinematic ending (this line was a bit wtf, but anyway), Aftermath is a ballad midway between a national anthem and a Christmas ad for Coca Cola (which may sound cheap, but it actually isn't, trust me). The ending title track is a full blown acapella piece. And then there's The Globalist...

5 - The Globalist is the best track on the album

 

Let me get this straight, tastes are tastes, and there's not doubt about it. But The Globalist - track number 11 and climax of the album - is one of those songs capable of taking your breath away since first listen. It was supposed to be the highly anticipated sequel to Citizen Erased, and partly it is: the general vibe is the same of the legendary tune off Origin of Symmetry, one of the biggest fan favourites. The song starts with a Morricone-y section, slowly carries on until a countdown explodes into something epic, and closes with an intimate section featuring piano and singing. The "chapter" structure reminds a bit of Bohemian Rhapsody, and even though comparisons with Queen's anthem are always somewhat hazardous, goosebumps are guaranteed with this song.

 

 

 

Yeah, i don't have a life :LOL:

 

Thanks so much!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...