OriginOfAbso Posted November 16, 2018 Share Posted November 16, 2018 I like Blockades, I just really wish they'd at least added one extra layer in that final chorus. As is, feels a bit anticlimactic after the highlight of a solo. I'm not sure if I'd put it ahead of MK Ultra or not. I think Blockades benefits from much better production. And I kind of hate listening to studio MK Ultra just because of all the loud chirping sounds at the end. But overall it might be better than Blockades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clunge Posted November 16, 2018 Share Posted November 16, 2018 The solo in Blockades is so underwhelming though . It starts nowhere and ends nowhere. It also sounds really low or muffled in the mix. It's almost like it's not the main focus of that sections of the song. MK Ultra is pretty much perfect so far as I'm concerned. Absolute brute live too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OriginOfAbso Posted November 16, 2018 Share Posted November 16, 2018 The solo in Blockades is so underwhelming though . It starts nowhere and ends nowhere. It also sounds really low or muffled in the mix. It's almost like it's not the main focus of that sections of the song. MK Ultra is pretty much perfect so far as I'm concerned. Absolute brute live too. I haven't noticed it being low or muffled in the mix, sounds fine to me. I also really enjoy how it starts after that drum fill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EveryToilet Posted November 16, 2018 Share Posted November 16, 2018 I was wondering when the initial enthusiasm for Blockades would begin recede a little. I like it quite a bit but I always like that one heavy, filler track. Almost as much as I always like the much maligned power pop song which bring us to GUAF, a song that I don't think I feel comfortable sharing my opinion on at this very moment. But let me just throw this out there: it's possible that my life is in such a valley that maybe, JUST MAYBE hearing someone tell me to "get up and fight" is exactly what I needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tesseract Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 Nothing to be ashamed of using music to help you get through rough times. That's the best part about music in my opinion. Break it to Me has grown SO much on me so quickly, it's truly great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel_Tufnel Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 But let me just throw this out there: it's possible that my life is in such a valley that maybe, JUST MAYBE hearing someone tell me to "get up and fight" is exactly what I needed. The 2nd Law was released right around the time one of my sons was born and spent some time in the hospital because he decided to arrive a bit too early. I think that's why I've always had a soft spot for Follow Me. (Now that he's 6 and has a 4 year old brother, Panic Station, Madness, Animals, Save Me and Survival seem like more fitting titles to describe the situation.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heyjackk Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 Still really like Blockades but while it was probably my favourite on initial listens, Propaganda and Algorithm have probably overtaken it. The contrast of frantic verse, soft pre-chorus and then exploding chorus is enjoyable and while I agree that the solo isn't Matt's best, it's needed in the song. ( Also, Defector's solo is okay but imo it's not as good as a lot of people say it is and I'll stand by that ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickerman Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 Blockades,as many have said,feels like the Exo-Politics/Small Print/Defector song on the album; the one heavy,generic track. It's very good.but just that. Not exceptional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man_In_Showbiz Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 There are not many faults on this album but with the band stripping away the extra fluff and prog-rock tendancies to make tight tracks, songs like Pressure, TC and Blockades (still love it) are possibly worse off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clunge Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 I do feel even at 42 minutes, it could do with a harder, harsher cut. Thought Contagion really only needed to be two minutes, Pressure three mins max. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mericege Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 Hi fellas, I got The Deluxe CD edition Of The Album, After listening 5-6 Times i can say that Simulation Theory is definitely better than The Drones , a little bit better than The 2nd Law , i think it is as GOOD as The Resistance. 7,5 /10 . I hope it will grow on me , i got The CD from mail today . Great form from The boys ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozenbanana Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 I do feel even at 42 minutes, it could do with a harder, harsher cut. Thought Contagion really only needed to be two minutes, Pressure three mins max. Thought Contagion needed to be cut from the album entirely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clunge Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 Thought Contagion needed to be cut from the album entirely Well yes, ideally this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sade Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 Pressure should donate 30 seconds to Propaganda. I usually advocate for shorter pop songs/singles and the last chorus of Pressure is entirely necessary, but Propaganda feels a tad too short. Not here for TC bashing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobby Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 TC is one of the most fun and catchy songs they’ve released over the last 4 albums. I said it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Rockwell Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 If we're cutting songs from the album in a perfect world there'd be no GUaF as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sade Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 In a more realistic world at least GUAF with a differerent chorus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hat Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 I've already cut Something Human, GUAF and Dig Down from the album. Can't remember who said it earlier but it's a shame that only my favourite songs had alternative reality versions. I guess you could count Dig Down as more AV than simply acoustic version, but it doesn't really fit the album. If Dig Down, SH or GUAF had alternative reality versions I would at least have a chance of replacing the album version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henz Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 This is a strange album. I certainly like it more than I thought I would. It never dips as low as Drones (the back half of which is damn near unlistenable), but it never made me as happy as The Handler did either. I quite like the 80's pastiche sounds, but then again the best songs sound better in their stripped-down alternate versions. Eh. The Void is really good. Get Up and Fight is ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
confusedyoungman Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 forgot how critical you all are, completely different to reddit as I said, I predict you to rank this album below Drones/T2L eventually. Personally, though, I think Thought Contagion works (yes it's a bit too long) but it's actually a BANGER live and a nicely melted together song. On the other hand, SH could've done with ever being dropped or re-worked completely, instead of having Rich Costey and the band smother it with some vocoder and WUB effects. Dig Down is alright in my opinion, the AR is particularly great. GUAF is just whatever, hearing what it's about makes me hate it less, I truly feel bad for Matt after hearing the news - I can't bring myself to hate that song! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hat Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 forgot how critical you all are, completely different to reddit as I said, I predict you to rank this album below Drones/T2L eventually. Personally, though, I think Thought Contagion works (yes it's a bit too long) but it's actually a BANGER live and a nicely melted together song. On the other hand, SH could've done with ever being dropped or re-worked completely, instead of having Rich Costey and the band smother it with some vocoder and WUB effects. Dig Down is alright in my opinion, the AR is particularly great. GUAF is just whatever, hearing what it's about makes me hate it less, I truly feel bad for Matt after hearing the news - I can't bring myself to hate that song! Rob? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartianSpaghettiRider Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 (edited) TC is one of the most fun and catchy songs they’ve released over the last 4 albums. I said it Ouch. forgot how critical you all are, completely different to reddit as I said, I predict you to rank this album below Drones/T2L eventually. Personally, though, I think Thought Contagion works (yes it's a bit too long) but it's actually a BANGER live and a nicely melted together song. On the other hand SH could've done with ever being dropped or re-worked completely, instead of having Rich Costey and the band smother it with some vocoder and WUB effects. GUAF is just whatever, hearing what it's about makes me hate it less, I truly feel bad for Matt after hearing the news - I can't bring myself to hate that song! Disagree about ranking ST below those two, the peaks in there are so effing high that balance the lows out almost perfectly. Agree about TC being a bit too long (and repetitive), disagree completely about SH, agree about GUAF. Actually... there's something I regret about this album, but I swear it's the only problem beside GUAF being "whatever". I wish Muse would have never carried through with releasing so many songs with months and months in advance before the official release. I love the last three (SH, Pressure, TDS) and I came around DD, but I listened to them so much in anticipation that the novelty was already worn off them. I think this helped us appreciating the remaining tracks more because it's like they prepared us for what was coming ahead in terms of style, but at the expense of sacrificing the surprise factor, which could have enhanced my enjoyment of ST even more than I actually feel at the moment. Edited November 17, 2018 by MartianSpaghettiRider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobby Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 Something I’ve picked up on with Pressure - they should’ve cut Matt’s guitar in the verses and left that part to be mostly dominated by the brass (maybe including the extra parts from the UCLA version). As it is, the thin tone clashes awkwardly with the lower, punchier tones of the other instruments and it’s slightly worse live for it as well (so far at least). That would ascend it to nigh perfect for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartianSpaghettiRider Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 Something I¡¯ve picked up on with Pressure - they should¡¯ve cut Matt¡¯s guitar in the verses and left that part to be mostly dominated by the brass (maybe including the extra parts from the UCLA version). As it is, the thin tone clashes awkwardly with the lower, punchier tones of the other instruments and it¡¯s slightly worse live for it as well (so far at least). That would ascend it to nigh perfect for me. Really? I don't think it clashes at all with brass, quite the contrary: the lower brass form a sort of "platform" sustaining and counterpointing harmonically the guitar line, while the guitar adds further grit to the brass by playing the main riff at the same time. In short words, it's like they complete each other. Also, I feel transposing the verse of the AV (which is ridicolously funny, btw) into the official one would be too jarring in the context of the whole song: it would be like suddenly shifting from a bandistic, jazzy-ish feel to a full out rocking track in pre-chorus and chorus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bleedingpurist Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 I wish Muse would have never carried through with releasing so many songs with months and months in advance before the official release. I love the last three (SH, Pressure, TDS) and I came around DD, but I listened to them so much in anticipation that the novelty was already worn off them. I think this helped us appreciating the remaining tracks more because it's like they prepared us for what was coming ahead in terms of style, but at the expense of sacrificing the surprise factor, which could have enhanced my enjoyment of ST even more than I actually feel at the moment. I agree.. because unlike some of you, I did not pay much attention at all to any of the songs released in advance all because I HATED "Dig Down." I actually assumed I had outgrown the band. I caught glimpses of the videos as they were released, but really didn't engage myself in listening. So I'm really hearing these songs for the first time as part of the scope of the album and it changes everything. I am loving the album and suddenly I'm all on board. I snatched up tickets to a show yesterday, completely spontaneous. "Dead Inside" got a similar reaction to me. I was "meh" about it as a first single, though nothing close to my completely underwhelmed reaction to "Dig Down." Once Drones came out, I started to appreciate the song more and seeing it live really highlighted just how good the vocals are on the song. Now I love it. It remains to be seen if this will occur with Dig Down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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