Muse Lays Down The 2nd Law

I have to take my hat off to Muse. Its members usually bring an everything including the kitchen sink attitude to their work. I've been a gushing fan of theirs ever since the Absolution era. While the brand new The 2nd Law isn't as dynamic, compared to the somewhat heavy handed effort The Resistance, it's an impressive step back in that direction. What sent 2006's Black Holes and Revelations out with an explosive "In your face" as far as I'm concerned was "Knights of Cydonia". That track got more and more massive as time wore on. Need a similarly mind melting demonstration of cool from The 2nd Law? I'd like to serve up "Supremacy". If blond Bond Daniel Craig's listening he needs to contact these guys about inserting material like this into a future soundtrack. Christopher Wolstenholme's bass should be place on a Wanted poster due to this outing. It's that dangerous to the ears of those unaware of the instrument's power to wreak havoc from your skull all the way down to your gut. Dominic Howard lets fly with titanic rips from behind the kit. Throw in the camp of an imposing Bond movie opening credits symphony and you've got prime guilty pleasure fixings. "Panic Station" is about as sexy a vocal display as I've ever heard from Matt Bellamy. You'd almost think he stole Jet's swinging loins swagger. What a nice change-up from the soul-piercing deep reflections which account for most of the listening. "Explorers" is a jaw-dropping salute to our planet and how we puny humans are constantly struggling to keep the light of life burning bright. "Survival" finds Matt copping the defiant persona that fits him like hand in glove. Many of the songs here turn to either keyboards or bass to ramp up the intensity level. "Survival" is that rare exception where the electric guitar gets license to cut loose. There's all the menace of a freshly uncorked chainsaw here with not much chance of bodily harm. There is more than one example of how Muse represents the soundtrack of our dreams/nightmares. "Explorers" is the most vivid example of how Matt populates one's dream life contending, like a good many of us probably are at some point, that he's a prisoner in this world and how wonderful it would be if someone were to grant him freedom. Liberation as theme pops up repeatedly. When that isn't front and center than being able to outlast or outrun the sources of inner torment is. Muse closes out this blast of hypnotic parallel artistic dimensions with "The 2nd Law Unsustainable" and "The 2nd Law Isolated". The idea in play is that a society shackled by technologically encouraged isolation can only serve as a breeding ground for entropy among the society's members. Again, being a prisoner lashing out against self-inflicted or societally mandated wounds is up for reflection. "The 2nd Law" has hit store shelves at the right time. It haunts and reassures simultaneously. You won't be able to resist its pull.