Simulation Theory: Muse’s Dayglow Nightmare
It’s rare to see a band lose its absolute goddamn mind like Muse. That’s not to say that they’re the weirdest or most experimental band in the world, not when you have groups like Death Grips, Swans, or even their most regular comparison Radiohead still releasing music. What I am saying is that I think Muse has lost the script to their story. For their first four albums, Muse was one of the most consistently interesting and engaging bands of the 21st century, mixing massive anthemic hooks with a weird penchant for the artsy prog antics of 70s Rush and Queen. It was a mixture that could’ve been an absolute disaster, but Muse made it work with a healthy mix of creative concepts and a tongue-in-cheekness that made those concepts digestible. Origins of Symmetry and Absolution still remain two of the best mainstream rock albums of the 2000s, and with Black Holes and Revelations, the band was closer than ever to finding the perfect blend of Pop-Rock and experimentation that was their trademark sound. And after that… something happened.
The Resistance is a bizarre release looking back. The pieces of a great Muse album are there, and songs like “Uprising” are still crowd favorites, but all the delicate balancing of before had been replaced with overblown synths and a general lack of taste in making a cohesive product. After that came The 2nd Law, an album with more ideas than actual songwriting, and Drones, an album where the band went back to a rock sound, but with about three actual songs and conspiracy theories right out of Infowars. But now they’re back, with their eighth studio album Simulation Theory, an album that promises to take Muse in a brand new direction. I’d say they got about halfway.
Let’s talk about the big new addition that Muse has thrown into their soup; Synthwave. Muse is right back in the 80s, with the big shifting synth pads and highway bass lines that made the decade what it was. Except not at all. I apologize for jumping onto my soapbox, but on a personal level, there are few genres that do as little with as good an idea. Synthwave could have been a sonic palette to serve as a satire of 80s culture, the same way Vaporwave satirizes the isolating aspects of modern computer culture by distorting and abstracting the most innocuous corporate music into surreal monstrosities. instead you have the same bass loop and synths that serve fine as soundtracks for films like Drive, but is revealed to be completely hollow when left to its own devices. Instead of a throwback genre that takes all aspects of the time period into the music to create a genuine, poignant work, you’re left with an abysmally small space to work with, leading to a sterile genre. There’s no point to a genre if every song seems to soundtrack the same picture of a guy with a motorcycle in front of a purple sky.
Ok, that’s not completely fair to Muse. After the dullness that was Drones, Matt Bellamy and pals bring in every crazy idea they have in their backpacks. And new ideas are always a plus; they’re the reason The 2nd Law managed to be at the very least interesting. I’ll start with some positives. There are two songs on this album that I can say without qualification are genuinely good songs. “The Dark Side” manages to marry the Synthwave aesthetic with the usual scope of classic Muse, like “Time is Running Out” set in a neon spaceship. “Thought Contagion,” on the other hand, takes the cheese of the rest of the album, and just goes for it. From the massive stomping drums to the millennial whoop chorus, it doesn’t reach the levels of a “Knights of Cydonia,” but lands comfortably at the goofy fun of a “Madness.”
Unfortunately, the album runs pretty flat outside of the two big singles. And this isn’t like in Drones where the ideas just run out. No, the problem is that every idea the band has had since 2015 and probably earlier is all piled up to create bizarre, day glow monstrosities that barely sound like fully written songs, with the worst offender likely being “Propaganda,” a song that throws the idea of tastefulness out the window to the point of sounding like Ready Player One trailer music. The real dealbreaker, though? Just one day after listening to this album in its entirety, I’ve already forgotten what half the songs actually sound like. Once you strip away the pulsing synths and extraneous bullshit, you’re left with actual songs that Muse has written a dozen times. It’s not enough to experiment with the instrumentation; if the songs themselves stay the same, your album will just feel the same, but brighter.
I wanted this album to be good. I liked Muse for a long while, and I feel like there’s still a possibility of a new album by them actually being worthwhile. Instead, you’re left with the Kung Fury of music (Kung Fury sucks, by the way). You can’t hide behind the neon, Matt Bellamy. Eventually, you have to actually write some new songs.
Best Song: The Dark Side
Worst Song: Propaganda
4/10
