(Single from album, “The 2nd Law")
What is it about our beloved Muse? It doesn't seem to matter just how far they'll go in betraying their fans, or indeed how many times they reinvent, and change what makes them so great. Strangely enough though, what makes them truly brilliant prevails all; the true masters of the rock opera, treating popular music as classical composers treated their symphonies, and staging live performances the would surely rival the elusive and unlikely re-appearance of Jesus.
Charisma.
Not many bands had it. Not many do now. But Muse got it in a can a long way back. And it's what keeps us listening, even through such a seemingly-sellout attempt as this, their latest single...
On first seeing the cover, I did groan, horrendously, on seeing the dreadful 2012 Olympics logo. The Muse sound is very intelligent and refined, and since there's nothing inherently clever about the sporting mainstream, it seemed a shame to watch Muse slip into a new variation of 'sell-out mode' for the umpteenth time. But what do you actually get here?
Fits of synthesisers, screaming guitars and the truly unique vocal, rasping but so colourful that you can actually see Matt Bellamy with his eyes closed and his lips fixed on the microphone, spitting with the effort of musical passion. In fact the 'winning' theme to the song's lyrics is the only thing tying it to the olympics.
This new sound is nothing short of the expected leap in atmosphere from 2009's "The Resistance" on the debris scattered path that is Muse's relentless and continuously surprising evolution. It's got their key qualities but it brings something new; maybe some dub step flavour in there? It's already been announced that "The 2nd Law" will feature the new genre, penned by DJ favourites such as Skrillex and Nero, and maybe that goes a little way into subconsciously convincing the listener that a little 'wah-wah' influence was had on this track...?
Speculation aside, this is a great track. Those rousing choruses of "I will survive!" complement the agonising shriek of strangled instruments wonderfully, and the survival aspect of the song works well in conjunction with this to conjure the image of blood-rush, adrenalin, spontaneous bursts of energy, and of course, motivation; because, the main thing I noticed, is that you don't expect (or want) this track to be over in a mere 4 'and a bit' minutes...why not 9? Why not 15? You can't help but feel that the longer the better with Muse, especially when they're getting it right like this.
It is a shame about the Olympic 'tie-in-ness' here though, even though the track is strong. One can only hope that next time this ever almost happens, Muse have already gained deity like existence in and over the universe, and they simply smite the Olympic committee with a floaty guitar thingy and banish them to Hull for a 'fun' weekend away (if there is such a thing)...
You could ruin a song like this by bleating too much, but I will just say this. I am very excited about "The 2nd Law"...
★★★★
Versions of "Survival"
Album/Single Version – 4:18