A.C. Plays Guitar!

What’s With Muse?

I love Muse. They’re a great, innovative band that have been producing incredible music for a long time, that and the CD packaging stands above the rest of the bands in their league. But I’m sure that even the most defensive Muse fan will admit that the band have recently changed. Much of their new material has very little in common with their old stuff, the songs that put them where they are today. And so the inevitable question: should they have stuck with the tried-and-tested formula, or should a band of that caliber be allowed to do precisely what they want?

Well, personally I think a bit of both. If a band remains the same year after year then naturally that isn’t good. But equally, is it fair to the fans to suddenly take a hiatus away from what they expect? Obviously some fans will love Muse so much that they can do nothing wrong, but my concern is that by veering too far away, the band is alienating an entirely new audience. Which is a sad thing for any band.

And Muse have changed more than just their approach to writing songs. They’ve started adding new backing-vocals to the tracks, and this, in turn, has completely altered the dynamic. I wouldn’t mind this ordinarily, but clearly this new dynamic is a sign of something. Which makes me wonder if Muse have much more to give. Of course, that’s a harsh and unfair question in a way. Any band who serve as long as Muse shouldn’t have to answer to anyone.

This changing direction thing doesn’t need to be negative, of course, but there are too many examples of this going drastically wrong. Look at Robbie Williams for example. He was at the top of his game just a couple of years ago—if that’s a game you like, that is—and now where is he? If the same theory is applied to Muse then maybe, like Robbie, they should re-think their direction.