In the run up to the recording and release of Drones, each member of the Muse trio have been quoted as saying they were aiming for a ‘back-to-basics’ sound. For a long time, the group have been known for a maximalist sound using a plethora of effects, extraneous instrumentation and a wall-of-sound approach on such tracks as “Map of the Problematique”, “Stockholm Syndrome” and “The 2nd Law: Unsustainable” but the sort of ‘basics’ the group were heading for was unclear as the band’s influences are incredibly varied. The recruitment of Mutt Lange as producer indicated a hard rock record, as his resumé includes working with the likes of AC/DC and Def Leppard among others, and for some fans this would allow a sigh of relief.
Back-to-basics would surely mean going back to the group’s initial influences, right? Wrong. On Drones, what is present is a combination of many genres of music which Muse have made a habit of incorporating into their sound. Classic rock such as Van Halen and Queen are heard through pieces of guitar and close vocal harmonies. Matt Bellamy channels Eddie Van Halen on the tapped guitar part to “Reapers” while “Dead Inside” and “Defector” use the group’s frequent homage to Mercury & co. to add an extra dynamic to the select songs. Furthermore, on “Psycho”’s 15 year old, much-played-live riff the group use their Rage Against the Machine influence to form a song that is a consistent punch to the face. One final, surprise, sound on Drones is the inclusion of church music and gospel influences on “Drones” as a surprise ending to the album as Bellamy’s voice is looped and layered over and over as he sings of how his family was “killed by drones”. So, with the several sounds at work on Drones so far, the group don’t seem to be ‘back-to-basics’.
Since The Resistance tour, Muse have included “Man with a Harmonica” by Ennio Morricone as a fitting prelude to “Knights of Cydonia” and with this old Western, Once Upon a Time in the West vibe the group have formed “The Globalist”. This ten minute opus smoothly segues from the old West to modern prog, space and hard rock in Muse’s boldest move since the inclusion of their “Exogenesis” pseudo-symphony on The Resistance. This is a true highlight of Drones and its ten minutes seem like much less in what could very well have been an absolute shambles.
Lyrically, Drones is a concept album that plays to Matt Bellamy’s strengths as a paranoid conspiracy theorist and, as the album’s title suggests, Bellamy’s issue with drone warfare and his worry that the world’s population is turning into mindless parasites are the focus here. Previously, the band have built towards the current theme as The Resistance focussed on the need for change after the economic crash, The 2nd Law took note of the world’s propensity to self-destruct (be it through the use of fossil fuels or by mindlessly following political leaders) and this progression in ideals has continued into Drones. The album as a whole works to form an Orwellian dystopic world where individualistic thinkers are maligned and ‘drones’ are used at the whim of “the ghosts and shadows” (as referenced in “Mercy”) of a ‘Big Brother’ type figure. The main issue with the lyrical content is that, while it forms a cogent narrative that depicts a man’s transition from heartbroken (“I’m dead inside”), to mindless killing machine (“who’ll kill on my command”) then to liberated thinker (“I’m a defector”), it does seem to be awkwardly clunky at times (“Now you can kill from the safety of your home with drones / Amen”).
While Drones won’t be expected to win ‘Album of the Year’ from reputable music review outlets, the record is an incredibly well put together album that packs the punch required from this band. Operatic vocals, heavy doses of guitars, bass and drums and catchy choruses are all found in abundance on a record whose definition of back-to-basics merely means it’s just the Muse trio – no extra musicians. In short, Drones delivers exactly what a Muse fan wants and when comparing the album to Muse’s back-catalogue, it could very well be their best record since 2006’s Black Holes and Revelations and will keep many critics, fans and casual listeners happy along the way.
Release: 8th June 2015
Genre: Alternative Rock
Previous Notable Works: Black Holes and Revelations (2006), Origins of Symmetry (2001) and The 2nd Law (2012)
Influences: Queen, Rage Against the Machine and Van Halen
Contemporaries: Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys and Coldplay
“Mercy”
“Dead Inside”
