Album Eight: Simulation Theory

[FabriPav]

They would make music like Imagine Dragons and such if they were doing that.

 

Have you heard Dig Down?

[FabriPav]

It seems like whenever Muse release a pop single, it's "the band has sold out!"

 

Has anyone actually accused them of "selling out" this time? It's just a terrible track. Nothing to do with its genre.

 

 

Edit: sorry for the triple post, forgot that this board doesn't aggregate the posts

[MartianSpaghettiRider]

Have you heard Dig Down?

Yes, so? it has some ID influences, it doesn't take them all and toss them into the blender.

Not that I find them bad, anyway.

[Bumpypotato]

Because I don't want to hear that goddamn claim that "Muse copied Radiohead1!1!" anymore. They moved their first step by getting panned on this baseless evidence with Showbiz. It would be like overshadowing them again.

I prefer them to stay on separate dimensions, and that's it. Muse as a more viable band that like to play around some pop influences, and Radiohead as a perfect example of a band that are successful whilst experimenting properly a lot.

And... "trend hopping"? They would make music like Imagine Dragons and such if they were doing that.

 

Fair enough, but I'd still rather they ape Radiohead than release more garbage like this.

 

Er. No.

[forevermusic]

I guess DI was weirder for me to initially get into because the first 3 times I heard it were in the Brighton Dome on the Psycho Tour, with the first 2 being a broadcast of the song's Radio 1 premiere, and the third being a performance in the actual gig. It didn't take me that long to get into, mind.

 

But then I'm not sure about the similarities being as pronounced between Dead Inside & Dig Down. Its much more clear with Madness, and tbh, both rank similarly lowly.

EDIT: oh, and Turner's lyrics are a bit overrated, and AM is MASSIVELY overrated - a third of the album is just the same song played at different speeds with tiny melody variations (One for the Road, Knee Socks, Arabella, WYOCMWYH)

I really like Arctic Monkeys, but AM isn't their best LP. Its mainly for me the percussive laziness, in that I really like Matt Helders' drumwork on the first 3 albums especially, but on AM, its all far too simple.

[odier]

All of us? I loved it the first time I heard it.

 

My bad... 'The majority' of us, including me...

[LewisF]

I don't dislike it, but there's nothing about it that's really grabs your attention. As I'm sure it has been said countless times, just a standard, bland, radio friendly pop song. Very disappointed.

 

I felt the same way after listening to Dead Inside for the first time, but that ended up growing on me a lot, and now I think it's a brilliant, genuinely 10/10 song. Sadly I doubt that this song won't grow on me so much

[forevermusic]

Just played DD a few times in a row to see what the view was now some 2 days on. I like the synth bass riff, some of the lyrics are alright, and the guitar solo is quite good, but its not a song that wows me.

 

Pretty sure that's among the more positive responses on here.

[MartianSpaghettiRider]

Just played DD a few times in a row to see what the view was now some 2 days on. I like the synth bass riff, some of the lyrics are alright, and the guitar solo is quite good, but its not a song that wows me.

 

Pretty sure that's among the more positive responses on here.

 

Well, I like it. That bass synth makes it too much Madness 2, but somehow it has more Muse-y landmarks in comparison to it and has a bit more of an atmosphere.

Those synths during the final part remind me so much of Shine, too. The only problems I have with it are the too brief climax, the too high volume of voices in the mix that drowns the guitar and the synths, and the way the pseudo-chorus is performed.

It's no CE, or SD, or BAH, but it's really listenable and not as horrid as many here want to depict it.

Edited May 20, 2017 by MartianSpaghettiRider

[serpentsatellite]

Would be surprised to see it do well (if at all) in the charts here in the UK.

 

It's not intended for the UK, tbf. It very clearly deals with an issue and a mindset specific to the US at this time, and Matt said he released it now so it's relevant to such. It also coincides with the US tour, and is likely there to sell extra gig tickets. And apparently will be played to death on a network for US 'tweens.

 

Yeah I agree. Didn't almost all of them say they were most excited about The Handler?

 

Just Dom, I think. He was begging Matt to play it live. Iirc, Matt waffled between Globalist and Mercy.

 

If I didn't know who Muse was aside from Madness and Uprising, and I went to a show on a whim with a friend, and the whole set was OoS and Abso era stuff, I'd be pretty disappointed and confused.

 

That's why this thing called "balance" exists. There's no good reason an entire tour should be 0% OoS, either.

 

It seems like whenever Muse release a pop single, it's "the band has sold out!" Well, a lot of people can get dragged in by hearing one of their pop songs, then digging into their catalog. I mean, hell, found them through American Idol, and they quickly became my favorite band as soon as I listened to Absolution and Origin of Symmetry.

 

That's kind of the definition of selling out, isn't it? Making a single intentionally to be popular, and "suck people in"?

The problems just that it's one song, so we're all stuck with Dick Town for the foreseeable future to judge the future of the band.

 

Funny, I remember what all of you said when DI was released haha

:LOL:

 

I'm pretty sure I loved it, as well... Still do. Except for that vocoder stuff.

[lurkinglurkerlurksagain]

I completely agree with you when you say they should have more of their older songs in their sets. I don't know, I don't think a couple of poppy singles on an album = selling out. I am a bit worried that this cycle will have a ton of low effort singles because they're releasing multiple before the album.

[altbecky]

Just played DD a few times in a row to see what the view was now some 2 days on. I like the synth bass riff, some of the lyrics are alright, and the guitar solo is quite good, but its not a song that wows me.

 

Pretty sure that's among the more positive responses on here.

 

This is how I feel about it to a t. And ftr, I believe in another forum I actually used the words Imagine Dragons in reference to DD. That bland radio friendly American pop rock sound is spot on as a definition IMO.

 

I do like the guitar toward the end of the song and as ever with Muse, it will probably exceed expectations live.

[Nature2]

EDIT: oh, and Turner's lyrics are a bit overrated, and AM is MASSIVELY overrated - a third of the album is just the same song played at different speeds with tiny melody variations (One for the Road, Knee Socks, Arabella, WYOCMWYH)

 

The simplicity of the drums was part of the idea - making a simple hip hop beat but adding distinctive guitar melodies and bass. And in my opinion it worked.

 

As for the lyrics - while he may not be the best, I believe he's hardly overrated. His brilliant storytelling on first 3 albums and clever poetry on the last two (not to mention Last Shadow Puppets or some of his solo work - Hiding Tonight for instance) are top quality.

[Destroya]

Really not a fan of the drums, probably a bit too hip hop for me. The filtering on the bass synth really pisses me off, it sounds far too muddy and messy, especially towards the end. It clashes far too much with everything else. I like cheese but the vocals are just embarrassing. Also those strings just sound like incredibly basic, like something ripped from Garageband.

 

Got to admit that I like the 'woah' backing vocals and the guitar solo is alright (in comparison to the rest of the song but by no means makes the track redeemable), but the synths just don't sound good with this at all.

[forevermusic]

This is how I feel about it to a t. And ftr, I believe in another forum I actually used the words Imagine Dragons in reference to DD. That bland radio friendly American pop rock sound is spot on as a definition IMO.

 

I do like the guitar toward the end of the song and as ever with Muse, it will probably exceed expectations live.

I don't really know a lot of Imagine Dragons tbh - Radioactive is a very good song, but I've struggled to get into anything else. I'd say Bastille as a UK dark-indie pop reference comes to mind, although even then, there's an uptempo feel to stuff like Pompeii or the song on FIFA 17 whose name I don't know.

 

Even if Madness is probably the biggest touchstone musical ref in mind for DD.

The simplicity of the drums was part of the idea - making a simple hip hop beat but adding distinctive guitar melodies and bass. And in my opinion it worked.

 

As for the lyrics - while he may not be the best, I believe he's hardly overrated. His brilliant storytelling on first 3 albums and clever poetry on the last two (not to mention Last Shadow Puppets or some of his solo work - Hiding Tonight for instance) are top quality.

I like Turner as a lyricist. He's a decent story teller and I do like the ability to crowbar in some really bizarre sequiturs into his work.

 

On some songs I think the acoustic drums for hip-hop style beats was fine. Do I Wanna Know was a great use of it, and it also worked on Arabella and Fireside. The problem is that it then become repetitive and then out n out lazy when it became apparent that effectively everything apart from R U Mine was using it.

[Nature2]

On some songs I think the acoustic drums for hip-hop style beats was fine. Do I Wanna Know was a great use of it, and it also worked on Arabella and Fireside. The problem is that it then become repetitive and then out n out lazy when it became apparent that effectively everything apart from R U Mine was using it.

 

I found the melodies of Knee Socks, Snap out of It distinctive enough. Also there were acoustic John Lennon-esque No. 1 Paty Anthem and balladic Mad Sounds that added a bit of diversity. WYOCMWYH is probably the only song that sounds a bit uninspired - b-side Stop The World I Wanna Get Off With You would fit more here. Anyway, it's just opinions talking now

[forevermusic]

I found the melodies of Knee Socks, Snap out of It distinctive enough. Also there were acoustic John Lennon-esque No. 1 Paty Anthem and balladic Mad Sounds that added a bit of diversity. WYOCMWYH is probably the only song that sounds a bit uninspired - b-side Stop The World I Wanna Get Off With You would fit more here. Anyway, it's just opinions talking now

Oh I'm talking as a percussive line comparing the beats all beat fairly simple use of hi-hats & snares. The melodies on a few songs individually are fine, but it feels a bit repetitive too much.

 

Maybe there'll be a bit more going on album 6 when it eventually comes along.

[GarthMarenghi]

Because if you listen to Amnesiac you won't find a song nearly as horrible as Dig Down.

 

So are we all pretending that Pull Revolving Doors is listenable now?

[Hat]

No, it's great.

[That Little Animal]

So are we all pretending that Pull Revolving Doors is listenable now?

 

I honestly didn't even know people disliked it.

[FabriPav]

It doesn't have drums or guitar so it's shite, y'know.

[kueller]

It's pretty repetitive as a full song.

[Bumpypotato]

So are we all pretending that Pull Revolving Doors is listenable now?

 

Always has been.

[Aeterna]

Yeah I realize that, but in 2002-2003 Matt wasn't obsessed with writing pop songs. He did TIRO more as an experiment to see if he could rather than indicating that as a change in direction. Unfortunately it really was as evidenced by "Starlight", "Supermassive Black Hole", "Invincible" on the next album. Hell, 70% of the LP 5/6/7 are pop songs.

 

'Member when there used to be songs like "Falling Away With You", "Screenager", "Shrinking Universe", "Ruled by Secrecy", "Citizen Erased"? The problem is Muse understood 10 years ago that if they wrote more pop songs, they would make more money. Essentially they did what The Moody Blues did in the 1980s, sold out and made tons of money. "Your Wildest Dreams"...

 

I personally discovered the band via "Butterflies & Hurricanes", that was my gateway drug to Muse. Not pop crap.

 

At least with Radiohead, if you're 15 and the first thing you ever heard was "Burn the Witch", you didn't get robbed of artistry on the first go. "A Moon Shaped Pool" isn't Kid A/Amnesiac but it's a damn fine progressive art-rock album that shows you don't have to sell out at 40+.

 

It's funny because I'd say Black Holes and Revelations is their second most 'pop' album. All light hearted and beaty. Resistance and Drones were, for the most part, much darker with more rock music and music the general public won't love.

[Jobby]

It's funny because I'd say Black Holes and Revelations is their second most 'pop' album. All light hearted and beaty. Resistance and Drones were, for the most part, much darker with more rock music and music the general public won't love.

 

Not sure 'light hearted' would be the term I'd use to describe TAB, Assassin, Soldier's Poem, Hoodoo, COD or even Map

 

All three are pretty accessible imo but I'd disagree about TR or Drones being way darker. What do you think is particularly dark on TR?