Cornered, I'm exhausted with fear

Continuing my trip forward in time through the album charts

02/09/22 : Will Of The People - Muse


I think this is our third visit with Muse on the list - to be honest, I tried to check this but was completely unable to verify it one way or the other but I know we've definitely met Origin Of Symmetry and Absolution.  Like those albums, I'm expecting this one to tread a fine line between ambition and bombast - and step over to the wrong side quite a few times.

Hmmm - "OK in places, odd in others" would be my verdict.  "Kill Or Be Killed" and "Euphoria" are prime Muse and, for me, up there with any of their best - and, if nothing else, you can't argue with the thinking behind "We're Are Fucking Fucked" (but it also has quite a singalongable chorus).  Most of the rest of it is pretty standard fare - nothing wrong with it, but nothing to drag you away from previous Muse albums.  However, the opening title track is extremely odd - it brings Mud or The Sweet to mind from the early 70s.  "Liberation" also harks back to earlier times, bringing Queen very much to mind - which is hardly a comparison they shy away from, but this has it in spades.  Overall, it's perfectly listenable if you can handle Muse but I can't say I'll be rushing back to it - I like the album cover though!

We're at #1 with a new entry this week with Harry, Ed, DJ Khaled (another new entry) and Beyoncé (hanging in there to prove me wrong) making up the rest of the top five.  We also have one more new entry in the top ten - Embrace (#9), who I'd assumed had given up years ago.  Looking further down the charts there are some odd new entries - Best Of Blondie (74-82) (#25), Altered Images (#28).  We also have some strong climbers from Bastille and Arctic Monkeys on the backs of decent Reading performances - and Kendrick Lamar climbed from #72 to #7 for no obvious reason at all.

Wikipedia tells us that Matt Bellamy describes the album as "a greatest hits album - of new songs" and also tells us that it was one of the the first albums to chart in NFT format, the first new chart-eligible format in seven years (just behind Aitch's effort from last week).  It also tells me their debut album (Showbiz) came out in the last century - how time flies!  This album has done well commercially though - #1 here and in Australia, Belgium and New Zealand and #2 in a host of European countries.  Only #58 in Lithuania though - it deserves better!

"Customers also listened to" The Jaded Hearts Club, The Amazons and Boston Manor - none of whom I can tell you the slightest thing about.  Oh well - I'm sure you'll survive.  If you like Muse, then I think it's safe to say you're going to get along with this - for those, like me, who appreciate them but can live without them, it's worth a listen but I'm not sure it's going to be constantly on your streaming platform of choice.

26/08/22 - Not for me
09/09/22 - I didn't mind this at all

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