Album Eight: Simulation Theory

[frozenbanana]

I kinda wish Matt would do more with vocal manipulation as well, it could bump up the menacing atmosphere in the song that he's presumably going for. As it is it sounds wayyyy too clean and dull.

Take this for example from 2:26 onwards, it sounds like a fucking maelstrom (and is a far heavier and better song than TC):

[YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj41Gz-B4OA#t=2m26s[/YT]

[LewisF]

Ghostly synth would've been a better main stay than the backing vocals.

 

Having listened a few times I agree

[Rustyy]

The more I listen the more I am adoring it

[ryanp16]

I kinda wish Matt would do more with vocal manipulation as well, it could bump up the menacing atmosphere in the song that he's presumably going for. As it is it sounds wayyyy too clean and dull.

Take this for example from 2:26 onwards, it sounds like a fucking maelstrom (and is a far heavier and better song than TC):

[YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj41Gz-B4OA#t=2m26s[/YT]

 

This song was mega when I saw it live.

[Racket]

I like it. Decent filler singalong. Pretty much feeling like it's around Defector levels for me, probably getting the edge just because I love the broody campiness of the darkness.

 

If Fury, Panic Station and Defector had a baby that wrote a song as an attempt at doing an Uprising while going through their emo stage at drama school, it'd probably be this. I dig it.

[Bohemian-Cygnus-Running-Out]

I like this. I'm totally down for an album with this aesthetic to it.

 

Pros: melodies, guitar solo, riff, bass, drums (there's a good fill in there), synths, groove, aesthetic, production seems to be more in line with T2L/TR

 

Cons: the woahs (I don't really care that much tbh), Matt's voice (seem's like this melody was written for someone whose voice is stronger in that register...he sounds like he's singing the cramps again, but it's a minor quibble), ending is a bit abrupt, but maybe makes more sense on the album

 

Curiosities: are those trap high hat rhythms dom's playing or are they trap samples? Lol. The thunder and rain at the start?

 

 

And I can sorta see fury vibes when I squint my ears...

[Bohemian-Cygnus-Running-Out]

I didn't *hate* Dig Down, but I was really disappointed. I am certainly one to still cling on to the hope they'll go back to their roots but I'm too deep in the rabbit hole to want to come out.

 

ANYWAY. This song? Chorus is terrible, definitely feelin' everyone's 30STM comments. But I love the rest! It's punchier than the last, and that pleases me. Love the vocal melodies for the verses. Keep going boys, you're slowly coming back...

 

 

 

Vastly better than that garbage 30stm is putting out rn. But then, Dig Down wasn't even that bad, so I think Matt is still a better songwriter than Leto.

[s3ker]

Quite off putting on the first listen, but as I relisten I'm taking a liking to it.

 

People seem to complain mostly about the Woahs in the chorus but I actually feel like those do a nice job of building up the dynamics in the song (although I agree it seems too high in the mix in relation to Matt's lead vocals).

 

I don't think I'll warm up to the verses though. I've never been a fan of the way Matt has to approach this kind of register/melody/flow, somehow it doesn't sound it comes naturally to him. He kinda gets away with it, but it sounds forced to me.

 

I love the you've been bitten by pre-chorus though with that piano coming in. I think it's a great contrast to the claustrophobic vibe of the tune, it was the first thing to seriously grab my attention in the song.

 

The final solution line is just appalling, seems to reinforce my (possibly incorrect) belief that the band are surrounded by too many "yes men". Obviously the term is not off-limits, and I detest the intellectual PC going on right now, but it's just really weird and tone-deaf. Lyrically, the tune continues Matt's trend of saying a load of things without really conveying anything, which is a shame.

 

 

I’d say it’s anything but uninspired. Now I’m not saying this is a necessarily good thing, but this isn’t really like anything we’ve heard by them before, and it’s clear they’re inspired by new things.

 

Totally agree with this. In the last few cycles Muse have tried loads of stuff, but recurrently they would end up mocking up something that was almost a caricature of a certain genre/artist. I don't hate this tune, and I don't love it. But I do recognize that this is actually an interesting attempt at assimilating their diverse influences and a few modern trends into Muse's trademark vibes. Poppy as it is, I think it's also kinda daring as single material.

 

I also appreciate that this song isn't really jumping on some trend that was already dying down 2 years ago, unlike DD. But I wonder though, is the hi hat triplet/sixtuplet thing still relevant in hip hop right now?

Edited February 15, 2018 by s3ker

[Bohemian-Cygnus-Running-Out]

Quite off putting on the first listen, but as I relisten I'm taking a liking to it.

 

People seem to complain mostly about the Woahs in the chorus but I actually feel like those do a nice job of building up the dynamics in the song (although I agree it seems too high in the mix in relation to Matt's lead vocals).

 

I don't think I'll warm up to the verses though. I've never been a fan of the way Matt has to approach this kind of register/melody/flow, somehow it doesn't sound it comes naturally to him. He kinda gets away with it, but it sounds forced to me.

 

I love the you've been bitten by pre-chorus though with that piano coming in. I think it's a great contrast to the claustrophobic vibe of the tune, it was the first thing to seriously grab my attention in the song.

 

The final solution line is just appalling, seems to reinforce my (possibly incorrect) belief that the band are surrounded by too many "yes men". Obviously the term is not off-limits, and I detest the intellectual PC going on right now, but it's just really weird and tone-deaf. Lyrically, the tune continues Matt's trend of saying a load of things without really conveying anything, which is a shame.

 

 

 

 

Totally agree with this. In the last few cycles Muse have tried loads of stuff, but recurrently they would end up mocking up something that was almost a caricature of a certain genre/artist. I don't hate this tune, and I don't love it. But I do recognize that this is actually an interesting attempt at assimilating their diverse influences and a few modern trends into Muse's trademark vibes. Poppy as it is, I think it's also kinda daring as single material.

 

I also appreciate that this song isn't really jumping on soome trend that was already dying down 2 years ago, unlike DD. But I wonder though, is the hi hat triplet/sixtuplet thing still relevant in hip hop right now?

 

Trap is definitely still a thing, so long as I can't avoid hearing people blasting new Migos the day it comes out and Lil Pump still sells, trap has not left hip hop. Heck, those beats are on the new black panther soundtrack.

[s3ker]

Trap is definitely still a thing, so long as I can't avoid hearing people blasting new Migos the day it comes out and Lil Pump still sells, trap has not left hip hop. Heck, those beats are on the new black panther soundtrack.

 

Fair enough, I don't really keep up with that stuff. I guess i'm just a little tired of hearing that everywhere

[fuesch]

I'm already having a bad day, so now I'm too scared to listen to the song.

 

 

yes the past 7 years+ have been a prank

 

right

 

RIGHT?!

 

I should print that out and put it next to my monitor. Denial has served me well for Sherlock, so it'll probably work in regoard to Muse as well.

[Hat]

Has muse been known to prank it's fans? Cause if it has, there could be hope, but i have a dreadful feeling that this is the real Though Contagion. Jesus Christ.

I can say that a lot of fans were thinking/wishing that Supermassive Black Hole was a prank song when it was leaked back in 2006.

[Bohemian-Cygnus-Running-Out]

When's the last time new muse wasn't controversial to fans?

 

Abso?

 

Origin?

[MartianSpaghettiRider]

When's the last time new muse wasn't controversial to fans?

 

Abso?

 

Origin?

 

They've always been, I guess.

[Bohemian-Cygnus-Running-Out]

They've always been, I guess.

 

I imagine someone heard Plug In Baby for the first time and said "nah, they lost their touch. Nothing like Showbiz."

 

[Hat]

I imagine someone heard Plug In Baby for the first time and said "nah, they lost their touch. Nothing like Showbiz."

 

Actually yes. I've heard accounts from people back in the day swearing off Muse after PIB. And Absolution was seen as selling out by many.

[MartianSpaghettiRider]

Actually yes. I've heard accounts from people back in the day swearing off Muse after PIB. And Absolution was seen as selling out by many.

 

In fact, if you think about it, PIB isn't that much of a complex or abstruse track, and really hasn't deep lyrics. Yeah, it has the riff, which is amazing, and a rad bass, and Matt's voice is astonishing, but it's quite "radiofriendly" all in all.

[Hat]

Well no it's not very complex, but that wasn't why people were put off by it, considering Muse had only released Showbiz at that point. I think it was more about fans who liked that they sounded like Radiohead and a little like bands like Ash, which all went away in 2001.

[Bumpypotato]

This is what happens I guess when you try to reinvent the wheel every album. Never gonna please everyone.

[MartianSpaghettiRider]

Well no it's not very complex, but that wasn't why people were put off by it, considering Muse had only released Showbiz at that point. I think it was more about fans who liked that they sounded like Radiohead and a little like bands like Ash, which all went away in 2001.

 

Thank Vishnu they've become their own thing.

I also have to admit it quite irks me when someone still compares them to RH. Like, c'mon, they're totally different worlds in the end.

[Bumpypotato]

If I was Muse I wouldn't want to be compared to RH for a few reasons.

[MartianSpaghettiRider]

If I was Muse I wouldn't want to be compared to RH for a few reasons.

Like...?

[Bumpypotato]

Like...?

 

Critical acclaim is not something that they have in common.

[MartianSpaghettiRider]

Critical acclaim is not something that they have in common.

 

I can't say if that's a bad thing, or a good thing, considering Pitchfork has always had a strange crush on RH.

They deserve the acclaim, don't get me wrong, but they from different dimensions: Muse has nearly always leant to the more pop-rock side, and RH have a distinct experimental push that propelled them in the Olympus of modern music.

[Citizen_Eraser]

I can say that a lot of fans were thinking/wishing that Supermassive Black Hole was a prank song when it was leaked back in 2006.

 

That was the the turning point honestly. I remember the people claiming the real song which is heavier would come out later lol.

 

But black holes still has tons of top tier Muse on it. And each album since then has had less and less of what the “old fans” would consider top tier Muse.