Muse’s sixth album is, like all their albums, a very unique and different album. It’s very difficult to like on just one listen, however- but then again, all Muse albums take their time to grow on you. I remember The Resistance- personally, I’m not a big fan of that album, but there are a few songs that I like here and there. I do give it a listen every now and then, and I find things I like in it.
With The 2nd Law, I knew I wouldn’t fall in love with it right away. I remember, the first time I heard it I thought “meh, it’s alright”… And didn’t give it much attention. In the coming days, I’d listen to it again and again… Every listen brought to my attention things that I initially didn’t notice. And I even found myself liking songs I didn’t think I’d come to like. It wasn’t until I gave it a good listen- on a stereo system, with the volume turned up to 11, that I’d find myself coming to a final conclusion on it. So, let’s go over the album, track by track, shall we?
1. SUPREMACY
The first thing you notice is that this album begins in such a fashion that all the other albums didn’t- with a straightforward rock intro. After a few drum fills and pinch harmonics comes this dark and eerie riff that is almost reminiscent of their earlier hit, “Dead Star”. Then when Chris and Com kick in, a set of strings play an epic, almost apocalyptic riff. Apparently the song was meant to be a Bond theme, but (understandably) got snubbed by Adele’s powerful, beautiful and tragic “Skyfall”. This song would have been awesome too, because while Skyfall is from Adele’s point of view, this song can be looked at as being from Bond’s point of view, about how he’ll get Raoul Silva in the end, even if it means M dying. The verses are full of stings, a choir, some epic drums, and Matt’s melancholy voice, before the instrumental chorus is brought in by Matt’s signature ear-splitting falsetto. The guitar solo is even great too, and towards the end, the signature style of Muse’s “climaxing over and over” is brought to our ears, before the song ends with a typical 007-ish guitar roll. The one thing that makes it lose points, however, is the line, “brainwashing our children to be mean”. Really, Matt? In an otherwise badass song, that piece of hilarity is what you come up with?
2. MADNESS
The song’s initial hook is started by Matt’s, “M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-mad-mad-mad” (which at the end amounts to him finally saying “Madness”), which sets up for an interesting electro beat and Kitara bass combo. The lyrics were apparently written after Matt got in a fight with Kate Hudson (his fiancee), and is about how sometimes you fight with your girlfriend and after a while you realize, “oh shit, she was right… Who was I to argue with her?” . The lyrics are touching and are about how sometimes, you can fight with the person you love but even that won’t stop you from loving them and absolutely needing them. The song’s second half brings in actual instruments and has a very U2 quality to it, almost reminiscent of “Mysterious Ways”. It’s easy to see why it’s such a hit- it’s catchy while very moving and is perhaps one of their best ballads to date.
3. PANIC STATION
This song has people mixed, but I like it. It’s very funky, very danceable, and powerful… you can tell that the band had a lot of fun playing and writing it. The lyrics are powerful, inspiring and motivational as well, and seem to be about ignoring all the people who tell you you “can’t do it”, and going out and doing what you want in life, with nobody there to bring you down. This song is easily reminiscent of Supermassive Black Hole, but with a bit more of a seventies twist to it, complete with trumpets and trombones and all.
4. PRELUDE
Not much to say here. Piano, strings, and choir, a nice interlude to Survival. This isn’t the first time they did this either; “Absolution” had “Interlude”, which was a guitar and pedal heavy introduction to “Hysteria”. Needless to say, it does set the epic tone, and bleeds into the next song perfectly.
5. SURVIVAL
My biggest complaint about the song is right off the bat, the choir and piano intro. It is slightly cringe-worthy and the choir seems synthesized (though the DVD reveals they actually did the singing themselves in the intro, perhaps just overproduced). However, once Dom, Chris and Matt kick in, the doubts are cast aside, and the song becomes an epic tune about running a race, and what goes on inside your head. The lyrics are a bit of an issue too- the first line is, “race, life’s a race, and I’m gonna win”. Right off the bat, you’ve used “race” and “win” in the same sentence. Surely they could have come up with something more… Creative, per se? Nonetheless, the corny lyrics are overpowered by the head-explodingly epic song that is like a mix of Rammstein’s “Mein Herz Brennt”, and Queen’s “Somebody to Love”. It’s easy to see why this is the Olympics theme; it’s powerful, explosive, heavy, epic, and fun. The song reaches its ear-shattering climax with eight measures of heavy riffage and the chorus’s shouting, “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN!!!”. The song should be corny, but its over-the-topness makes for a bloody fun tune that makes you want to turn it up and headbang.
6. FOLLOW ME
The heartbeat you hear in the song’s intro is a real heartbeat- it was a recording of Matthew Bellamy’s recently born son. Which brings me to the topic of the song’s lyrics- he wrote the song for his son, as a sort of “I will always be there” tune for him. The music itself is… well, WONDERFUL. It’s also the first track where the dubstep influence can be heard clearly- the chorus mixes the typical synth rock and classical that is a trademark of Muse’s. Matt’s vocals in particular are beautiful and make the track even more grand. About the dubstep itself, it’s thankfully kept to a minimum in the song, but nonetheless it sounds really cool.
7. ANIMALS
The first impression you get of this song is that I sounds like something that wouldn’t be out of place on Origin of Symmetry. The music is like a more upbeat version of Screenager, and the lyrics are even similar. To compare and contrast; Screenager is about how girls always aim for the perfect body/image and cut themselves because they can’t look beautiful, and ignore people who tell them they are beautiful, saying because they’ve alienated everyone around them, they may as well just give up, because nobody can hear them anymore and have stopped trying (“Stop your screaming, no one can hear you now…”). Animals is an attack at big business executives who think that because they are rich, own corporations around the world and own stocks to a large amount of companies, they can be pricks to other people and not care if others get hurt. At the end of the song, Matt sings “kill yourself, come on kill yourself, do the world a favour…”. The song is splendidly creepy and disturbing, just like said execs. Matt sings in the same subdued style as in Screenager, and you can really sense that he’s channeling people who have been fucked over by the big bosses. At the end of the tune, we hear rather frightening samples from the wall street trading floor, which drives the point home perfectly. Definitely Muse’s best post-Black Holes song to date, and in my top 5 Muse songs for sure.
8. EXPLORERS
This song is decidedly slower than the rest of the album, but its string driven tune and somber tone make it one of the most powerful yet. Matt’s voice islet again, stellar, and very emotional. The lyrics seem to be about an alien who has crashed his ship on some site on earth, begging explorers who find them “free me, free me from this world”. This may sound corny, but the rest of the lyrics are absolutely beautiful, and among Matt’s best yet. The song does sound like a Christmas song at points; jingling can be heard for some reason, and they really feel out of place, which is my only complaint about the song, really. Nonetheless it’s an otherwise spectacular song.
9. BIG FREEZE
Now here’s a catchy song! It’s among Muse’s catchiest yet, and sure is bound to be a concert favourite. After a soft guitar-and synth intro and some smooth vocals from Matt, the song explodes into a catchy uptempo song with over-the-top singing and great guitar work. The backing vocals are pretty great even! The song’s topic is about holding together during a storm and making the most of such a situation. The lyrics are good, but a tad repetitive- Matt bellows too many phrases like “Don’t give up” and what not, which does drag it down a bit. If the lyrics were a tad less repetitive, they’d for sure get a higher rating from me.
CHRIS’ ALCOHOLISM SUITE
(9. SAVE ME & 10. LIQUID STATE)
I decided to merge the two songs together, because they’re both a suite. Both are about Chris’ battle with Alcoholism, that has lasted since Absolution, and both are very different from each other in that aspect; Save Me is more of a cry for help to those around him, and Liquid State is more as if Chris is yelling at the demons inside him, telling them “come on, why don’t you just kill me already if you want to”. They’re also different from each other in the sense that Save Me is a slow ballad, and Liquid State is a garage rocker, suitably. Chris sings on both of them too, which adds the personal touch. Out of the two, I prefer Save Me, which is much more emotional and touching. It is very sad and hearing Chris sing it adds a whole different level of emotion to it, and his voice sounds so gorgeous on it… he may not be the best singer, but it’s a unique song in its own right, and his singing fits. That said, I do love Liquid State. It’s very catchy, at times reminiscent of New Born. It’s rude to get a few head banging, that’s for sure.
THE 2ND LAW
UNSUSTAINABLE
A string section kicks in, followed by choirs, synthesizers, and finally a news reporter who recites this monologue that explains the second law of thermodynamics:
“All natural and technological processes proceed in such a way that the availability of the remaining energy decreases. In all energy exchanges, if no energy enters or leaves an isolated system, the entropy of that system incre,cre,cre,cre,c,c,creases. Energy continuously flows from being concentrated, to becoming dispersed, spread out, wasted and useless. New energy cannot be created and high grade energy is being destroyed. An economy based on endless growth is…”
then, the music stops dead, and a robot greets you with a terrifying completion of the above stanza: “UN-SUST-AINABLE”. What follows is a unique fusion of dubstep, heavy metal, and classical, with at one point Matthew Bellamy wailing over the music, before the reporter says hi to us again:
“The fundamental laws of thermodynamics will place fixed limits on technological innovation and human advancement. In an isolated system the entropy can only increase. A species set on endless growth is…”
And Mr. Robot greets us again with “Unsustainable”, followed by a few more measures of dubstep and the last line: “YOU’RE UNSUSTAINABLE”.
ISOLATED SYSTEM
A William Oldfield meets Daft Punk mix of piano and acoustic guitar sprinkles into your ears, and newsreel footage, heartbeats, and the key line of an explanation of thermodynamics kicks in. Dom comes in for some drum measures before the song dies out quietly The best way to think of this song is that you’re an astronaut in space, gone out to fix your ship. While fixing your ship, you hear what sounds like an awesome party going on on a far off planet… you’d like to go to this planet, but lord knows it’ll be over by the time you reach there. All you can do is stand and observe the planet’s majestic beauty before it’s time to report back to deck. All this happens whole the chilling line echoes through your head: “in an isolated system, the entropy can only increase…”
It took me a while, like all the other Muse albums, to fully get into The 2nd Law. In fact, I remember when I thought I’d never get into Origin of Symmetry! But Muse have yet again made an album that’s a reflection of their ever-growing experimentation while still being the Muse that we all know and love. Muse’s three man army always pumps out music that still has you saying to yourself in disbelief, “can you believe there’s only three?!, and they make no effort to hide that they’re really proud of themselves with what they do. Even if what Muse does doesn’t work, they still are respectable for defying the expectations of the usual fan, and this album is a testament to their ever-growing desire for experimentation, growth, and new sounds brought to their horizon.
And to end the review, here’s an explanation of the cover art.
According to Matthew Bellamy, the cover art is a drawing of all the pathways of the human brain, “tracking the circuits in our heads and how we process information with bright, neon colours.”
OVERALL: 8/10
The special edition’s contents. Very cool.
Life at the barrier 