Madness reviews

[sade]

So bizarre seeling the overwhelmingly positive critic response. I mean, with Muse even the positive/neutral reviews tend to be spiked with some below-the-belt jabs.

[Magnolia86]

Muse – Madness (4/5)

Well Muse have been quiet for the last couple of years. 2009 saw the release of their last album, The Resistance, and since then? Not a lot. Not until now, because they’re back. The band first made an appearance at the London 2012 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony, which pre-empted a resurfacing from them, and now the British supergroup are releasing a single ahead of their sixth studio album, entitled The 2nd Law. Entitled Madness, this song is the medium through which Muse have chosen to rear their heads again, and it has to be said, it’s very different.

There was a bit of a scare a couple of months ago when listeners got a preview of the new Muse through YouTube and were worried. “Oh no!” came the cries, “Muse have gone dubstep!” Well, it looks like those claims have become a bit of a reality. Madness is slow, electronic, pulsing, thudding dance/dubstep. It does, however, have a lot of redeeming features. It is very, very progressive and yet somehow very classic Muse. It’s definitely catchy, it has a great, pulsating beat to it, and vocally it gets listeners singing along with the endlessly repeated “m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-mad, mad, mad” (it looks daft when it’s written down) even if they don’t like the song.

The best thing about it, though, is that Madness builds up in a very satisfying way. It sneaks up on a listener and manages to explode into an epic finale section at about three minutes in, without anyone listening actually noticing it’s coming until it happens. It’s clever, and from then on until the end, the song becomes fantastic.

It’s well titled too because it does seem to epitomise feelings of madness (especially if listened to through large headphones) in musical form. The drums pound very heavily on listeners ears, and there doesn’t seem to be any guitar work that isn’t smothered in chaotic-sounding effects so much it no longer sounds like a guitar, except for a brief (and well played) solo. As always with Muse, the bass work is phenomenal. Hats off to Chris Wolstenholme, again.

The vocal work sounds very familiar, very typical Muse, which obviously it would do. But, it also sounds suspiciously like a bit of an ode to Queen. This reviewer wonders if that’s deliberate. Do Muse fancy themselves a bit of a new Queen?

By releasing it ahead of, The 2nd Law, an album due for release on October 2nd 2012 (clever.), Muse are playing a dangerous game, because this is a very love/hate kind of song. Fans of the old Muse, where the main instrument was a guitar rather than a synthesizer (Origin of Symmetry) aren’t going to like this song. At all. But that’s not the point, is it? Muse are moving on, experimenting with new sounds, and expecting the true fans of their music to come along for the ride. As well they should. It’s different from the Devon rockers, but not necessarily bad. Muse are drawing a line under their older material and beginning a new phase of their musical career. And we as listeners should all watch with interest, these guys aren’t done yet.

http://www.bornmusiconline.com/muse-madness/

[Jobby]

Why the fuck do people keep saying 'Muse is back/have resurfaced/have been quiet for a long time' etc? They made an album and toured it, the only time they went quiet was after Leeds/Reading last year. The way people are going on about it, you'd think they'd been on hiatus or something.

[JamesPHD]

Originally Posted by Electricmuser96

Why the fuck do people keep saying 'Muse is back/have resurfaced/have been quiet for a long time' etc? They made an album and toured it, the only time they went quiet was after Leeds/Reading last year. The way people are going on about it, you'd think they'd been on hiatus or something.

To be honest, I was surprised The 2nd Law is coming out so soon.

[Gareeh]

Originally Posted by JamesPHD

To be honest, I was surprised The 2nd Law is coming out so soon.

word

They said they were going on a hiatus

Which lasted about a month

Originally Posted by forevermusic

I'm quite surprised it's gotten quite positive reviews given it is a rather flat piece.

Well maybe people who aren't dim realise it's minimal and that's what minimal music should be like whereas this fucking forum think the production/vocals/synths have been recorded wrong.

Fuck-a-doodle-doo people

[_A_]

I am not surprised. Madness is a great Muse song.

However, am waiting for Mojo's, Q's, Pitchfork's , Uncut's, Under The Radar's, Drowned in Sound's blah blah (do they all still exist? ) ... All the reviews posted so far are mostly or probably just Musers' blogs (even the NME's )

[_A_]

Originally Posted by Magnolia86

Muse – Madness (4/5)

Entitled Madness, this song is the medium through which Muse have chosen to rear their heads again, and it has to be said, it’s very different.

Madness is slow, electronic, pulsing, thudding dance/dubstep. It does, however, have a lot of redeeming features. It is very, very progressive and yet somehow very classic Muse. It’s definitely catchy, it has a great, pulsating beat to it, and vocally it gets listeners singing along with the endlessly repeated “m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-mad, mad, mad” (it looks daft when it’s written down) even if they don’t like the song.

The best thing about it, though, is that Madness builds up in a very satisfying way. It sneaks up on a listener and manages to explode into an epic finale section at about three minutes in, without anyone listening actually noticing it’s coming until it happens. It’s clever, and from then on until the end, the song becomes fantastic.

It’s well titled too because it does seem to epitomise feelings of madness (especially if listened to through large headphones) in musical form. The drums pound very heavily on listeners ears, and there doesn’t seem to be any guitar work that isn’t smothered in chaotic-sounding effects so much it no longer sounds like a guitar, except for a brief (and well played) solo. As always with Muse, the bass work is phenomenal. Hats off to Chris Wolstenholme, again.

The vocal work sounds very familiar, very typical Muse, which obviously it would do. But, it also sounds suspiciously like a bit of an ode to Queen. This reviewer wonders if that’s deliberate. Do Muse fancy themselves a bit of a new Queen?

By releasing it ahead of, The 2nd Law, an album due for release on October 2nd 2012 (clever.), Muse are playing a dangerous game, because this is a very love/hate kind of song. Fans of the old Muse, where the main instrument was a guitar rather than a synthesizer (Origin of Symmetry) aren’t going to like this song. At all. But that’s not the point, is it? Muse are moving on, experimenting with new sounds, and expecting the true fans of their music to come along for the ride. As well they should. It’s different from the Devon rockers, but not necessarily bad. Muse are drawing a line under their older material and beginning a new phase of their musical career. And we as listeners should all watch with interest, these guys aren’t done yet.

http://www.bornmusiconline.com/muse-madness/

This sounds like my review. Pretty much.

[JamesPHD]

Originally Posted by _A_

I am not surprised. Madness is a great Muse song.

However, am waiting for Mojo's, Q's, Pitchfork's , Uncut's, Under The Radar's, Drowned in Sound's blah blah (do they all still exist? ) ... All the reviews posted so far are mostly or probably just Musers' blogs (even the NME's )

I would care what Pitchfork wrote if it wasn't written from all the way up Thom Yorke's ass.

"By releasing it ahead of, The 2nd Law, an album due for release on October 2nd 2012 (clever.), Muse are playing a dangerous game, because this is a very love/hate kind of song. Fans of the old Muse, where the main instrument was a guitar rather than a synthesizer (Origin of Symmetry) aren’t going to like this song. At all. But that’s not the point, is it? Muse are moving on, experimenting with new sounds, and expecting the true fans of their music to come along for the ride. As well they should. It’s different from the Devon rockers, but not necessarily bad. Muse are drawing a line under their older material and beginning a new phase of their musical career. And we as listeners should all watch with interest, these guys aren’t done yet"

To be honest, I sort of love/hate what he has written here. I understand what he is saying but Origin of Symmetry is my favourite album and yet I really like Madness.

[_A_]

Don't get me wrong, am not a fan at all of Pitchfork. It would be interesting if they find Madness hip enough for their liking / tastes.

[forevermusic]

Originally Posted by Gareeh

Well maybe people who aren't dim realise it's minimal and that's what minimal music should be like whereas this fucking forum think the production/vocals/synths have been recorded wrong.

Fuck-a-doodle-doo people

Of course it's a minimal piece - not the most minimal (there's some Depeche Mode songs that are just keyboard and vocal, and there are certainly other minimalist songs) but certainly it's a lot more simplistic than other Muse songs.

It's all opinion but I just felt underwhelmed by it.

[Jobby]

I'm fine with how minimal it is, I actually really like the minimalism of it. Matt's vocals just don't fit with it until the very end for me, and I really hate the 'mamama' thing.

[mepds9]

Originally Posted by Electricmuser96

I'm fine with how minimal it is, I actually really like the minimalism of it. Matt's vocals just don't fit with it until the very end for me, and I really hate the 'mamama' thing.

So true. I really like the fact that they try new sounds, but Madness just doesn't do it for me. None of the things I love Muse for are present; only Matt's singing in the last part of the song. Unsustainable was extremely different, and I still loved it. I even got to like Survival. Still think it's gonna be an awesome album, more concept-like like OOS (my favorite).

[chudenk]

https://www.twitter.com/keaneofficia...16946554310656

[zomuse]

I dunno if it's been mentioned elsewhere yet but...

[Chryse]

Of course Glambert loves it.