LIVE: MUSE @ THE LG ARENA 30/10/12

Here is a list of things that you will find at a Muse gig that are Not A Big Deal:

• Massive lasers
• An inverted pyramid that moves into different formations during the show and projects businessmen and cartoon men with Pringles-moustaches
• Drummer Dom Howard dressed as a ninja to fight off said businessmen

The band have honed their live show to a fine art, actually toning it down this time after the vertigo-inducing towers that Bellamy, Howard and Wolstenholme played on while touring The Resistance. Running around the back of the stage is a slanted wall of lights that, when it isn’t projecting thought-provoking and sometimes hilarious visuals, transforms into a roulette wheel designed to pick the last song of the main set. This playful suspense has been taken in the right spirit by the fans, who are no longer surprised by anything that happens during a Muse show.

And what of the music, I hear you ask? As the lights go down, the first strains of controversial track ‘The 2nd Law: Unsustainable’ blare out, and as the song reaches its ‘dubstep’ (I use that term very loosely) climax the band appear and thrash out noises never before heard from guitars. The track was written with opening live shows in mind, and it works perfectly, whipping the crowd into a frenzy. The afore-mentioned roulette wheel chooses Stockholm Syndrome tonight, and it is one of the highlights of the night, along with the resurrection of fan favourite ‘Sunburn’.

What is most surprising about the show is witnessing Matt Bellamy, who seems to be a changed man on stage. Gone is the near silence between songs; Bellamy is extremely chatty and interacting with fans, commenting on one fan’s flashing hair “I’ll have to get that done next tour”. For several songs such as ‘Undisclosed Desires’ and ‘Follow Me’ the frontman is unencumbered by guitars or guitar-shaped instruments and takes this opportunity to strut around the stage and venture into the crowd.

This is far from a one-man show, however, as bassist Chris Wolstenholme moves centre-stage to perform ‘Liquid State’, one of two songs written by Wolstenholme on The 2nd Law. His shy thanks to the crowd belies the assured performance of a satisfyingly heavy song, bound to become a live favourite during the course of the tour.  Muse have of late monopolised the ‘Best Live Band’ title at numerous awards shows, but this is not without reason, as even now the band are evolving their live show and adding more strings to their bows.

ALBUM: MUSE - THE 2ND LAW

A new Muse album is an event in every sense, whether you like them or not. Each new offering is heralded by an audacious and daring teaser; for Black Holes and Revelations it was the super-groovy ‘Supermassive Black Hole’, for The Resistance the outlandish and outrageous ‘United States of Eurasia’. The 2^nd Law is no exception here; the album trailer released in June, containing part of ‘The 2^nd Law: Unsustainable’, had fans and critics alike utterly bemused as to how and why Muse had ‘turned dubstep’. Today, they will find out if this is the case.

It turns out that dubstep is not where Muse are headed, despite their experiment to make “Skrillex but with real instruments”. ‘Follow Me’ is the only other track that is even remotely in this vein, as Nero electrofies a tender ode to fatherhood driven by the beat of Matt Bellamy’s son in utero. These explorations are relatively successful once the shock has worn off.

And there are a lot of shocks on this album. Where to start? There’s ‘Panic Station’ where Muse succeed in out-Princeing Prince, ‘Save Me’ where bassist Chris Wolstenholme steps up to the mic and delivers a stunningly gentle performance amid some nice guitar work by Bellamy, and ‘Animals’ where, god forbid, Muse actually do sound a tiny little bit like Radiohead! But don’t let the 5/4 time signature fool you: this track is Absolution-era Muse taken to a whole new level.

In fact the only songs that don’t surprise are ‘Survival’ and ‘Supremacy’, the band mashing together every element that makes up the essence of the Muse sound. ‘Survival’ is packed with ridiculous (in a bad way) lyrics and even more ridiculous (in a good way) vocal gymnastics from Bellamy, and the riffs-and-strings combination in ‘Supremacy’ makes you wonder why this isn’t the new Bond theme instead of Adele (‘Supremacy’ even finishes with a classic spy-thriller chord, for god’s sake).

With such apparent discordance, it’s easy to forget that there is a theme here; a scientific spin on current economic events is put forward and littered throughout the record, climaxing at the 2-part album closers. Even these two tracks are rather odd put next to each other, but can easily stand alone as solid offerings. ‘Isolated System’ is perhaps more effective than its companion, as layer upon layer of haunting keys is painted onto an aural canvas, joined by recordings of news reporters documenting our current doom. The infant heartbeat used earlier in the album reappears and then makes way to an almost trance-like beat, and just as real drums phase out the electronics – it ends. The song shuts down slowly and completely, like a machine that has run its course and run out of energy because of entropy. Or something like that.

Luckily, your science knowledge doesn’t have to be top-notch to enjoy The 2^nd Law. And it really is to be enjoyed; there is a playfulness here that was sadly lacking on The Resistance. Of course, this means that the band are more Marmite than they have ever been, but for people on the ‘love’ side of the divide this record is a joy to listen to. 

9/10

Buy The 2nd Law here

NEW MUSIC: MUSE - MADNESS

Check it out here

So the first official single from Muse's upcoming album The 2nd Law is finally here, after having been put back a week. And 'Madness' is, in a word, bonkers. It opens with slick, sticky synths and a vocal loop treated with the appropriate amount of auto-tuning for a 21st century pop track. It's the most minimal and straightforward track to come from the band in a long, long time, an effect compounded by Bellamy's simple lyrics about having a fight with Kate Hudson (as you do). By the time you are finally convinced that there really is such a thing as a minimal Muse song (although the Queen-esque vocal layering may have fooled you), the soundscapes return and a moving chorus kicks in. The skill of this song is in its ability to both make you laugh and become serious in the space of 4 minutes. The 2nd Law is released on 1st October. 

Muse

NEW MUSIC: MUSE - THE 2ND LAW: UNSUSTAINABLE

Yesterday (09/08/12) Muse announced a series of special preorders for their upcoming album The 2nd Law, which included a download of a video for 'The 2nd Law: Unsustainable' as a preorder perk. This is the song from which the music for the controversial album trailer was taken, and while the full song does not contain an awful lot more than the trailer already gave us, there is a stunning middle section in which the classical and "dupstep" elements are combined and accompanied by wails of despair from frontman Matt Bellamy. Reaction to this, as to all of Muse's work, appears to be mixed but overall the signs for The 2nd Law are very encouraging. New single 'Madness' is due to be released on August 20th.

Preorder The 2nd Law here