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So, looking at past album releases and what Matt’s said recently, I’m wondering if this is what a v rough roadmap to release looks like:

 

August - Something Human (Acoustic), maybe as a lyric video on YT

 

September - Album title, artwork, tracklist, pre-orders + this electro rock Map song as a pre-order bonus

 

October - Pressure released as last single, small gigs announced

 

November - Album release, US tour dates announced

 

Still find it strange that they don’t have a tour to immediately jump into once the album’s out...and only ‘a couple’ of small gigs? Even if you assume Matt’s underestimating and it’s something more Psycho tour sized, that still seems like a kinda barren gigging window until spring.

Edited by Jobby
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Tbh I don’t really see/hear BH&R 2. Seems v rooted in being accessible, whether it’s pop or rock, no sniff of any prog and iirc Matt confirmed that was the case in that Zane Lowe interview a few months ago. I feel more links to T2L if we have to connect any dots, in fact I think Matt might’ve directly compared it to that in the same interview.

 

BHAR isn't exactly prog, either, apart from Hoodoo, KoC and TaB, and has a lot of accessible songs.

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BHAR isn't exactly prog, either, apart from Hoodoo, KoC and TaB, and has a lot of accessible songs.

 

Prog’s a broad term but Knights, Hoodoo, TAB, Invincible, Map, COD and Assassin could all fall under it’s umbrella, which is 7/11 tracks. It’s reasonable to say it’s a significant enough thread through the album imo and, from what we know so far, won’t be on this one.

Edited by Jobby
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Prog’s a broad term but Knights, Hoodoo, TAB, Invincible, Map, COD and Assassin could all fall under it’s umbrella, which is 7/11 tracks. It’s reasonable to say it’s a significant enough thread through the album imo and, from what we know so far, won’t be on this one.

 

Because of some sound choices, yeah, but what about structures? BHAR features some of the most structurally conventional or repetitive songs in Muse catalogue, and Starlight, SMBH, MOTP, Invincible, Assassin, Exo-Politics, CoD definitively falls into those families.

Starlight basically repeats itself after the first "Our hopes and expectations..." section with exception of another chorus before it, and has no solo; SMBH it's basically a classic verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-solo-chorus; MOTP repeats its parts exactly in the same sequence with the exception of a double final chorus; Invincible is almost the same as SMBH; Assassin (in its official album version) is the most repetitive of all of them (intro-verse-chorus, rinse and repeat); if Exo-Politics hadn't a solo it would be basically the same as MOTP; For CoD, cue in the same as SMBH.

 

Talking about unconventional and proggish structures, the Muse albums who features them the most are Showbiz, OOS and... The Resistance. Heck, The Resistance is perhaps the album with the largest amount of unconventional song structures in proportion to its total amount of tracks, and the nearest to old style prog rock regarding influences in sound.

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Not to shoot down a long response with a short answer but...it’s kinda irrelevant. All I’m saying is that prog is an important part of that album’s DNA, whether it’s ‘sound choices’ in one song or structure in another or both or more/less prevalent here/there, etc. We haven’t got LP8 yet but, by the sound of it, that won’t be the case on this, which is why I don’t really see the comparison.

 

The only real through line to Black Holes I see atm is maybe some of the light ‘spacey’ elements? Even that’s not really specific to that album, but particularly present I guess.

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Because of some sound choices, yeah, but what about structures? BHAR features some of the most structurally conventional or repetitive songs in Muse catalogue, and Starlight, SMBH, MOTP, Invincible, Assassin, Exo-Politics, CoD definitively falls into those families.

Starlight basically repeats itself after the first "Our hopes and expectations..." section with exception of another chorus before it, and has no solo; SMBH it's basically a classic verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-solo-chorus; MOTP repeats its parts exactly in the same sequence with the exception of a double final chorus; Invincible is almost the same as SMBH; Assassin (in its official album version) is the most repetitive of all of them (intro-verse-chorus, rinse and repeat); if Exo-Politics hadn't a solo it would be basically the same as MOTP; For CoD, cue in the same as SMBH.

 

Talking about unconventional and proggish structures, the Muse albums who features them the most are Showbiz, OOS and... The Resistance. Heck, The Resistance is perhaps the album with the largest amount of unconventional song structures in proportion to its total amount of tracks, and the nearest to old style prog rock regarding influences in sound.

 

TR is def the proggiest Muse album, for the record. Even Yes don't have a 15 minute space rock symphony.

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TR is def the proggiest Muse album, for the record. Even Yes don't have a 15 minute space rock symphony.

Yes they do, they have multiple - Close To The Edge, The Gates Of Delirium, Tales From Topographic Oceans (in full).

 

Also, TR Muse's proggiest album? Really? I'd say it's almost their least proggy album. Concept album =/= prog.

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Yes they do, they have multiple - Close To The Edge, The Gates Of Delirium, Tales From Topographic Oceans (in full).

 

Also, TR Muse's proggiest album? Really? I'd say it's almost their least proggy album. Concept album =/= prog.

 

Not what I meant by symphony. I meant with an orchestra. Yes were very symphonic, but created that sound with rock instrumentation.

 

I don't see how anything with USoE, IBTY, and Exogenesis could be considered close to their least proggy album.

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Not to shoot down a long response with a short answer but...it’s kinda irrelevant. All I’m saying is that prog is an important part of that album’s DNA, whether it’s ‘sound choices’ in one song or structure in another or both or more/less prevalent here/there, etc. We haven’t got LP8 yet but, by the sound of it, that won’t be the case on this, which is why I don’t really see the comparison.

 

The only real through line to Black Holes I see atm is maybe some of the light ‘spacey’ elements? Even that’s not really specific to that album, but particularly present I guess.

 

That's the thing: BHAR overall sound is more "spacey" than prog, and while it has some elements that could remind of prog, it doesn't have that many prog influences.

KoC, instead, is indeed influenced by prog-like or filmic compositions and acts, like Rush's 2112.

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That's the thing: BHAR overall sound is more "spacey" than prog, and while it has some elements that could remind of prog, it doesn't have that many prog influences.

KoC, instead, is indeed influenced by prog-like or filmic compositions and acts, like Rush's 2112.

 

I don’t get what you’re digging at :LOL: BH&R is a bunch of stuff, whether it’s slightly more of one thing or another isn’t what I’m saying. One of its most important elements is prog, which doesn’t sound like it will be the case on this album atm so I don’t see how it could be ‘BH&R 2’ as things stand. It only really seems to share one standout trait with that record from what I can tell and that’s a light tinge of its space rock/pop, which I love but it’s not enough to make it a direct relative imo, considering that’s not even a Black Holes exclusive thing.

 

Anyway, by all accounts, LP8’s gonna be its own thing and I like that. I drew a comparison to T2L but mainly just for the attitude in their approach, which is what Matt meant as well when he said the same iirc.

Edited by Jobby
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And regarding the previous discussion: This album felt a lot like T2L 2.0 to me, but honestly I feel like these songs are connected through soundscape a lot more than T2L. They all have clear 80s influences and a focus on synth (or synth-like) melodies. By the sounds of it at least two more tracks will follow this theme, and even that is enough to have a more coherent album than T2L.

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I agree with that ranking as well. Something Human has quickly grown on me and I hear a lot of really good things in it. And I do love that synth bridge. I just wish, once again, that's Matt's vocals/some lyrics weren't so in your face. The beginning of the song is pretty bad imo, but it gets better.

 

With this album, at this point I'm just hoping for 3 songs I consider truly great and no more than 2 songs I consider truly awful. The rest need to at least be mostly decent to good.

 

So far there are 0 truly great songs and 1 truly horrible song.

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The reason why there's no word on a tour is because Chris is still in recovery. Healing from a hip operation can take several months. What would y'all prefer: An actual proper gig except delayed until 2019, or a rushed gig in a few months time without Chris at all.

 

Patience everyone. Good things come to those who wait!

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Well, he said he’d be out of football for 4/5 months back in late June, which means he should be fit around November/December. Football’s also a strenuous activity, so if he takes it easy he may well be okay to play a couple of shows slightly earlier. Granted, I’m not a doctor and have never had surgery but I’m sure he’ll have medical advise and, if they’re already talking about playing small shows around release, they must be expecting him to be available. If not, Morgan’s filled in fine before tbf.

 

Although, yeah, no one on here’s been impatient for a tour or gig news :chuckle:

Edited by Jobby
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