Muse’s latest venture, “The 2nd Law,” references everything from Michael Jackson to dubstep to Queen (this is Muse, after all). The result is a massive variety that, though somewhat tied together under the banner of Muse’s unsubtle, riotous sound, doesn’t fully manage to come together. And, after 18 years, the group’s sound is starting to get a little stale. Despite being a wild ride, even its latest album suffers somewhat from this insipidity.
The insipidity stems from the recurring sound. The group’s arena rock presence, combined with Matthew Bellamy’s iconic vocals, produce a sound that seems to resurface on every Muse album in some form or another. In spite of having one of modern rock’s most instantly recognizable (and most impressive) voices, Bellamy’s swelling melodies and pulsating falsettos make Muse’s songs sound very similar. And after six records, it’s really starting to show.
The lyrics deal with much of the same material as past Muse records. “Survival” has lyrical chants of “Fight!” mixed in with “It’s a race and I’m gonna win,” echoing the sentiments of past songs such as “Uprising” and “Knights of Cydonia.” The other songs on the album also discuss suitably epic topics with an “us against them” vibe.
Even the album’s name, a reference to the second law of thermodynamics, is right up the group’s spacey, sci-fi bent. The record is based around this inevitable flow of energy in nature, and thus humanity’s inevitable decline. Hence the tracks “The 2nd Law: Unsustainable” and “The 2nd Law: Isolated System.”
The album opens with one of its highest points, “Supremacy.” The track starts off hard, with an orchestra accompanied by Bellamy’s heavy metal guitar playing. Once the first verse hits, the track begins to hint at the James Bond theme and continues on in its orchestral grandeur. The horns, guitar, Bond-theme influence and extreme falsettos all make for a winning combination, reminding everyone that there is a method behind Muse’s madness.
“Animals” is the most straightforward song on the album. Bellamy’s operatic vocals and intricate guitars play off each other well. The song ends in an intense, driving descent into chaos and the result is a good old Muse tune.
Then there’s the craziest part: the dubstep.
“The 2nd Law: Unsustainable” starts off with a fast-paced string arrangement much like the urgent, ominous tones in a Batman movie, and then breaks into an all-out dubstep affair. Plenty of swells and staggered beats accompany a robotic voice saying “You’re unsustainable.”
“Follow Me” starts off reminiscent of Muse’s “Map of the Problematique” and then evolves into a full-fledged club song. These two songs certainly add to the variety of the album, but they also make it hard for the record to come across as a cohesive piece.
“The 2nd Law” is a well-executed but flawed record. The songs are well-written, but everything from the arena scope of the music to Bellamy’s falsettos have been heard before. Muse did throw a few distractions into “The 2nd Law,” but it ultimately just sounds like the same thing the group’s been doing for years.
““ Abhay Malik
Email Malik at amalik@media.ucla.edu.