As much as I love albums like "Origin" and "Absolution," I'm also all about progression. I would be disappointed if they were to keep rehashing those albums, although I love them. "Black Holes" was great too. I think "The Resistance" was their first step in the "eh" direction, and I was hoping that this album could pull them back in and redeem them. Nope. It seems like they're really trying to break through to the American radio audience. The few tracks that stood out (Supremacy, Madness, Animals, Survival) still felt like there was lots of room for improvement. A lot of the album was also just completely unoriginal. I'm all about paying tribute to your influences, but a lot of things on this album are just so blatant it becomes a distasteful rip-off. Although I don't think it's a terrible song, "Panic Station" really rubbed me the wrong way with Matt's blatant Freddie Mercury-isms, and that bassline... "Follow Me," the heartfelt tribute to his newly born son, sounds like a bad dubstep club banger. I'm sure we'll be hearing that one on commercials once we get sick of "Too Close." "Explorers" is already a Muse song: "Invincible." Seriously. Sing the chorus of "Invincible" on top of the chorus of "Explorers." The chord progression and half the vocal melody is nearly identical. Honestly, I liked the Wolstenholme led songs, but they still seemed lacking in some elements. "Big Freeze" blatantly sounds like U2 meets INXS. The last two tracks are pretty cool though.
I don't mean to rant, but I was looking forward to this album so badly, and it pretty much let me down from start to finish.

Originally Posted by Steeeve Perry

Muse to me are amazingly talented musicians, but not talented songwriters.

I actually feel the opposite. I don't feel like they're bad, or even mediocre, musicians, but I feel like their solid songwriting masks a lot of their talent. Bellamy, no doubt, is a great pianist, but I felt like he hides his guitar playing behind too many effects. Unlike Tom Morello, his "guitar and an amp" style playing isn't really extraordinary, so he masks it with over the top tricks. Wolstenholme is a a stand out bassist, and Howard is an alright drummer. I really like Muse, but I feel like they're incredibly overrated.

Originally Posted by Steeeve Perry

So you think their songwriting masks their musical strengths to a degree? That sounds like they're not making the best songwriting decisions. Which kind backs up my theory haha.

Well, earlier Muse hah. Now I just think their songwriting is at the same level as their musicianship, which is why they're putting out weaker albums. I think Bellamy is a great composer, but there's probably only 1 or 2 stand out guitar parts on The 2nd Law. Didn't sound like he was trying to break any new ground with his vocals either.