Drones

I’ve bought my first new CD for a while in the guise of Muse’s Drones. They are one of those rock bands that I have really grown to like over the years although it is difficult to describe exactly what they sound like. I have heard the terms Hard Rock, Alternative Rock, Progressive Rock and even Space Rock used to describe them as well as the rather unfair epithet of “a poor man’s Radiohead”. In fact other than being a guitar based rock band from England they have very little in common with Radiohead but there are definite influences from the likes of Queen, Pink Floyd, Philip Glass, various electronica, Led Zeppelin and a range of film composers. I suppose they actually sound like Muse because even though they can beg, borrow and steal from a wide range of influences they always end up sounding like themselves – which is essentially “crackers”.

I caught the band performing on last week’s Graham Norton show in which they somewhat immodestly described Drones as their “best ever album”. Is it? Well after a few listenings I’d say it was pretty good but I wouldn’t go quite that far. Having said that, the album I would regard as their best, Absolution, was the one that probably took me longest to get into. Supposedly this is meant to be a back-to-basics rock album but it kicks off with what sounds like a cross between Queen’s Radio Ga Ga and early 90s Depeche Mode. Following on from that we get Psycho which is more of a straight forward heavy-riff rocker that sounds closer to the band’s early material with a touch of Marilyn Manson about it – definitely one that will go down well with the metal fans at the festivals.

Next up is Mercy which was the track they performed on Norton’s show and is definitely the radio-friendly promo-track sounding like an amped up U2. Reapers starts off with a super-fast riff that owes more than a nod to AC/DC’s  Thunderstruck but sounding closer to the Absolution material than anything else so far. The Handler lets loose with a Black Sabbathesque grinding riff  that combines really well with Matt Bellamy’s near falsetto vocals and some nifty mid-song arpeggio guitar work. The next song, Defector, sounds like an outtake from Queen’s Highlander soundtrack – in fact just a bit too close for comfort.

I think at this point in the album that I am starting to get a little weary. It’s not so much the music as the unrelenting “loudness” of it all. I think I can hear an ambulance outside but it’s actually background effects for the next track, Revolt. It’s rather distracting and the song does little to divert attention. Thankfully, the next track, Aftermath offers a little relief, some bluesy guitar work almost reminiscent of Dire Straits to open and a gently-picked guitar ballad that proves that they are fully capable of far more texture than the previously unrelenting bombast would suggest.

Their previous two albums have ended with compositional experiments in the form of the pseudo-classical, Exogenesis: Symphony, and the electronica of The 2nd Law. This album goes for a pairing of tracks, The Globalist and Drones, which is… well, I’m not sure. A prog-rock brain-fart? It begins with what sounds like an Ennio Morricone spaghetti western soundtrack leading midway into a fast and fuzzed-out metal riff with wailing backing vocals. Finally, it turns into a song based on Elgar’s Enigma Variations (yes, really!)  To cap it off there the closing 3 minutes are a sort of Gregorian chant. I’m not sure what to make of it and a brief glance at the lyric sheet seems to indicate that they have been reading too much Philip K Dick whilst knocking back the absinthe.

So that’s it. Completely and utterly crackers but fortunately, unlike many other musicians these days, they seem to be able to pull off something that is potentially pretentious beyond belief with a great deal of style and without having their heads stuck up their arses. I know a few eyebrows were raised when they were announced as headliners for the largely metal based Download festival but I suspect that the audience is in for a pleasant surprise.