Drones Album Discussion Thread

[serpentsatellite]

Dead Inside seems in the wrong place to me, it would've made more sense being track 3 between Mercy and Reapers as far as the storyline is concerned. As in:

 

Psycho (Get's caught) >> Mercy (Being broken) >> Dead inside (Is broken) >> Reapers (Kills everything)

 

Just a thought though. Really like the album as a whole, haven't been this excited about an album since BH&R.

 

I saw Dead Inside as one of the possible reasons people go into the military, especially the people who do so without fully understanding what they are getting themselves into, and are more susceptible to losing themselves in that kind of situation.

 

So, a manipulative relationship leaves someone feeling distanced or turned off from the world, and attracted to a situation where they can simply exist and have someone else run their life, without having to get emotionally involved with things.

Someone who's just adrift, and can't imagine where to go with their life.

It's not a perfect transition, as Matt went really in with the "psychopath" thing in Dead Inside, but it's a bit of a loose narrative anyways.

One of his "drones" anyways, who's decided to stop feeling and thinking for themselves.

 

Mercy then being that sort of situation where someone comes to realize they got in way over their head, and thought they could maintain sense of self, or even make changes to an organization they are a part of or is much bigger than them, but that's simply not possible.

[Kit_Mapex]

So, a manipulative relationship leaves someone feeling distanced or turned off from the world, and attracted to a situation where they can simply exist and have someone else run their life, without having to get emotionally involved with things.

 

I hadn't even considered that the protagonist joined willingly. Mind blown.

[Mr Problematique]

I really like Dead Inside but I think it's kinda out of place (not lyrically though)

[Daekdroom]

Been having a look at my iTunes play counts. Comes out as something like this.

 

Dead Inside ~ 30

Psycho ~ 5

Mercy ~ 15

Reapers ~ 30

The Handler ~ 40

Defector ~ 20

Revolt ~ 15

Aftermath ~ 15

The Globalist ~ 15

 

Probably a fair enough assessment of the album really. Dead Inside has grown on me a lot lately. I'd still make a few changes here and there though, but that can't be helped.

 

I just realized I have almost 400 play counts on Dead Inside. Christ.

[Bs]

Haha, wow, that's pretty mental. The play counts on my current laptop only go back a few years and there's only a few songs that are even around the 200 mark, haha! I think the highest Muse song is Citizen Erased, and that's probably with about 150 or something. It would be higher if the counts didn't keep getting reset whenever I get a new computer anyway. XD

[Jimmyneutron]

Just listened to absolution front to back for the first time in a long time. Drones has nothing on that album. Something happened after Black Holes & Revelations. Something has been missing since then.

[DreamertK]

Best Album? Best album. Showbiz was my favorite for many years.

 

There just always seemed to be something lacking in Muse. Like it was lacking a certain level of intensity in the sound. I think this album corrected many of the issues previous albums had. If you hated 2nd Law then you'll appreciate how they used the synth/robot voice in this one in Reapers. This album was also the most consistent in theme. In previous ones the first song always sets up the subtext to the rest of the album, but it wasn't cohesive. This album also didn't have any love songs in it. Arguable with Dead Inside, I think it was still more military focused. Best singing, I might still have to give it up to Showbiz but this is a strong second. Best guitar, this fucking album. Best bass, I'm going to have to go with Panic Station. Best drumming, this album. Best piano, Resistance. I think the weakest song in this album is Aftermath, but I like thinking about it paired up with Map of the Problematique because they share the same theme (even if they sound very different). I would have preferred if Mercy was more toward the end of the album instead of at the beginning. For some reason I keep thinking of the French to that song....

 

Overall it used a lot of 80's sounds set to 1984-esque lyrics.

[Clunge]

Just listened to absolution front to back for the first time in a long time. Drones has nothing on that album. Something happened after Black Holes & Revelations. Something has been missing since then.

Warner happened in 2005; nothing was ever quite the same after that.

[Hopix]

Warner happened in 2005; nothing was ever quite the same after that.

 

Can we therefor blame Warner for the dumbing-down/butchering of 2005/pre-BHaR new tracks?

[vixi]

After a little more than a month, I still think it's my third favorite Muse album tied with Black Holes and Revelations. Great songs are GREAT (still can't believe how good is The Handler, for example) and the poppier ones are the best since BH&R (I love Dead Inside, I really do) and it all feels so emotional, to me.

[Finn.]

Can we therefor blame Warner for the dumbing-down/butchering of 2005/pre-BHaR new tracks?

 

Wasn't the recording of BH&R a mess?

 

Take for example Reapers, the productor ask them to include the outro. Maybe their productor back them thought Burning Bandits and Omega were too awesome for this sinful world... and as result they work without productor in Resistance (which i think it worked with Exogenesis).

[Hat]

Wasn't the recording of BH&R a mess?

 

Take for example Reapers, the productor ask them to include the outro. Maybe their productor back them thought Burning Bandits and Omega were too awesome for this sinful world... and as result they work without productor in Resistance (which i think it worked with Exogenesis).

Wasnt that basically his point? About Burning Bandits and Omega becoming dull due to the producer.

 

Producer*

[MartianSpaghettiRider]

Wasn't the recording of BH&R a mess?

 

Take for example Reapers, the productor ask them to include the outro. Maybe their productor back them thought Burning Bandits and Omega were too awesome for this sinful world... and as result they work without productor in Resistance (which i think it worked with Exogenesis).

 

I remember that Matt jokingly stated during an interview that they were worried about Mutt Lange's approach to production, fearing he could have "turned them into a Top 40 act", launching himself on the search of the potential single, and nothing more.

 

We may say their experience with him has turned well, hasn't it?

[Alec Ferris]

I'd say that we've ended up with what I was worried Lange's involvement might lead to. A rather by-numbers rock album without much of the flair I'm used to from Muse's rockier work. Not that I really put that down to his involvement.

[serpentsatellite]

I like the album... I really do. And you can probably see the contrast of the band playing together vs separately and being behind the board... but certainly a lot of what came to light as Mutt's influence are the things I didn't like as much.

The tapping solos, the overlong solos/bridges, the end of Aftermath, the dumbed down lyrics, and again just his apparent need to make everything so much longer than it should have been (Psycho, the guitar parts that don't change throughout, the Reapers outro (sorry.))

We didn't get a collection of "pop" singles or radio hits, but from what little we've heard in interviews, it sounds like he had quite a bit of influence.

 

I guess, tbf, it could have been worse with a different producer for all we know, but pretty much everything I bitched about initially was attributed to him.

[redneonfish]

I'd say that we've ended up with what I was worried Lange's involvement might lead to. A rather by-numbers rock album without much of the flair I'm used to from Muse's rockier work. Not that I really put that down to his involvement.

 

Yeah, I feel a bit like this.

 

In some ways I feel that Drones is their worst album for me. I like Reapers and The Handler but everything else (and I suppose those two songs) just feel a bit safe which makes me think the album as a whole is just a bit boring, actually. At least with T2L they were trying to do things differently and while it was all over the place, I feel that it deserves credit for at least being exploratory.

[Jobby]

I definitely think they should work with a producer again 'cause it seems to lead to a more focused, cohesive and lively end product, just not Mutt. Judging from interviews, they don't sound overly keen on working with him again anyway, I just hope they don't decide to go back to self-producing.

[Alec Ferris]

Someone like Terry Date might be a good fit. He produced White Pony, after all.

[diamond_writer]

I'd say that we've ended up with what I was worried Lange's involvement might lead to. A rather by-numbers rock album without much of the flair I'm used to from Muse's rockier work. Not that I really put that down to his involvement.

 

Yeah, I feel a bit like this.

 

In some ways I feel that Drones is their worst album for me.

 

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[redneonfish]

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It's boring.

[Alec Ferris]

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Well, there simply isn't the looser, more frenetic feel you get on Hyper Music or Stockholm Syndrome, for example. The Drones stuff feels very reined-in and is much less inventive in my opinion. It also lacks a lot of the grandeur which they've evoked on past albums, and too many songs ape either their influences (considering that they've integrated that of RatM, it's baffling to hear such a blatant homage on The Handler) or older songs.

 

By way of comparison, the new Foals track feels much less restrained and is therefore a lot more fun, as well as having better lyrics.

Edited July 10, 2015 by Alec.

[Jobby]

In some aspects, I can see why people might say it's their worst. Lyrically, I'd say it's probably their worst and creatively it might be their least imaginative as well. It doesn't really experiment or do much original in comparison to most of their other albums, even resorting to a few more call-backs and classical 'borrowings' than usual. Some might argue they're trying a bit too hard to be a 'rock band' again, and that it doesn't feel completely genuine.

 

It's still a damn sight better than TR and T2L for me though.

[Alec Ferris]

Because it strips things back to relative basics and is fairly tame for Muse, Drones doesn't have much to compensate for its lyrical weaknesses. Plus, there isn't really enough drama to carry the concept in my opinion.

Edited July 10, 2015 by Alec.

[GarthMarenghi]

(considering that they've integrated that of RatM, it's baffling to hear such a blatant homage on The Handler)

.

 

Blatant homage to RATM? It is?

[redneonfish]

Because it strips things back to relative basics and is fairly tame for Muse, Drones doesn't have much to compensate for its lyrical weaknesses. Plus, there isn't really enough drama to carry the concept in my opinion.

 

Stop articulating what I want to say in a clear manner