Muse - Will of the People
Rock – Released August 26, 2022 – 10 songs, 37 mins
LUNDI
Stepping up on to the theoretical review stage this week on TSR are English rock trio Muse. With a devout cult like following built on the backs of the band’s unique musicianship and incredible live shows, fans of Muse were surely ecstatic about their ninth studio album, Will of the People, being promoted as completely new music with a greatest hits mentality. It’s a concept worth salivating over for sure, but it’s also a very fine line. Did the band take that thought process too far?
On the surface Will of the People certainly brings everything to the table you’ve come to expect from Muse. From the opening notes the trio blast tracks from the speakers that make you feel as though 10 bandmates were in the studio producing the unique metalcore sound. It was trail blazing when they first hit the airwaves, and there continues to be few if any who can duplicate their sound to this level of perfection. Matt Bellamy’s falsetto vocals and incredible guitar riffs (often double necked) lead the way with precision while backed by the booming drums and bass duo of Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenhome. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before but this level of musical excellence deserves all of the recognition.
Digging deeper into Will of the People finds the band taking the greatest hits direction a little too seriously though when considering the song subjects and lyrics. Are Muse oppressed by the powers that be? (Will of the People) Are Muse the powers that be? (Compliance) Is Bellamy going through a bad break up? (Ghosts) Do the band just wanna have a spooky Halloween? (You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween). To say the album has no sense of overall meaning is putting it lightly. It’s what you’d expect when you combine 20 years of band backlog with their *actual* greatest hits, but I’m not sure it’s what the record company had in mind at that pitch meeting. Maybe I’ve become too reformed by the cohesive and impactful writing at the forefront of modern music and turning a blind eye to the old rockers is the proper move in this situation but it’s a switch that is so very hard to turn off.
As a complete product Will of the People is a confusing mess that still manages to scratch the itch of any music lover craving for something a little more hard hitting. Had this album been an early 2000’s collection in lieu of their much more polished efforts, Muse may never have risen to rock stardom, but in 2022 as hard hitting guitars and punk roots are creeping back into modern music, Muse did enough to stay relevant as individual album tracks certainly have merit as valiant efforts. Beauty doesn’t always live and die with the sum of total package, but more so an appreciation of its individual parts.
Muse lack inspiration and direction on Will of the People but with so few bands succeeding in following the trail they blazed, the album certainly does enough to please. Press play and turn up the volume.
Overall Rating: 7.7/10
Favourite Song: Kill or Be Killed
ROZ
Now here’s a blast from the past for this reviewer. Growing up on albums such as Absolution and Black Holes and Revelations (which I definitely recommend for any reader who enjoys rock music in general), the thought of reviewing a new Muse album, many years removed from the former mentioned, was a very exciting experience. Admittedly falling out of favor over the years in lieu of personal tastes for different genres, leave it to Too Sweet Reviews and its magical way of bringing all types of music to the forefront to get Muse back in my rotation. Will this new effort be as ear shattering as the ones I remember? There’s only one way to find out.
It must be said, above all else: Matt Bellamy is an amazing artist. Bellamy is known for writing most of Muse’s albums himself except in unusual circumstances - this fact is proven once again as he stands tall as the sole writer on their ninth studio album, Will of the People. His distinct, powerful voice with its signature tenor range has noticeably weakened by a small margin but considering his long and bountiful career, this is to be expected (the man is damn year 50 and still belting it out the way he is, simply amazing). Muse’s unique style of rock music makes itself known as crunchy guitar power chords, squealing solos, haunting church organs, squelchy step sequencers, distorted pedal effects, layered vocoder elements and upwards arpeggio’s fire past your eardrums and directly into your cortex. Selfishly this reviewer is happy that this album took on a more general approach to the band's sound rather than going in a new direction, for nostalgia's sake. Euphoria grabs enough from my favorite song Knights of Cydonia to warrant a giant smile across my face. Happy.
Lyrically a theme of “doom and gloom” looms over the entirety of the record like a dark cloud in a storm would, with Bellamy making his point known that our society is going through a very tumultuous and worrying period in history, this message being even a little too on the nose at times (see the final track of the album for the perfect example of this - We Are Fucking Fucked … thanks for the reminder Matt). From COVID-19, to American politics, to natural disasters, and even to an elitist Big Brother-type state controlling the world and de-sensitizing the masses to their dominance and control; this is definitely not an album for the faint of heart or for anyone currently going through an existential crisis. While I previously mentioned that elements of Will of the People make me happy, a happy album this is not.
Described by the band as being “a greatest hits album of new songs”, that is exactly what Will of the People sets out to be, and it is successful in its venture. Shades of Muse’s old albums are plastered across the entire track listing, spanning from light piano ballads (Ghosts) to absolute brain melters (Kill Or Be Killed), and a few easter eggs in between. The question remains: is this a great album? After finding the strength to tear off the nostalgia glasses, this reviewer simply sees Will of the People as more of a fan service rather than a legitimate quest to make a fantastic record. With that being said, their hits are great - back to 2004 I go.
Overall Rating: 7.5/10
Favourite Song: Euphoria
REID
One of my favourite parts of TSR is finally digging into artists I’ve put off for too long. That applies directly to this week’s band, Muse. The English rock trio have been together since 1994 and have released a whopping nine studio albums since 1999. Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard have been busy. Songs like Starlight (2006) and Uprising (2009) crept into mainstream rotation and piqued my interest but I never took that next step. Let’s give Will of the People a go.
I have as many thoughts as this album has directions. Let’s begin with general. Matt Bellamy is some kind of musical sorcerer. The shit this man pulls off is incredible. Whether it’s falsetto vocals with a bit of scream-o sprinkled in, synth-rock elements injected by the keyboard or shredding of that guitar, he is truly a genius. My initial listens were with minimal prior knowledge on the band’s makeup and I was impressed to learn three men were making this collection of sounds. With Chris on bass and Dominic on drums, the crew boast great chemistry.
In the simplest of terms, Will of the People just doesn’t have many stand out songs. The titular track opens things up with major Marilyn Manson vibes. I’ll never miss an opportunity to make a shout out to Big Shiny Tunes 2. The catchy, stadium-anthem guitar is a definite live crowd pleaser. Won’t Stand Down is a tale of two styles with skippable verses but some sweet guitar licks. Muse flash their diversity on the back half of the album with the heavy Kill or Be Killed, electronic Verona and fast-paced Euphoria, which ultimately stands as my favourite.
Who’s in the mood for some math? The run time of this album is 37 minutes and 40 seconds. Compliance and You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween are 4:11 and 3:01 respectively totaling seven minutes and twelve seconds. The result? 19% of this album is hot garbage. Workplace training videos found their new go-to backing track in the former. And the latter is just as bad as ABBA and their Christmas song at #4. It’s tough to get past those bold lyrics.
Despite the immense talent, Will of the People leaves a lot to be desired. Muse is an acquired taste as is but this one is like drinking a Guinness; I can get through it but I don’t particularly enjoy it.
Overall Rating – 6.5/10
Favourite Song - Euphoria