Favourite aspects of each album

[simplytom]

I feel like while some albums are better then others, there is always at least something cool about them- so what are your favourite aspects of each album?

 

Showbiz: It's dark, weird but has topics that we can relate to.

 

OoS: Hard, space rock yet every song sounds distinct through experimenting.

 

Absolution: The superb flow throughout the album. Riffs!

 

BH&R: Spanish guitar and synths.

 

The Resistance: The masterpiece that is Exogenisis.

 

The 2nd Law: Muse just having plain old fun and Being experimental. It worked in some places and didn't in others. But at least it doesn't sound samey.

 

Drones: The bass is a beast. Takes best parts of older albums and uses them in new songs without sounding derivative.

[B1ack0ut]

Showbiz - The rawness - while it's one of their weaker albums, there's a sort of naivety, unpolished aspect about it that sets it apart from the other 6.

 

Origin of Symmetry - The coherency & flow of the entire album. While it's not a concept album in any way (arguably it's their least conceptual), everything just seems to 'fit' together, especially how the first 5 tracks build up to the insanity that is CE & MC, then there's a sort of comedown & resolution to the album on the last 4 tracks. You're probably wondering what I'm on about, but I know what I mean even if no one else does

 

Absolution - Probably the album that best combines all aspects of what Muse are about, both musically and lyrically.

 

Black Holes & Revelations - Most consistent album. While there's probably only one track that would feature in my top 20 Muse songs (MotP), I enjoy every one.

 

The Resistance - Exogenesis

 

The 2nd Law - How experimental it is. Every song is unique and different & almost seems like an attempt to fit as many genres into an album as possible. Unfortunately it didn't quite work, but I still enjoy it and respect them for trying something different.

 

Drones - Matt's delivery of the lyrics. Not sure if others agree, but there's a real emotion on the album that stands out from the others (even the older stuff).

[aleximo]

Showbiz - The depth of musical emotion is impressive for songs written by 18 year olds, Sunburn and Showbiz spring to mind as written by an older mind.

 

OoS - The fucking brutality of it all. That the bass takes centre stage and the guitar plays as its sidekick is class as well. Piano is used properly, not as just 'make pretty chords innit' instrument (heres looking at you, space dementia!)

 

Abso - An "album". No just a collection of their best songs, but its a proper album. The only album of theirs i wont listen to on 'random track' mode. Their best IMO.

 

BHaR - They start to lighten up. Its not all minor chords and dooom but still distinctly musey.

 

Resistance - The more experimental tracks stand out as fresh and interesting, namely undisclosed desires. Exogenesis is the most over-fawned upon track(s) theyve ever done. I don't get the fandom at all. part 1 is class, but 2 and 3... Trying to write beyond his capabilities and its painly obvious.

 

2nd law - The best thing about this album is the the 2 minute breakdown in Unnatural Selection.

 

Drones - Solos

[Jobby]

Showbiz - The depressing/angsty teenager vibe. If I'm ever feeling like an angsty 15 year old, Showbiz is a frequent reference point

 

OOS - The frenetic madness present in just about every song other than Screenager. The weird and (at times) nonsense lyrics, Matt's unhinged, screeching vocals and clean-yet-overdrive tone driven by Chris' punchy basslines. Somehow, it sounds stripped back and intimate but huge and bombastic at the same time and feels like it was made by a madman.

 

Absolution - The juxtaposition of dark/sad subject matters that sound beautiful (RBS, Fury, AP, Hysteria, FAWY, Blackout, SS chorus).

 

BH&R - Dipping their toe slightly deeper into more electronic experimentation (TAB, MOTP, Supermassive, Easily), coupled with the light-hearted but dark Western influences (Assassin, COD, Hoodoo, Knights).

 

The Resistance - Slightly more experimentation with electronic pop/rock (UD, MK Ultra) which shows potential but the album ultimately suffers from the band trying too hard to make a stadium rock album (Uprising, Resistance, USOE, Guiding Light), which leaves most of it feeling pretty lifeless and boring. Exogenesis had potential but they just didn't go far enough with it imo, similar to The Globalist.

 

The 2nd Law - There's genuinely nothing about this album that I like. It's got Animals on it, I guess.

 

Drones - It's fun. Psycho, Reapers, Dead Inside, Revolt and to an extent Mercy and Defector all make me wanna dance or smile or sing.

[serpentsatellite]

aleximo's reads like the exact opposite of mine, for the most part.

[BigGeorge]

Showbiz: The great variety and maturity for a band's debut album. The lyrics are also the most relatable in comparison to the other albums, though a bit naive here and there. Not to mention the monster track that is Showbiz.

 

OOS: The perfect album when it comes to finding the perfect amount of subtly throughout each track. I'll never forget my first listen through the album and picking up the incredible arpeggiated synths in the background. Incredibly cohesive for what could be considered an experimental album.

 

Absolution: the definitive Muse album where they finally find their own sound. The best riffs alongside some incredible piano work. Lyrlcally their strongest album and Matt really shows off his emotions in the vocals. Their best album imo.

 

BH&R: their first time bringing in electronic and pop influences into the forefront of their writing and it works extremely well. Dom's drumming is spectacular throught as well. The Spanish influences are a nice addition and the closing 3 tracks are the strongest ending to an album they've ever done in my opinion. They also didn't manage to lose their "Muse" trademark in this album either.

 

The Resistance: how incredibly grand the album sounds and how well they use their classical influences. Exo is one hell of an achievement for a band. Plus it's nice to listen to when I'm in a romantic mood.

 

T2L: it's extremely experimental and you can't argue that it's stagnant. All over the place in terms of genres and that keeps interesting. Panic Station is their most fun track ever and IS proves to me that they can do electronic music correctly. Matt's vocals are incredible and the tour the followed was the best tour vocally as well.

 

Drones: it takes their old sound and makes it sound fresh. It puts them back on track from where they got derailed on The Resistance. The bass is incredible as well, Chris really outdid himself on this album. The solos Matt does are fantastic as well, love the guitar work. The Reapers, Handler and Defector run is a spectacular listen as well.

Edited June 28, 2015 by BigGeorge

[New Born Lee]

Nice, positive thread idea.

 

Showbiz: Raw, angsty, teenage emotions are appropriately embraced. It's loud. Matt's voice, while annoyingly nasal at this stage, is given loads of room for expression, and songs like Unintended showcase Muse's potential range. As a debut, it shows plenty of promise.

 

Origin of Symmetry: Fuzzy in every positive sense of the word. There's no stance with OoS. It hints at political and apocalyptic themes in places but there's nothing explicit, nothing to tie down the songs with a message. The songs are fueled with a raw desire to be as big, loud and dramatic as possible, but there's enough virtuoso talent behind them to convey images and meaning. The boys wanted to do both, and simply didn't care about tying them together somehow.

 

Absolution: For the most part it again balances an awareness of themes and images with a desire to create big, good songs. At the same time there's an indication of maturity, things are a bit more reined in and deliberate, and some of the ideas are made more concrete, but rarely does that take away from the passion of the songs.

 

Black Holes And Revelations: Muse at their most successfully eccentric. Pop hit, Funky R&B, electro blitz, lullaby, latin groove, battle anthem - it's all there, and it's a massive showcase for their skills.

 

The Resistance: The symphony. There's other great songs, but the symphony delivered.

 

The 2nd Law: With the symphony out of the way, The 2nd Law feels transitional. It's a bit like a collection of lots of little projects and ideas that Muse had for going forward that they ran with. They continue to try to spread out and experiment more, tapping into more genres and trying on new masks. It's not always successful, but unsuccessful projects can be learned from.

 

Drones: It feels natural for Muse to make a concept album, even if concepts haven't always been their strong suit. They've clearly realized a bit of consistency is needed in their work and it shows they're making an effort to maintain a consistent sound and message. They pay attention to the strengths of their roots and try to reinvent them.

Edited June 28, 2015 by New Born Lee

[heyjackk]

 

2nd law - The best thing about this album is the the 2 minute breakdown in Unnatural Selection.

 

 

wrong album haha

 

Showbiz - The raw emotion of the album. Songs like Showbiz, Muscle Museum, Falling Down etc you can feel where Matt's coming from with the lyrics - even if they are at times, very hard to comprehend what he's actually going on about

 

Origin of Symmetry - Dark, moody, slightly apocalyptic, brutal in places and lots of falsetto

 

Absolution - About as cohesive as Muse have ever been album wise, still very dark but very melodic.

 

Black Holes and Revelations - The synths, the atmosphere of the songs, the contrast of minor and major keys actually working - such a great album

 

The Resistance - even though the orchestral parts at times went over the top, it showed matt's ability as a composer

 

The 2nd Law - It was fun at times and if you can take the album for what it is then it's fun, otherwise I don't really know what I'd call my favourite aspect of it

 

Drones - the guitar in the first half of the album and the apocalyptic midsection of the globalist

[aleximo]

wrong album haha

 

shows you how little attention I paid to those 2 albums. >_<

[aleximo]

 

The Resistance - even though the orchestral parts at times went over the top, it showed matt's ability as a composer

 

The only part i really disagree on. Specifically exogenesis as an example of Matts composing ability, it for me at least, confirms that he most certianly not adept at classical composition. The classical influence is heavy, but its not classical music, its rock/pop. Part 2 is just a Queen song... 'Piano Thing' is a far better example of his classical leanings.

 

EDIT: actually wait, Space Dementia as a piece is far more classical than Exogenesis (that might be due to the fact its a rachmaninoff rip off)

Edited June 28, 2015 by aleximo

[PwoperMuser723]

Showbiz

Very raw, angsty, and passionate. Very impressive songwriting as well, considering they were still practically teenagers.

 

Origin of Symmetry

Very complex and heavy themes. Chris's bass work is fresh and powerful with Natt's guitar work perfectly complimenting it. Vocals are raw and passionate and Matt's experimenting with the piano shows us a young virtuoso. Plus, that falsetto!

 

Absolution

What I argue to be Muse's best album. It shows them off at their best, flows consistently, the songwriting is the perfect blend of progrock, symphonic, and electronic. Every single word, instrument, and note is the definition of perfect.

 

Blackholes and Revelations

The electronic influence is strong, and many musicians could have made a mistake with trying this out, but amuse went with it and did not make a mistake. Not to mention, one of their most heart breaking songs, Hoodoo, and one of their best live songs, Knights of Cydonia, are featured.

 

The Resistance

Their best composition, Exogenesis. No other words needed.

 

The 2nd Law

A risky move on their part, Muse experimented with what they could do and tested what kind of band they have the potential to be. While some think it didn't work, I believe the experiment worked out perfectly with some amazing songs found on that album. They're probably the only rock band that attempted dub step and had it sound good. Plus, Chris's two songs were very well done.

 

Drones

This could possibly be my new favorite album by them, riving Absolution. It stays consistent but no two songs sound the same, the musicianship is amazing (Chris's bass work is at its best on this). The complex album's story is fantastic and deals with many themes including a message about the current threat of Drones. Matt's vocals are very passionate, the most emotion found in his work, and he's as strong of a singer as he's ever been. Concluded with the beautifully written title track, Drones stands out as one of their stronger efforts.

[Jobby]

The Resistance

Their best composition, Exogenesis. No other words needed.

 

[aleximo]

 

[Hat]

Showbiz: The angst at times, which feels very sincere, along with some of their best tracks.

 

OoS: The consistency in sound and style which makes every song feel like it really belongs there (even Feeling Good). The intensity of this album is only really comparable to some parts of Absolution, other than that it's nothing they've never come close to again.

 

Absolution: Like I said, the intensity, for example songs like Hysteria, SS and B&H. This is Muse's best album in terms of orchestration and string work, which sadly isn't all Matt.

 

BH&R: Some of Muse's best songwriting, and experimentation that actually felt necessary. Muse needed to move forward at that point in their career and BH&R was a great album for trying things out. Sadly they did the same thing twice more before going backwards again. Would have loved it if they followed this album up with a straight up synthrock album, or perhaps a more orchestral one. Basically, either Uprising, Resistance and UD, OR Exogenesis. Putting them on the same album only felt weird imo.

 

The Resistance: Well...it has some decent songs.

 

The 2nd Law: See above.

 

Drones: A step in the right direction, and some cool tracks and ideas. A bit too early to compare it to other albums imo but it feels like this one will keep me interested longer than the previous two did.

[Jimmyneutron]

Showbiz : the weirdness and lack of polish makes it quite enjoyable.

 

Origin of Symmetry: The lack of restraint, straight up original hard rock.

 

Absolution: The darkness and cohesiveness of the album is unmatched on any other muse album.

 

Black Holes and Revelations: So many different styles, all done well. Not a cohesive album but all tracks are standouts in their own right. And the Spanish guitar.

 

The Resistance: great hooks and choruses without too much cheese.

 

The 2nd Law: the funniest, silliest muse album. A few really enjoyable tracks.

 

Drones: the classic rock vibe and production gives a fresh spin on old tricks.

[Nature2]

Showbiz: The angst at times, which feels very sincere, along with some of their best tracks.

 

OoS: The consistency in sound and style which makes every song feel like it really belongs there (even Feeling Good). The intensity of this album is only really comparable to some parts of Absolution, other than that it's nothing they've never come close to again.

 

Absolution: Like I said, the intensity, for example songs like Hysteria, SS and B&H. This is Muse's best album in terms of orchestration and string work, which sadly isn't all Matt.

 

BH&R: Some of Muse's best songwriting, and experimentation that actually felt necessary. Muse needed to move forward at that point in their career and BH&R was a great album for trying things out. Sadly they did the same thing twice more before going backwards again. Would have loved it if they followed this album up with a straight up synthrock album, or perhaps a more orchestral one. Basically, either Uprising, Resistance and UD, OR Exogenesis. Putting them on the same album only felt weird imo.

 

The Resistance: Well...it has some decent songs.

 

The 2nd Law: See above.

 

Drones: A step in the right direction, and some cool tracks and ideas. A bit too early to compare it to other albums imo but it feels like this one will keep me interested longer than the previous two did.

 

SO MUCH THIS. I agree with every statement. And especially the part about Muse making synhtrock/orchestral album! It should have happened