WILL OF THE PEOPLE

Muse's 2022 album 'Will of the People' is an interesting creative choice for a band that has had its fair share of criticism and controversy, with the record conceived as an imagined 'best-of' compilation of entirely new songs. And while thematically the album is reflective of the state of the world, which would naturally indicate the darker tones and the overall angst of the lyrics, the actual experience of listening to 'Will of the People' is one of a mostly unsuccessful attempt at an eclecticism that unwinds as rather chaotic and generally uninspiring, rather than being the best presentation of a great band that has in any case been able to cover a variety of styles over the course of its career.

Some of the songs on here do come off as obnoxious Queen impressions, such as the title track album opener or 'Liberation', with a taste for cringe-worthy and unoriginal lyrics that pervades over the entire LP. Occasionally futuristic rock sounds, occasionally ironically standard, the listener might actually arrive at a misconception about the direction of the band as well as the album - failing to capture the edge of their early 2000s sound, ultimately much more focused and innovative, while 'Will of the People' mostly falls into the categories of derivative, forgettable and tasteless, unfortunately. The musical presentation is an avalanche of styles that are all seemingly butchered by the band's aimless songwriting and the electronic sounds' punctuation that comes off as uninteresting, despite the fact that the eclectic nature of the record had been desired and sought-after. Nevertheless, 'Compliance', 'You Make Me Feel Like It's Halloween' and 'Verona' are among the better tracks on the album.

I'm something of a fan of this band having discovered them just after 2003's Absolution which still in my eyes is one of the best albums of this century. Can this current release possibly get anyway near that?! Well they give it a good go for sure. Not many bands have a guy as talented as Matt Bellamy and he very much helms this release writing all 10 of the original songs. In general not much nowadays cuts through for me either lyrically or musically. This manages to do both on every track. It does lay it down clearly that we live in a world on the brink of disaster and really there is no other conclusion to be drawn , unless you live in fairy land. Matt indulges his favourite themes of government control , ''brainwashing'' if you like, on the tracks Will Of The People, Liberation and Compliance but every song is a different entity expressing a different aspect of the same feeling. My favourite tracks are mostly on the second side of the album (vinyl wise) Kill Or Be Killed is an excellent metal influenced track while Verona is just so sublime and beautiful. I especially love the pipe organ on You Make Me Feel Like It's Halloween , probably the first time its been used since Meglomania on the Origin Of Symmetry album. Alienation, helplessness and despair abound and if we don't do something soon then the final track can only be true and we (really) are f**king f**ked! Overall in prog terms this could just be written off as there are no extended pieces like The Globalist or Exogenesis Symphony. However it very much floats my boat and flows very nicely.