IN REVIEW: Muse - "Simulation Theory"

Muse have never been shy about their shtick; whereas most bands are content to go about their business and evolve their sound from album to album, Muse often goes for the hard turns. Since rising to prominence worldwide with their third album Absolution fifteen years ago, they've constantly tinkered with their sound, infusing their subsequent albums with Europop (Black Holes and Revelations), symphonic suites (The Resistance), dubstep (The 2nd Law) and full-fledged wartime paranoia (Drones).

Throughout all of it, as ridiculous as the whole thing was getting, Muse presented each of these projects with a seriousness that begged uncertainty about their creative decision making. Was Matt Bellamy really so concerned about drones? Is this the time or place for a 12-minute symphony? Does the world need so much wub-wub accompanying this thinkpiece on thermodynamics?

With their eighth album, it appears as though Muse finally admits just how campy they've become and decided to run with it. Simulation Theory finds the band in full '80s mode and smirking about it, from that absolutely ludicrous album cover to the synths dripping from every nook and cranny. Having said that, there aren't really too many hard turns within the track list, depending on how jarring you find the chopped-up stuttering voice that dominates Propaganda, or the wobbly and exotic melodies on Break it to Me.

Underneath the gloss and the neon, Muse's most beloved touchstones are here; the operatic rock they became known for is present and accounted for on The Dark Side, and if you scale back the synths on this one and Blockades you can hear pretty clear echoes of Absolution. Even the most pop-leaning moments (like Something Human) aren't so far removed from some of their lighter singles like, say, Starlight. When they really go for the big pop moment, the arena-ready Get Up and Fight, it takes off rather than shocks with schmaltz.

The album's biggest letdown is Dig Down, which was released as a single eighteen months ahead of the album and feels dated and comes off as the outsider on Simulation Theory, the older sibling who isn't in on the joke. I get wanting to include the single for the completists, but the album would have been better off with it tacked on as a bonus track; in the penultimate slot, it sort of kills the momentum.

Still, I must admit just how fun Simulation Theory was to listen to. With the fog of pretension lifted somewhat, you can hear Muse enjoying themselves rather than meticulously slogging away at The Most Important Record in the History of Ever. Just listen to a song like Pressure, all high spirits, hand claps and fun riffs; there's no underlying message warning of the dangers of chemtrails, no pointed fingers or wringing hands, just a band banging out a top tune. Likewise, Simulation Theory isn't bogged down by an overwrought concept and doesn't suffer from a wild stylistic detour that nobody asked for. It plays to Muse's strengths and, while it's far from their peak, it is easily my favourite Muse record since Black Holes and Revelations.

November 9, 2018 • Warner Bros.
Highlights Pressure • Thought Contagion • Get Up and Fight

Year in Rock 2025

Alright, I've got some explaining to do. By now anyone who's visited this blog is well aware of how infrequently I've used this space in recent years; aside from the occasional fertile year of content, I really haven't posted all that often over the last five years or so. There are many reasons for this, which have already been outlined in previous apology posts; but, essentially, it boils down to my own laziness and the cold reality that blogs are, like Refused (again), fucking dead. So, I wouldn't hold my breath for a triumphant return to reviews, or even semi-regular posts, but: a) I feel like Year in Rock posts have always belonged here and, even though I've experimented with different methods of presentation recently and been satisfied, the "blink and you missed it" unveiling via Facebook stories this year was perhaps ultimately a disservice to the records I lauded. After all, cramming the list into short videos isn't too far off from ju...

Year in Rock 2011 Nominee: Sam Roberts Band

SAM ROBERTS BAND I Feel You From: Collider Released: May 10 Having already endured the breakout success ( Brother Down was Canada's it rock song of 2002), the tentative dabbling in the U.S. market, as is the rite of passage for all moderately successful Canuck artists (2003's debut We Were Born in a Flame was the best time to try; one of the best albums of the year, it made a small dent in the American mindset upon its release there a year later), the difficult, druggy third album (the aptly named 2005 disc Chemical City ), and the subdued creative step backward (2008's Love at the End of the World , aside from hit single Them Kids , was really kinda bland), it seems according to script that Sam Roberts would start settling in on his fourth album (and first with the band credited as equal contributors), Collider (you know, I think it was a bad idea to give me brackets). Well, as far as settling in goes, Roberts does and doesn't on Collider . W...

IN REVIEW: Rancid - "Trouble Maker"

As far as punk rock goes, it's hard to name a hotter hot streak than the trio of records Rancid cranked out between 1995 and 2000; the star making ...And Out Come the Wolves , the far-reaching Life Won't Wait and their balls-to-the-wall second self-titled album solidly positioned Rancid as leaders of the second generation of punk. It also preceded a period of slow progression, as Rancid would take eleven years to release their next three records. By the time ...Honor Is All We Know came in 2014, many fans (myself included) had to wonder whether or not this was the end of the road. Such concerns are handily dealt with on the closing track of the standard edition of their ninth record, the positively punishing This Is Not the End . Well, okay then, that's sorted. Now, what of this new record? What do we make of the use of their original logo on the cover, a logo that hasn't graced a Rancid record in 25 years? Is this a throwback to the band's heyday, a new begin...

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