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Thought Contagion .


Claudia O

Do you like Thought Contagion?  

150 members have voted

  1. 1. Do you like Thought Contagion?

    • Yes!
      88
    • No!
      8
    • Better than DD
      50
    • Forget it...
      4


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Moving to Canada? Did I miss something?

 

Matt's vocals on Drones were mostly superb, with a couple of really bad choices like the beginning and end of Aftermath, for example.

TC's vocals are all like those awkward bits that sounded like bad takes.

 

I really, really don't get it, because Matt's done those kinds of "talky" vocals before just fine.

 

And yeah, unfortunately Chris' vocals just aren't anything special.

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Moving to Canada? Did I miss something?

 

Matt's vocals on Drones were mostly superb, with a couple of really bad choices like the beginning and end of Aftermath, for example.

TC's vocals are all like those awkward bits that sounded like bad takes.

 

I really, really don't get it, because Matt's done those kinds of "talky" vocals before just fine.

 

And yeah, unfortunately Chris' vocals just aren't anything special.

 

Dead Inside is easily one of his greatest vocal performances, probably along with The Handler. Man can still sing, don't know what went not quite right with TC.

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Dead Inside is easily one of his greatest vocal performances, probably along with The Handler. Man can still sing, don't know what went not quite right with TC.

 

As much as he may struggle live, that's not what's wrong with TC. It's just some very odd style choice that I don't understand, and it holds the song back from being fun, or even listenable to me.

It had the chance to be an entertaining Fall Out Boy sort of track, if with shockingly bad lyrics, but instead it comes off as kind of bad karaoke.

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As much as he may struggle live, that's not what's wrong with TC. It's just some very odd style choice that I don't understand, and it holds the song back from being fun, or even listenable to me.

It had the chance to be an entertaining Fall Out Boy sort of track, if with shockingly bad lyrics, but instead it comes off as kind of bad karaoke.

 

 

I mean...it's better than pretty much anything Fall Out Boy have put out this year...

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Don’t see what would make TC any better.

 

Production that doesn't make me want to rip my ears off.

 

Vocals that aren't so obnoxiously overdone they make watching paint dry sound more enticing.

 

An attempt at fusing modern rock with top 40 influences that doesn't come off as 100% completely pandering and nauseating.

 

Guitars that sound like guitars.

 

And, for the sake of Young And Menace, having a chorus that isn't literally chipmunk squeals and randomly places bass hits which somehow takes up the majority of the song.

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That's all completely subjective and hyperbolic, and you know it.

Most of the songs in the "genre" that Muse is using for TC that I've heard (admittedly mostly on the video in the work lobby, and of the Imagine Dragons, FOB, Killers, P!ATD sort) have been more appealing to me than TC.

Stronger vocals, a more cohesive sound, and more importantly... they're fun and often meant to be inspiring and uplifting.

While the first two points are of course my opinion, the latter seems to be (at least in the mainstream radio offerings) an important part of the genre Muse is currently aping, and another way that I feel they're copying something without understanding what people enjoy about it.

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Considering most synths are computer programmed sounds these days anyway it wouldn't be hard for them to recreate that. And the backing vocals don't sound that similar at all but any similarities would be the fact Chris did some layers on the track.

 

I mean we are pretty sure Morgan has always been miming right? For a few years I was ignorant, but what has the guy not made a mistake in 12 years with the band live? He showed up in 06 right?

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It's not terribly uncommon for bands to try and cover up that they're using playback; I've seen tons of times where male band members fake sing backing vocals that are clearly from females, or impossible to recreate.

 

I'd be more happy if they didn't do it, but it doesn't really bother me that much, and people fall for it, especially in the moment.

Look how many people thought Dom was singing in The Globalist live even though it was quite clearly Matt's album vocals.

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That's all completely subjective and hyperbolic, and you know it.

Most of the songs in the "genre" that Muse is using for TC that I've heard (admittedly mostly on the video in the work lobby, and of the Imagine Dragons, FOB, Killers, P!ATD sort) have been more appealing to me than TC.

Stronger vocals, a more cohesive sound, and more importantly... they're fun and often meant to be inspiring and uplifting.

While the first two points are of course my opinion, the latter seems to be (at least in the mainstream radio offerings) an important part of the genre Muse is currently aping, and another way that I feel they're copying something without understanding what people enjoy about it.

 

I don't discuss music so I can show how objective and realistic my opinions are. Maybe you like the new Fall Out Boy album more than TC. That's fine. To me, Mania is the sound of a band doing pretty much everything wrong, where TC is a band making a cool melody into an average to decent song.

 

And just to make sure we're on the same page. I'm not saying I think TC is miles better than the more recent work of Panic, Imagine Dragons, or pre-Mania FOB, among others. I was just making a point that someone said TC sounded like Muse trying to pull off a FOB type of song but I didn't think the new FOB album was in the same ballpark as TC, disregarding any of their other music.

 

Perhaps we can all agree they're both better than the new 30STM?

Edited by Bohemian-Cygnus-RunningOut
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I mean we are pretty sure Morgan has always been miming right? For a few years I was ignorant, but what has the guy not made a mistake in 12 years with the band live? He showed up in 06 right?

 

To be fair most of what he does is literally just triggering synths and samples so I doubt he's miming anything, even if half the time he's doing less than what it looks like he's doing.

 

He's also only really playing very, very simple lines when he's playing the keyboards in all honesty. I can play literally half of the lines he has to do with my eyes closed.

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Production that doesn't make me want to rip my ears off.

 

Vocals that aren't so obnoxiously overdone they make watching paint dry sound more enticing.

 

An attempt at fusing modern rock with top 40 influences that doesn't come off as 100% completely pandering and nauseating.

 

Guitars that sound like guitars.

 

And, for the sake of Young And Menace, having a chorus that isn't literally chipmunk squeals and randomly places bass hits which somehow takes up the majority of the song.

Most of that applies to TC imo. I mean TC was specifically bashed quite a lot for the lack of guitars that sound like guitars, was it not?

 

And pandering by trying to fuse modern rock with top 40 influences? Isn't that exactly what Matt has said he wanted to do?

 

And overdone vocals...well...

 

You keep comparing TC to one song that doesn't really sound anything like the rest of Mania though, bland as the album may be.

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Perhaps we can all agree they're both better than the new 30STM?

 

Haven't listened to the album, since I didn't like the last two barring like one song, so why bother I guess?

However, I like Walk on Water quite a bit more than Dig Down, and find it more listenable than TC a lot of days. :chuckle:

It's a good example of what I was talking about before; fun, upbeat and catchy, which seem to be staples of the mainstream appeal of that sort of music that's popular right now.

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Haven't listened to the album, since I didn't like the last two barring like one song, so why bother I guess?

However, I like Walk on Water quite a bit more than Dig Down, and find it more listenable than TC a lot of days. :chuckle:

It's a good example of what I was talking about before; fun, upbeat and catchy, which seem to be staples of the mainstream appeal of that sort of music that's popular right now.

 

I guess I'm just not interested in upbeat and catchy at the expense of interesting songwriting or artistic style choices. I could see how one could prefer Walk On Water to the Muse singles though. 30STM does a better job there of crafting a song people actually might want to sing along to, I just don't like the song.

 

That said the rest of that album is garbage. Like, Chainsmokers level garbage.

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Controversial opinion: The people who love Thought Contagion would adore most of the Mania songs if they had Muse's name on them.

 

I have absolutely no doubt that's true. And not, as the person below you believes, because it says "Muse" but because they have a ton in common.

 

I guess I'm just not interested in upbeat and catchy at the expense of interesting songwriting or artistic style choices. I could see how one could prefer Walk On Water to the Muse singles though. 30STM does a better job there of crafting a song people actually might want to sing along to, I just don't like the song.

 

That said the rest of that album is garbage. Like, Chainsmokers level garbage.

 

Except the "interesting songwriting or artistic style" bit is again completely biased and subjective. Yes, you previously stated that everything you're saying is your opinion (obvious) but the language you use tends towards absolutes, hyperbole, and an attempt to state why something is objectively worse than something else.

There's absolutely nothing saying that these other bands aren't doing the exact same thing you think Muse is doing (being artistic and interesting) and it's very easy to suggest (as I wholeheartedly believe) that TC and DD aren't interesting or "artistic" and that they're a "sacrifice" made to attempt to be mainstreamly popular.

 

The "upbeat and catchy" part of that isn't what makes songs derivative or not, and being a happy song doesn't make it somehow less worthwhile. It just makes it easier to break into the mainstream. So sure bands use it to cash in, but bands also use it because they really enjoy that style of song.

 

You also reminded me of another song I enjoy more than TC/DD; that Chainsmokers/Coldplay thing. :chuckle:

Although I can't really deal with their other stuff.

 

I'm suddenly being forced to listen to mainstream music at work, and find myself reluctantly enjoying this style of music (never thought I'd see the day I enjoyed Panic at the Disco, but here it is) and I STILL can't get into Thought Contagion, which they also play, and is the same basic style. Instead, lumping all this stuff together has really highlighted for me where I think the song goes wrong (awkward vocals, lyrics, lacks fun factor.)

Edited by SerpentSatellite
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I have absolutely no doubt that's true. And not, as the person below you believes, because it says "Muse" but because they have a ton in common.

 

 

 

Except the "interesting songwriting or artistic style" bit is again completely biased and subjective. Yes, you previously stated that everything you're saying is your opinion (obvious) but the language you use tends towards absolutes, hyperbole, and an attempt to state why something is objectively worse than something else.

There's absolutely nothing saying that these other bands aren't doing the exact same thing you think Muse is doing (being artistic and interesting) and it's very easy to suggest (as I wholeheartedly believe) that TC and DD aren't interesting or "artistic" and that they're a "sacrifice" made to attempt to be mainstreamly popular.

 

The "upbeat and catchy" part of that isn't what makes songs derivative or not, and being a happy song doesn't make it somehow less worthwhile. It just makes it easier to break into the mainstream. So sure bands use it to cash in, but bands also use it because they really enjoy that style of song.

 

You also reminded me of another song I enjoy more than TC/DD; that Chainsmokers/Coldplay thing. :chuckle:

Although I can't really deal with their other stuff.

 

I'm suddenly being forced to listen to mainstream music at work, and find myself reluctantly enjoying this style of music (never thought I'd see the day I enjoyed Panic at the Disco, but here it is) and I STILL can't get into Thought Contagion, which they also play, and is the same basic style. Instead, lumping all this stuff together has really highlighted for me where I think the song goes wrong (awkward vocals, lyrics, lacks fun factor.)

 

When I state my opinion in absolutes, I mean that is absolutely my opinion. I mean no one else disrespect by that. If you are offended at how vehement I can be about my opinions, I am sorry, but it isn't meant to offend you or cast shade on you. If you enjoy everything Fall Out Boy is doing right now more than TC, that's cool, and I can see how someone would. I just don't.

 

Also, I love catchy upbeat pop music. The latest Paramore album is an absolute blast, even if you took out the dark lyrics it wouldn't get much worse. The latest MisterWives album is even better. It was my album of the year last year. My point is I don't think Fall Out Boy or 30STM are doing the top 40 thing (on their latest albums only) as well as Muse, not that Muse is doing it particularly well either, just that I like Muse's approach more. Mania grates on my ears, despite it's catchiness and fun factor, the production and the songwriting just hurt my ears. And the new 30STM album just sounds devoid of any substance to me. Catchy, fun, upbeat in places, sure, but if I pay attention to what's being played, I stop liking it. Decent background music is the best I could really give it. TC has that alien synth sound that, while cliche, sounds more like Muse than it does top 40. It's too repetitive for me to love it, but I enjoy the ideas it's repeating, even if the execution is a little awkward. Maybe it comes down to Muse bias, but I genuinely think what Muse is doing on TC is more interesting than what 30stm and FOB are up to right now, if not slightly less derivative.

 

And about the Chainsmokers Coldplay collaboration, I actually mostly enjoy that as well. I'm a sucker for Chris Martin's voice, and overall it doesn't annoy me nearly to the level Closer did when it was at its peak. Also there's a guitar solo at the end of it, which is just cool in general in today's musical climate.

Edited by Bohemian-Cygnus-RunningOut
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Controversial opinion: The people who love Thought Contagion would adore most of the Mania songs if they had Muse's name on them.

 

Would be interesting to see.

 

That said though I actually kinda like Thought Contagion just because I find it quite fun. I don't know whether I've just lowered my standards over the last few years when it comes to Muse releases though in fairness :LOL:

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