Muse – Drones
Review By: Bailey Zeigler
Earlier, I reviewed the new My Morning Jacket and Death Cab for Cutie albums and felt fairly indifferent and disappointed with both. Thank god Muse didn’t fall in the same category with Drones. My main issue with the former two was that there weren’t any moments that really made me want to keep listening compared to Drones being deep and arty but still having a fair amount of variety between the different songs despite being a concept album.
With that said, I wish that diversity had been more evenly distributed. In the first half of the album, the songs just start to meld together a little too well. So much so, in fact, that they sound a lot like former Muse singles. As far as individual songs go though, I’m least impressed with the first track and lead single, “Dead Inside.” I feel like it lacks something that the rest of the album seems to have. The bridge kind of touches on that, but then it goes back to the chorus and loses the feeling all over again.
If I had to pick a favorite song, I would be completely stuck between “Revolt” and “Drones,” since it shows a little more of the band’s talent vocally. “Drones” is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard, especially considering that it’s all about people being robots. “Revolt,” on the other hand, really picks up the energy because the first half of the record leaves a taste of dread and terror in your mouth. On top of that, everything between those songs is fantastic as well.
The lyrics themselves are brilliant, but what really stands out is the overall production. Leading into “Psycho,” there’s an audio clip of a drill sergeant screaming at a soldier and saying things like “Your ass belongs to me now.” This also comes back to play throughout “Psycho.” I felt completely disturbed after listening to this.
Despite my criticisms, I think Drones’ strengths outweigh its weaknesses. The main point is that this album has something a lot of albums struggle to achieve, which is to keep people listening. Reviewing all these albums has shown me that it’s so much easier said than done. It’s a deciding factor on whether or not you actually grow your audience or just ride off your fanbase. Muse may not win over Top 40 crowds with this album, but they will definitely gain some new fans from its creativity and depth.
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
Recommended Tracks: “Revolt” and “Drones”
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