Museย has becomeย one of the biggest namesย in alternative rock and their millions of fans have been waiting for the next album to be released. Since the inception of the band, Muse has released albums approximately three years apart, andย their 7ะน studio album, Drones, is no exception. Arriving just two years and eight months after Second Law, Dronesย is a complete one-eighty of its predecessor. When compared to their latest few albums, it is very obvious that theyโve taken their music in a different direction.
ะัะพะฝั is something of a concept album, with most tracks flowing into each other.ย The story is of a man fighting against his own dehumanization. It feels cohesive, but also played out, we’ve heard this sort of plot before.ย Theyโve also backed off the more orchestral and electronic styles of their most recent previous albums and delivered a solid, forceful, yet sometimes awkward, sound.
The first track, โDead Inside,โ starts with Museโs signature robotic-futuristic soundย with booming, addictive guitar, yet somethingโs missing. By returning to a more stripped-down style, they lost the ear-worm electronic hooksย that dominatedย The Resistance; aย regression that fans of their recent albums may not like.
Two of the tracks on the album, โ[Drill Sargeant]โ and โ[JFK]โ are pieces of speeches that lead into the songs that follow them. The audio clip seemingly breaks up the flow of the album. A little more than halfway through the songย โPsycho,โ which follows โ[Drill Sargeant],”ย thereโs a break in the music and another audio clip pops up. It feels anticlimactic and forced. They could have been left out and would likely not be missed, and in factย were annoying interruptions I’d likely skip if ever listening to the album all the way through again.
From the quick, huge jumps in the dynamic range of a song, to the harmonic vocalizations of Bellamy, the Queen influence is stronger in this album than anythingย I’ve ever heardย before by Muse.ย Tracks like โDronesโ and โDefectorโ have moments that could have been plucked straight from a Queen album.
The true strength in Drones is what Museโs strengths have always been: fantastic vocals, skilled and interesting guitar parts, adrenaline-pumping beats and their political and emotional lyrics.
Steppingย back from where they have evolved byย choosing to return to the alternative-rock sound found in their early albums can beย good or bad depending on your preferred era of Muse. The audio clips of theย speeches didnโt add anythingย and, unfortunately,ย there are places where the political storyย felt clichรฉ and a dated.ย Even though there areย some underwhelming tracks,ย it is a solid release with some catchy songs. It didn’t blow me away, but I’ll be adding a couple tracks to my playlist for the week.
My favorite tracks, by far,ย were โReapers,โ for its absolutely addictive guitar parts, and โThe Handler,โ for its amazing vocals and energy.ย Try to listen to either one of these and not smash something out of joy, really they’re what bumped this album (just barely) into my good graces.
