On the Shelf 147: Muse
Aug. 6th, 2015 05:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23I would say at this point, probably the band at this point I am the biggest apologist of is Muse.
For years, U2 would probably have been that band as I love them, but so many don't. Muse similarly seem to be unloved.
I am not sure why. They never caught on with the Pitchfork crowd despite the fact that they evolved from the same branches as Radiohead, which should make them a PF favorite. Muse has always been popular with the British press that I frequently read. Yet, even then, it never seemed like a Matt Bellamy interview evoked the same reaction as Thom Yorke or any of the many imitators. The British press generally label the band boring, and that seems to be the rep, though not sure why.
Bellamy has dated Hollywood actresses, is as likely to bring up Stravinsky or Chomsky in an interview as anyone, and is a pretty dapper looking dude. Still, he never seemed to be able to put himself on the same pedestal as Yorke or that other post-Yorke frontman Chris Martin.
Yet, another thing I suspect is a factor is that they have improbably bore their way into American consciousness. It is hard to name too many more rock bands in the last 20 years that have had the success Muse has had on the pop chart in America, and probably none with as heavy or as ambitious of a sound
No worries, though, I have always loved the music. Going back to when I picked up Showbiz in 1999 from a "Emerging New Artists" shelf at Target- seemingly centuries away in terms of music industry.
The early buzz on this album was that it was going to be the closest the band had been to Showbiz than they had been in quite some time. It's hard to believe the band is 7 albums in now and like their idols have reached certain artistic milestones and have to strive to remain vital. Indeed, their last album was heavily influenced by dubstep- a genre that I don't really like, but made some sense in terms of what Muse does.The 2nd Law may have been a bit of a disappointment, but it bared repeated listenings.
Drones is in many ways a guitar heavy album that is in fact the closest they have come to that first initial guitar laden outburst "Muscle Museum".
Yet if the sound is a return to the band's roots, it is also telling that the band is not the same that they were back then. The guitar attack of Showbiz was born from Radiohead and the grunge 90s. The album was produced by John Leckie, best known for legendary work for XTC, the Stone Roses, and those band that immediately preceded Muse like Elastica, Ride and the Verve.
Meanwhile, Drones is produced by Mutt Lange. Though, Lange has come to represent Mr. Shania and the most overcommercialized point of the careers of Def Leppard and Bryan Adams, not to mention Nickelback and Michael Bolton. He lest you forget also produced Back in Black, Highway to Hell, For those about to rock... as well as new wve classics like Graham Parker's Heat Treatment and the Boomtown Rats Fine Art of Surfacing, not to mention radio evergreens like Foriegner 4, Pyromania, and the Cars Heartbeat City.
Drones isn't a post punk record as Showbiz was. It's lineage is most likely Van Halen than it is the Sex Pistols. It nods to the grandfathers of Prog Rock than it does the Clash.
Queen has loomed large over Muse in their career, and indeed, it's hard to stop that comparison. Not so much that Queen would sound like this today, but that if Freddie and company grew up in the 90s, they would probably sound like Muse.
So on initial listen, I was pretty excited to hear the screeching guitars, but the album dips with repeated listens.
Indeed, for the extravagant heights the band aims for, they fall even shorter. Indeed "Drones" with all of its Orwellian imagery and guitar bombast is probably more similar to the Queensryche discography than it is toany Radiohead disc.
Like another successful guitar band of today, Fall Out Boy, this band unsurprisingly has been embraced by old fans of the glam 90s; and while the sounds does sound modern, it feels like it will date quickly. Drones indeed may be front page now, but it gives the overall effect of Styx's Killroy Was Here.
That is the problem with Muse's recent effort. The best songs on the album probably are the singles like "Dead Inside" and "Mercy". "Dead Inside" starts off with Mercury-n-May style Queen bravado and builds up to Bellamy emoting with a gusto worthy of Zoo TV-era Bono. Yes, in a lot of ways, that is a good thing; but in terms of a band that hit commerical and artistic peaks doing just that, this platter feels a little bit forced, and not particularly indelible.
I suspect Muse fans will feel like me. There is some disappointment, but there will also be some rocking out to these tunes, and there is evidence that there is still fuel n this band's tank 15-plus years on.
For years, U2 would probably have been that band as I love them, but so many don't. Muse similarly seem to be unloved.
I am not sure why. They never caught on with the Pitchfork crowd despite the fact that they evolved from the same branches as Radiohead, which should make them a PF favorite. Muse has always been popular with the British press that I frequently read. Yet, even then, it never seemed like a Matt Bellamy interview evoked the same reaction as Thom Yorke or any of the many imitators. The British press generally label the band boring, and that seems to be the rep, though not sure why.
Bellamy has dated Hollywood actresses, is as likely to bring up Stravinsky or Chomsky in an interview as anyone, and is a pretty dapper looking dude. Still, he never seemed to be able to put himself on the same pedestal as Yorke or that other post-Yorke frontman Chris Martin.
Yet, another thing I suspect is a factor is that they have improbably bore their way into American consciousness. It is hard to name too many more rock bands in the last 20 years that have had the success Muse has had on the pop chart in America, and probably none with as heavy or as ambitious of a sound
No worries, though, I have always loved the music. Going back to when I picked up Showbiz in 1999 from a "Emerging New Artists" shelf at Target- seemingly centuries away in terms of music industry.
The early buzz on this album was that it was going to be the closest the band had been to Showbiz than they had been in quite some time. It's hard to believe the band is 7 albums in now and like their idols have reached certain artistic milestones and have to strive to remain vital. Indeed, their last album was heavily influenced by dubstep- a genre that I don't really like, but made some sense in terms of what Muse does.The 2nd Law may have been a bit of a disappointment, but it bared repeated listenings.
Drones is in many ways a guitar heavy album that is in fact the closest they have come to that first initial guitar laden outburst "Muscle Museum".
Yet if the sound is a return to the band's roots, it is also telling that the band is not the same that they were back then. The guitar attack of Showbiz was born from Radiohead and the grunge 90s. The album was produced by John Leckie, best known for legendary work for XTC, the Stone Roses, and those band that immediately preceded Muse like Elastica, Ride and the Verve.
Meanwhile, Drones is produced by Mutt Lange. Though, Lange has come to represent Mr. Shania and the most overcommercialized point of the careers of Def Leppard and Bryan Adams, not to mention Nickelback and Michael Bolton. He lest you forget also produced Back in Black, Highway to Hell, For those about to rock... as well as new wve classics like Graham Parker's Heat Treatment and the Boomtown Rats Fine Art of Surfacing, not to mention radio evergreens like Foriegner 4, Pyromania, and the Cars Heartbeat City.
Drones isn't a post punk record as Showbiz was. It's lineage is most likely Van Halen than it is the Sex Pistols. It nods to the grandfathers of Prog Rock than it does the Clash.
Queen has loomed large over Muse in their career, and indeed, it's hard to stop that comparison. Not so much that Queen would sound like this today, but that if Freddie and company grew up in the 90s, they would probably sound like Muse.
So on initial listen, I was pretty excited to hear the screeching guitars, but the album dips with repeated listens.
Indeed, for the extravagant heights the band aims for, they fall even shorter. Indeed "Drones" with all of its Orwellian imagery and guitar bombast is probably more similar to the Queensryche discography than it is toany Radiohead disc.
Like another successful guitar band of today, Fall Out Boy, this band unsurprisingly has been embraced by old fans of the glam 90s; and while the sounds does sound modern, it feels like it will date quickly. Drones indeed may be front page now, but it gives the overall effect of Styx's Killroy Was Here.
That is the problem with Muse's recent effort. The best songs on the album probably are the singles like "Dead Inside" and "Mercy". "Dead Inside" starts off with Mercury-n-May style Queen bravado and builds up to Bellamy emoting with a gusto worthy of Zoo TV-era Bono. Yes, in a lot of ways, that is a good thing; but in terms of a band that hit commerical and artistic peaks doing just that, this platter feels a little bit forced, and not particularly indelible.
I suspect Muse fans will feel like me. There is some disappointment, but there will also be some rocking out to these tunes, and there is evidence that there is still fuel n this band's tank 15-plus years on.
