Muse Puts Dessert First For "Reapers"

The tactics Muse uses to reel 'em in for its new "Reapers" single can be compared to putting dessert first during the course of a scrumptious gourmet meal. Right off the bat...HOT DRUM SOLO! Who says Christmas season is over? No sooner has that surge of awesome passed that along comes...EVEN HOTTER GUITAR SOLO!! To Dominic Howard and Matthew Bellamy respectively all I can say is thanks for gifting me with the first two standout moments of 2016. It really does feel like getting right to the chocolate bon bons before I've torn into the lobster entree. I don't find myself surprised. Muse delivers the entire package rather than the occasional dribs and drabs to allow us to feel like we're part of the Muse stratosphere. Muse employs several unavoidable adjectives to get its messages across. Muscular springs to my brain's lips. Whether on vocals, guitar or drums this three piece gives you many advanced warnings that it's not fooling around. Amazed Matt can pull some rabbits out of his hat even after that opening bit of guitar wizardry. Granted the picking isn't nearly as sublime from that moment on but does it really function as a limiting factor when you give it a final analysis. Muse never shies away from lyrics that can white knuckle you on impact. Not to mention novelty factor gets its day in the sun too. Who else but Muse would think to utter "There's a crosshair locked on my heart." Real warlike savagery put under the microscope. Not for the faint of heart. Drones are dropped into the word warfare in timely fashion as well. Muse excels at taking its listeners to dark places that make the majority feel highly uncomfortable. Let's not forget we're far too busy lapping up the technical excellence to care that we should be quaking in our boots at what they're telling us. Matt reminds us that on the battlefield we're expendable. In a sense he has lifted Jack Nicholson's stellar "You can't handle the truth" line used in A Few Good Men only Matt changes the pronoun picture so it focuses on himself exclusively. Muse changes its musical road voyage with stunning regularity. I can only imagine the band turns out to be just as exhausted once it has finished playing as I am being a highly active listener. Did Matt enter the Hendrix/Van Halen pantheon with the opening solo? Sure sounds like room for debate there. You figure Muse isn't applying only one template when crafting its multi-pronged assault on listeners' comfort zones. I enjoy living on the edge when Muse is largely responsible for putting me there. It knows no speed limit which, ironically enough is a statement I make fully aware that "Reapers" doesn't come anywhere close to being the band's fastest track. Regardless you want to stop for as much breath as possible at the conclusion because you've ran further faster in six minutes than some do in their entire lifetimes. A quick recap of Muse's singles catalog proves it aced the band versatility course in school. "Hysteria" went on the skin like freshly honed razor blades. The craziness was apparent. "Starlight" had quivering vulnerability going for it. "Starlight" made you want to give Matt a teddy bear out of pure empathy. So what does "Reapers" bring to the party. Testosterone turned up to eleven alongside pure stealth instrumentation. Pussies need not step onto this playing field. "Reapers" sows incredible testament to why we'll be talking about Muse years into the future. Excuse me while I dab the sweat off my brow.