For those Muse fans who haven't heard the new album:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2012/sep/24/muse-2nd-law-album-stream?INTCMP=SRCH
Not bad, but seeing videos of them, it seems that the album is under-produced, and somewhat lacking at some parts. Some songs would be better had they been edited better. Live though, this album is sure to succeed.
Just a quick review:
1. Supremacy- a good opening track, but with all the hype, I'm a little disappointed. It has a heavy riff. So what, it's no where near the quality of other's like Plug In Baby, Citizen Erased or Dead Star. Not bad though, and the opening is good. One of those songs that feels under-produced, and poorly edited. Quite OTT, but in a good way. Overall, I quite like it, but not one of my favourites.
8/10
2. Madness- when first hearing, I thought it was awful. Really, really bad. It seems to have grown on me though, and I quite like it now. The solo still seems pointless and awkward, but it's quite a well put-together song without it. Not bad, but the second half of the song is a big improvement on the first.
7/10
3. Panic Station- now we're talking about it. A very catchy song which is unexpected but welcome. I was surprised when hearing this song, as it wasn't really what I expected. Really very good, with interesting vocals, guitar and bass work going on. The trumpets feel like they fit well in the song, and the riff after the second chorus is excellent- one of my favourites from Muse. A great song.
9/10
4/5. Prelude/Survival- Prelude is a great opening to a song, with a gentle build-up and excellent piano and strings going on. Then IT arrives. Half great, half very, very poor. The start is a joke, and I still can't bear it. I mean, why have that choir, WHY? The lyrics are so poor and unimaginative. The chorus and the solo are great, and show a great improvement on the first bit. The song is OTT, but not in a good way. Probably my least favourite song on the album, which is a shame, because some of it is great.
6/10
6. Follow Me- the best (if it becomes one) single on the album. By far. Exactly what one should be. Very different to the live version, but I like the album version as well. It's strange, because the electronic elements are heavy, and they work well. It's basically dub-step, but works well. Much better than I expected when hearing early reviews.
7.5/10
7. Animals- EASILY THE BEST SONG ON THE ALBUM. This song is everything I love about Muse, and is beautiful and well put together. Sounds like the epicness of Origin of Symmetry mixed with the heavy riffs of Absolution. Combining Screenager with Thoughts of a Dying Atheist, Ruled By Secrecy with a bit of Stockholm Syndrome at the end. I really, really like this song. Could be in my top 10 favourite Muse songs, and that's saying something, because there's no songs in the past 9 years that have done it.
9.5/10
8. Explorers- er... really quite boring. Good in parts, but is mainly very average. Incomparable with past slow songs like Falling Away With You and Unintended. It's alright, but nothing special by any means.
7/10
9. Big Freeze- OK, I know it's crap, but I actually like it. I don't know why, but I think it's a fairly good song. Some of it may sound like Guiding Light mixed with U2, but the part after the chorus is awesome. Really, pretty much one of the best moments on the album, and the vocals on it are great. Shame it ends too soon. The rest is awful, but I seem to like it for some reason. Really weird.
8/10
10. Save Me- this is a great song from the bassist Chris, beautiful, emotional with good vocals from Chris. The ending is excellent, and the song is a great overall build-up. Very Elbow-ish, and did I mention the ending?
Great song.
8.5/10
11. Liquid State- so much was expected, mainly a mix up of two of my favourite songs (Hyper Music and The Small Print) which have great bass. What we were given was incredibly average and hugely disappointing. Very, very average. There's actually nothing special or "Musey" about it, it could just be "any old band" who wrote it. Not happy.
5.5/10
12. Unsustainable- despite the original hype of "OMG, Muse gon dub-step, OMG" and "Muse a sell-outs", this is actually, in my opinion, a good song. Interesting, diverse, and the bit after the first chorus is great. The song comes together, and is very good. Like some other songs, like Big Freeze, it has one very good part, with the others being average. Good song though.
8/10
13. Isolated System- boring, dull, uninteresting. There's SO much more they could have done with this, so much more. It ends up feeling incomplete, and ends the album on a hugely poor note. Even at 4:00 minutes of the song (after listening through a bunch of dribble), when it reaches it's crescendo, I can only think on how much potential is wasted. They could have gone and done something like Exogenesis, but instead, they stopped the song before it got going. The drums are poor. A poor end.
5.5/10
So, overall, a OK album that's severely disjointed in parts, with a couple of good songs that stand out. The album promised so much when it was played (some songs) live, and they sounded so good.
Overall, I'll give it 7.5/10. Probably slightly better than the Resistance, but that's not saying a lot. Not really close to the others. Animals is kick-ass though.