[Music] Muse "The 2nd Law"

Earlier today, Muse unveiled the new single off their upcoming album, The 2nd Law, set to be released in October. It's called Madness and you can listen to it here:



This is the third track to be released from the new album so far. Survival was their slightly overdone theme song for the Olympics this year while Unsustainable offered an odd mixture of orchestral and dubstep elements that you'd really have to hear for yourself to know what I'm talking about. In contrast, the new song Madness is a more mellow, electronically laced ballad that sounds like it draws elements from Queen and U2 at a couple spots.

That said, the songs have proven to be tough pills to swallow for some simply because they all sound so vastly different from each other and feature yet another shift in the band's musical direction. They've actually managed to grow on me in one way or another though, and I stand by the belief that Muse is among the ranks of one of the most talented groups in the industry today.

If there are any Muse fans reading this, I'm curious as to what your thoughts are on the changes they've made and if would you get the new album? Feel free to discuss.

I am a huge Muse fan, always have been since I heard their early work, but I have to say this was a step in the wrong direction for them D: I've had Madness on repeat ever since it was released earlier today and I love this song, but Survival and Unsustainable were... tbh, kinda bad D: Especially Unsustainable, I didn't like that song at all. It just doesn't feel like a song to me :/ Whether or not the rest of the album will follow suit we're yet to find out, but I'm just hoping it's a lot different to what's been released so far. I've heard that their next single is meant to resemble Undisclosed Desires which I'm looking forward to, but I'm just hoping they'll have a least a couple songs of their usual style in the mix rather than all this new stuff they've been doing. I'm sure these songs will all be amazing live though so I am excited for their next tour <3

I like "Madness" and I think "Survival" is okay, but I agree "Unsustainable" is well.... unsustainable. I have been a fan since mid 2009 a few months before "Uprising" came out, and I have to say, I hope that they don't go completely electronic. I thought The Resistance was one of their best albums, and they were going in the right direction with that album. Although I don't think this new album The 2nd Law will be able to top Absolution. I just hope it is a good album.

What I've heard is awful. They're supposed to be grandiose and operatic but none of it has any substance this time. Survival, in particular, is remarkably disinteresting for a song that's trying to emulate Queen so boldly. I hate the phrase 'style over substance' but the song does remind me rather acutely of a glittery yet flaccid penis.

Never been a huge fan of Muse anyway so I'm not anticipating much.

So the album is now available to stream online a week early and it's... interesting to say the least. Personally, I think Muse might've dropped the ball on this one, but that's not to say it's all bad. Supremacy is a killer opener and I would call it their best song since Knights of Cydonia. Panic Station and Follow Me show some variety which is good, but Save Me and Liquid State are the standout tracks in my opinion. They are the songs that bassist Chris Wolstenholme wrote and sang after overcoming alcoholism. Madness, Survival, and Unsustainable may have been the only new songs we had heard before now, but on the album itself they fall rather flat. The rest is mediocre.

Overall, I was not really impressed by The 2nd Law. Supremacy is a good rocker and Chris's two songs are enjoyable, but Muse didn't break any new ground for me this time. The phrase 'style over substance' comes to mind here, which saddens me to associate with the same band that created quality albums such as Origin of Symmetry and Absolution.