The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

I've been reading comments on Discord and Twitter which contend the new song "You Make Me Feel Like It's Halloween" is about domestic violence during the pandemic. There are even some on the latter site which have reportedly "dropped Muse" due to the upbeat nature of the song coinciding with said alleged theme of it. However, the only comment I can find potentially confirming that the song's inspiration was in fact domestic violence during the pandemic was courtesy of Mark Beaumont in an NME article he wrote about the band/album.    Reading over the lyrics, while I can see why Mr. Beaumont interpreted them to be about domestic violence, I'm getting the feeling it's not as clear cut as that. Oddly enough, while I initially thought it may have been a satire on right-winger's paranoia of governmental control during the pandemic, I changed my mind after watching a recent interview Chris had with Rock Antenne (I say "oddly enough," beca...

I see a lot of people bashing "Liberation" for being a Queen-rip-off; possessing "awful" lyrics; and/or listing it as the worst, or at least one of the worst songs off Will of the People . While everyone has the right to an opinion, all the negativity surrounding the song prompted me to post a positive write-up of it. First off, while there are undoubtedly Queen-influences present in this track, I see them as much less overbearing than in some other songs - most notably "United States of Eurasia" (love this track too, by the way). The most obvious said inspiration occurs between the verse and chorus, where multiple vocals are layered - somewhat reminiscent of "Bohemian Rhapsody." That's it, though, and such a musical maneuver is far from rare in Muse's catalog. Hell, just look at this album - the same type of sound transpires at the very tail-end of "We Are F-ing F-ed" (another great song). Queen has long been a ma...

British rock trio Muse just released their 9th studio album, entitled Will of the People . Now, I've gotta start this review by admitting to all my readers I'm a die-hard Muse fan. They are, without question, my favorite band - have been for roughly 14-15 years. Having said that, while I've enjoyed their past three albums (2012's The 2nd Law , 2015's Drones , and 2018's Simulation Theory ), I've also felt they were three of the band's four weakest releases to this point (their 1999 debut Showbiz being the other). The 2nd Law felt like the band's most experimental record, where they marked all the genres they wanted to try off their bucket list. Not only did they dabble in dub-step, but bassist Chris Wolstenholme wrote and sang two songs. On a 12-song album, singer Matt Bellamy was the lead vocalist on only eight of them. While I'm all about Muse experimenting, and loved the variety, it felt a little more mixed on the execution than I would have...

I've been reading comments on Discord and Twitter which contend the new song "You Make Me Feel Like It's Halloween" is about domestic violence during the pandemic. There are even some on the latter site which have reportedly "dropped Muse" due to the upbeat nature of the song coinciding with said alleged theme of it. However, the only comment I can find potentially confirming that the song's inspiration was in fact domestic violence during the pandemic was courtesy of Mark Beaumont in an NME article he wrote about the band/album. Did any of the band members confirm this as well? Reading over the lyrics, while I can see why Mr. Beaumont interpreted them to be about domestic violence, I'm getting the feeling it's not as clear cut as that. To me it almost comes across like a satire about COVID-conspiracists, spoken/sung from the vantage point of one such individual. He or she is paranoid, not so much about the pandemic, but about gove...

As of this writing, there have been five released reviews of Will of the People , and while the scores have been solid (an average of 8/10), the reviews themselves have come across as lazier than a hungover teenager attempting to replicate a comatose sloth in slow-motion. Vague, even contradictory song descriptions; typos galore (Linkin Pak, anyone – not from Boston?); band stereotypes – Matt, in particular; incorrect release dates; etc. – one has to wonder how much they’re getting paid to write this crap. If you’ve refused to subject yourself to the critics’ useless, yet somehow abbreviated blather, first off, congratulations – you’re likely better informed on the coming album than those of us who’ve read the aforementioned drivel; and secondly, I thought I’d provide you my attempt at a satirized rendition of the awful reviews. Muse’s “Well of the People” Review As the album’s title should suggest, the people of the band known as Muse are well and good. “Well of the Peop...