

Like I said earlier, potential, but not necessarily greatness all around.īest: I don't think I can disagree with what's already been said. Too many fun, catchy, energetic, but naïvely written tracks that kind of blend together. The songwriting seems to have dropped off, as well as the interest. Matt's obviously got a great range and powerful voice, if a little unwieldy, all three are obviously more than proficient on their respective instruments, there's a definite willingness to experiment with song structures, instrumentation, sound effects, and the like, and the album definitely shows off a very certain character of the band, one which obviously has what it takes. Yeah, maybe there's a deal of early Radiohead in the sound and style, but what they do with those borrowed elements is actually very unique and satisfying. Muse show themselves off as a band with a particular sonic niche immediately, and although they don't have all the details worked out yet or have totally mastered songwriting, the best elements of the record all scream of the vast amount of potential this unit has. I just put more into that than the 3 uni essays I have in for Monday. As much as I can enjoy Drones fine enough for the most part, there's so little I can get properly attached to because I'm already attached to the stuff that it's trying to copy. All the talk of 'being old myooz again', using old riffs, 'sequels' to fan 's all been well documented at this point, as well as the repetition and not really doing much with them. Makes a lot of otherwise potentially dull or naff songs fun (Psycho, Revolt, Reapers, Defector). The production - it's almost perfect for Muse imo, just gets a bit spiky at times during stuff like Mercy and The Handler.

The musical equivalent of throwing shit at a wall and seeing what sticks (very little of it did). Like, Abso doesn't flow well at all but it actually annoys me how all over the place T2L is This was the first sign of them starting to really lack in the creativity department for me. Idk what happened to put him in that form during that period but, fack me, I wish it lasted longer.Ībsolute. Perfect storm of passion, power and range from Matt and the clarity of the production, if a bit too clean with the instruments, makes them even nicer to listen to. The vocals, literally the only thing that's consistently good (or consistent at all). Probs a mix of both 'cause even some of the more energetic songs like Uprising, Resistance, MKU and US are weirdly.eh. Not sure if it's 100% down to the cold, lifeless production or the fact that there's just too many slow songs. You can narrow it down to blends of, like, 3 genres for the most part. No other Muse albums makes me crave a remaster more. Matt's tones ain't great and the mix is a landfill. Some of it's soft/cheesy as fook (Starlight, Invin, Glorious, Soaked) and some of it's genuinely sad (Map, Hoodoo) but, either way, it turns me into a puddle. In Matt's voice, the lyrics, the melodies and the composition - everything. Part of me wants to say the introduction of more electronic/poppy elements but then half the album's, like, classical western prog rock? The one thing that's consistent through most of it though I think is the emoootions. Hard to pin down the one thing that makes be love BH&R so much. It's not even something I can 100% sort out with a re-ordered playlist. Flow's non-existent and there are too many meh songs (TSP, TOADA, TIRO, maybe even Blackout). It was probs intentional at the time but, eh, it'd just be that bit more perfect if they were a bit fuller. It's the only thing that's ever consistently bugged me about OOS. Matt's guitar tones sound really thin and sharp. Nothing else gives me the exact fixes that Origin does.

You can hear some of the influences they still have even now but they actually made their own thing with them as opposed to just imitating. Hate to parrot but yesyesyes the originality. I can enjoy it sometimes but it's a 50/50 between that and finding it a bit cringeworthy. It's still a long way from the Newton Abbot Demo but you could tell Matt was still coming into his own. The immaturity in the songwriting and lyrics. That level of personal closeness is something totally unique to Showbiz imo, even if I totally understand why he started covering it up. Dude sounds like he's genuinely ripping his heart out mid-recording with some of those voice cracks and screams. The emotional vulnerability (aka whining? ) in the lyrics and Matt's voice.
