Drones Album Discussion Thread

[Bs]

I remember being really excited to play it on guitar until I realised how boring the rest of it is, haha! Still good enough to listen to though, and probably their best use of Queen-ish vocal harmonies since Butterflies And Hurricanes.

[musekiddo]

I remember being really excited to play it on guitar until I realised how boring the rest of it is, haha! Still good enough to listen to though, and probably their best use of Queen-ish vocal harmonies since Butterflies And Hurricanes.

 

The layered vocals really ruin Defector for me. They're cringe-worthy and such an overused option by Matt these days (Dig Down ).

[Bs]

I didn't like them at first, but I do think it's one of their better uses of that kind of thing, and much better than something like USOE or Dig Down. It would obviously be better if they didn't keep trying to do it again though.

[smoledman]

I didn't like them at first, but I do think it's one of their better uses of that kind of thing, and much better than something like USOE or Dig Down. It would obviously be better if they didn't keep trying to do it again though.

 

USOE is a masterpiece in comparison to the dog turd that is Dig Down.

[Jobby]

probably their best use of Queen-ish vocal harmonies since Butterflies And Hurricanes.

 

Said it before but I don't really see the Queen comparisons in Dig Down's vocal harmonies, it's just a take on gospel.

 

It's valid for stuff like Defector, Eurasia, Knights, etc. but we can't just throw 'Queen' at every use of vocal harmonies

[Bohemian-Cygnus-Running-Out]

Said it before but I don't really see the Queen comparisons in Dig Down's vocal harmonies, it's just a take on gospel.

 

It's valid for stuff like Defector, Eurasia, Knights, etc. but we can't just throw 'Queen' at every use of vocal harmonies

 

agreed. How about we start comparing them to the Eagles when they do harmonies now!

[smoledman]

agreed. How about we start comparing them to the Eagles when they do harmonies now!

 

Next Muse song - "Hotel Devonshire".

[CatchHellBlues]

agreed. How about we start comparing them to the Eagles when they do harmonies now!

 

I can't think of The Eagles anymore without thinking of the Eagles of Death Metal and how they got their name

[Bs]

Said it before but I don't really see the Queen comparisons in Dig Down's vocal harmonies, it's just a take on gospel.

 

It's valid for stuff like Defector, Eurasia, Knights, etc. but we can't just throw 'Queen' at every use of vocal harmonies

 

I guess it was just an easy comparison for 'over-the-top' harmonies which is what I was getting at, haha! I love vocal harmonies but I like them to be a bit more subtle. I did say Queen-ish, but yeah, I know what you're getting at, haha!

 

USOE is a masterpiece in comparison to the dog turd that is Dig Down.

 

USOE is actually quite nice but I do find the ending vocals a bit off-putting. The problem with Dig Down is that it feels like mediocre chart-filler at best, and is almost ironically uninspiring. I think the reaction here has basically been about how generic mediocrity is not what a band like Muse should be aiming for.

[Bohemian-Cygnus-Running-Out]

Next Muse song - "Hotel Devonshire".

 

And Matt can lay down both of the guitar solos at the end and overlap them while Dom sings from the drumset and Chris wears and cowboy hat and fake mustache to hide how much he hates this. lol.

[takayanagi97]

I thought Showbiz was half bad till I finally bought it earlier this year.

 

Underrated is an understatement. Some of Matt's most personal and passionate songwriting on that thing, and the whole band holds nothing back.

 

In another thread I mentioned what Matt said in an interview. Apparently, I suspect all the backlash they got for "being personal" is what drove them away from their early Showbiz/OoS/Absolution days... which is sad. Their "being personal" was actually very awesome.

 

Muse’s new album, The 2nd Law – their first since 2009’s global chart-topper The Resistance – seems to reflect this change. Bellamy is now a father and there are rare moments of reflection on several tracks.

 

‘I’ve not really sung about emotions for the past two or three albums,’ he says. ‘On our first album, Showbiz, I really put myself out there in a personal way and got shot down for it. It’s only now I feel comfortable singing about relationships, love and fatherhood.’

 

Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2012/09/21/muses-matt-bellamy-its-only-now-i-feel-comfortable-singing-about-love-581723/#ixzz4jS8cTQnx

[Bs]

Their "being personal" was actually very awesome.

 

It's a massive part of why Dead Inside is such a good song for me. it actually feels like it means something, unlike a lot of their other recent releases. It's definitely something I missed from the earlier albums.

[Clunge]

Listening to Drones again in full for the first time in ages.

 

I always forget just how much of it I really do like. In fact, the run through from Dead Inside to Revolt (including Revolt) is absolutely fine.

 

Sure, there are a few things I'd change.

 

Psycho should have been shorter, it's just a touch too repetitive.

 

I wish they'd taken Mercy down a more mysterious, swirly, Bliss-esque route (more of the big synths throughout the whole song) and extended that outro a little.

 

Reapers and The Handler are both fine, although I'd probably have done something a little more abstract with The Handler solo.

 

Toning down the Queen factor in Defector would have been good, Revolt is just fine as it is (come at me).

 

After that though, eeesh. Aftermath is a total disaster really, it it was completely reworked in the dark, Pink Floyd vibe then it would have worked really well with The Globalist (kind of how Hoodoo and Knights work back-to-back).

 

And then The Globalist. Ergh. It's just so incoherent. It simply doesn't work at all for me. Even the bits that are passable (the slide guitary opening verses and the riffage) are pretty dull and uninspired. The problem with it is it's a song that the band clearly had a visual vision in mind for, something they can bring to life live. But on the album, this vision is just completely absent, or at least to most people, in the manner it was intended.

 

The Globalist and Drones should have been combined and released as a standalone song or EP.

 

And with the reworking about, especially of Aftermath, the album would have worked as a whole.

 

In short: not bad at all, but frustrating.

[FabriPav]

[Clunge]

Hi

[Jobby]

Pretty much my exact thoughts tbh. Except I’d add that the main reason for The Gloablist feeling so incoherent is down to Matt trying too hard to make CE 2, forcing these transitions instead of it happening organically.

 

That’s a problem with quite a few songs as well imo, trying to ape their old sounds/songs and coming off more hollow as a result. The Handler’s a good song but it sounds like it could’ve been made by a tribute act, if that makes sense. Feels too much like Muse sitting in the studio saying “This is what people used to like about us...right?”, or a middle-aged man finding some old photos of himself from when he was a bit cooler and trying to copy that old style even though the clothes don’t fit anymore and he’s balding now.

 

Edit: I think that’s probs why Revolt’s my favourite track, as much as some other peeps hate it. I like the majority of the album but that’s one of the only ones that feels at least somewhat fresh.

Edited November 20, 2017 by Jobby

[kueller]

That's why Dead Inside is my favorite it's also a lot more enjoyable than Revolt.

[Clunge]

Dead Inside is definitely my highlight of the album - it feels like the culmination of a load of electronic experiments that actually come together as one.

[FabriPav]

I don't really hear "electronic experiments" in that track.... Like, at all. It's just some 80s keyboard sounds put together. The song itself is decent though.

[Bumpypotato]

Dead Inside is probably the best song on the album. I just wish the production gave it some room to breath.

[Zepp]

I found The Globalist very awkward live.

[vixi]

Dead Inside, Reapers and The Handler are still great to me, and I have to admit that if I'm randomly listening to Muse and Revolt shows up I find myself enjoying it quite a bit. But honestly, I can't remember much of the other songs.

[Mozza]

Does anyone else think The Globalist could have been better as more of an Animals-style track and the piano part worked into a better puano-style closer that seems to end most Muse albums?

[MartianSpaghettiRider]

Does anyone else think The Globalist could have been better as more of an Animals-style track and the piano part worked into a better puano-style closer that seems to end most Muse albums?

 

They could've also morphed the middle heavy riff into a metal-tinged banger in the style of Assassin.

Also, the album could've used another heavy song between Psycho and Mercy, or a gloomy slow-burner as a narrative bridge between Reapers and The Handler.

[Spectrum IV]

I found The Globalist very awkward live.

 

I found it to be a highlight of the gigs I’ve watched this tour. The riff is a bit cringeworthy with Dom pretending to sing, but the rest is brilliant.