DRONES

I've always felt that the criticism towards Muse's Drones is way harsher than things actually are on the album. Such a solid record deserves more recognition, and I quite enjoy it and find myself revisiting it every now and then, even though I don't listen to a tenth of the amount of Muse I used to listen to.

None of their albums follow a story: mostly, they have an extremely vague concept that usually fails to give the albums cohesion. Not by at means they fixed it with Drones, but it was a huge step towards the right direction. The concept of wars, drones, people as pawns, the usual rage against the system, it's all a lot more present and felt throughout the songs. The interludes (Drill Sergeant, JFK) provide that in a great way. I know the interview where Bellamy said it was an actual story, but I bet he made it on the go. I don't buy that story by any means. Nonetheless, it's conceptual work, and a great one.

On this record, the band tried to escape from the electronic dubsteppy sound from the two previous releases and provided a much more rough and powerful sound. Fuzz-filled basslines and crunchy guitars give that, and the musicianship is great. It all goes really great with the concept.

The songs also do have a flow that pleases the listener. I'm not talking about songs with no silence in between, but a thought order that provides peaks and rest-time. The three last songs feel like a single piece and for me it's where the album shines the brightest.

Overall, it gets way less recognition than it deserves, and everyone, from the indie guy that thinks he's cooler because he has all the Arctic Monkeys albums, to the nerdiest prog snob, should give this album a couple of listens before saying it's a three-star record. It's not a masterpiece, but for me it scores somewhere between 4-4.5.