A new Muse track from their forthcoming album "The 2nd Law" has been selected as the official anthem for the London 2012 Olympics.
"Survival" doesn't feature dubstep as previewed elsewhere on the album, but appears inspired by Queen anthems. It's as if the intro has those slow-motion athlete montages in mind.
Speaking to BBC Radio 1, the band said: "The song will be played throughout the Games including when athletes enter the stadium, in the lead up to the medal ceremony and also as the theme for all international TV coverage."
Frontman Matt Bellamy said the song was "about total conviction and pure determination to win."
"It's a huge honor to have the track chosen as such a major part of the London 2012 Olympic Games," Bellamy added. "I wrote it with the games in mind as it expresses a sense of conviction and determination to win."
Hear "Survival" in the player below:
The album "The 2nd Law" is scheduled for a release on September 17. "Survival" is available now from iTunes.
What do you think of the new Muse track? Are they doing London proud with the anthem? Share your rating of the song in the comments.
This is just bad, really.
I love Muse, but this just oozes cheese. The lyrics are dumb and cliched, and it's like they're not even trying to avoid the Queen comparisons now. It sounds like Matt's using a 7-string in this though, which I love. More 7 string riffing on the new album, less rhyming "race" with "pace".
It was never going to be a killer Muse track as it is supposed to be listenable to well over a billion people.
It'd work as an unused track, or a filler on Resistance.
For a Muse song it's not incredible, but I expected nothing less for an Olympic Song.
This is not good. Lyrics sound like they were written in 4 minutes and I didn't enjoy the singing either. I thought the choir parts weren't used very well either. I sincerely hope this is the worst song from their new album.
What is with Muse and the olympics this time? First they carry the torch, now they get to have their song (a new song at that) be the olympic anthem? WTF. Are they like on the olympic committee now?
Almost feels like a caricature of Muse. They used to have a sort of subtle epicness that would almost make you nervous as the song would build, finally reaching a moment where beauty would break through the insanity. "Survival" just feels forced. Not awful, but won't stick with me, either.
I thought it was one of their worst songs, until like the last minute or so saved it. Still it sounds excatly like (can't think of which one at the moment) one of the songs off Resistence, but just with some guitar's. I know I'll get hell for this, but I actually prefered the 2nd Law trailer with Dubstep :%
My band actually submitted a song for the 2012 Olympics and, apparently it came down to like 3 or 5 songs that they were considering, including ours. To lose to this? I'm not pleased.
It's probably a grower. Most artists exhaust their arsenal of immediately compatible material after a couple of albums, or at least grow into writers that make something that takes a while to appreciate a la Radiohead. Wish Matt would stop putting on that "this is epic and I'm epic" voice when he sings though. There's moments like 2:25 where he shows he can still sing like he could back in the Absolution era.
Obviously it's tongue-in-cheek humour but yeah, it's an awful song. They played a 30 second clip on the radio this morning and I thought they were joking.
It's pure cheese, yeah. But this song was clearly written for the Olympics (or at least with them in mind), so I'm not too worried. As for the massive Queen influence, I just felt this sounded like United States of Eurasia Part 2. Things I hope the new album has are more 7-string (like in this song).
Oh, and after they premiered the song, they announced there's ONLY ONE DUBSTEP SONG ON THE ALBUM, so there is still hope Muse haven't completely turned into Skrillex.
My band actually submitted a song for the 2012 Olympics and, apparently it came down to like 3 or 5 songs that they were considering, including ours. To lose to this? I'm not pleased.
I think this is one of the most intense songs I've ever heard! So click dislike, I couldn't care less. I love musicality, I love musicals when the music is good. It's just awesome to me! The lyrics may sound corny, but they had an extremely particular subject matter they had to pertain to. So, unlike most on this site, I have no complaints with this song!
My band submitted a song and was in the top 5, can't believe this song won.
My band actually submitted a song for the 2012 Olympics and, apparently it came down to like 3 or 5 songs that they were considering, including ours. To lose to this? I'm not pleased.
Now we've two people who have songs apparently in the top 5. Riiiiight.
This song would have been amazing if the lyrics had been good. I thought it was musically brilliant...great chord progressions and arrangements, as well as some killer 7-string riffage. The words just...just completely ruined it. And it's very rare I let lyrics strongly alter my opinion of a song.
I'm not a Muse fan, but even from a general olympic spectator, this isn't that catchy and it's rather boring and uninspiring
It's a shame, they could have got many great British songwriters to collaborate on an olympic themed song and have a special, one of British supergroup record it, that would have been exciting and inspiring
Why is everyone disappointed in this song? It is totally a Muse song, the riffs are awesome, and Bellamy's voice sounds great IMO. I thought the chorus in the background was awesome, and as far as the lyrics go, they fit well for an Olympic song. I am not at all disappointed in this song I think it kicks ass.
The lyrics were bound to be cheesy, but musically the song is pretty damn good. Matt seems to have remembered how to write a riff, and the vocals are fantastic.
Muse are at their best when theyre being over-the-top and ridiculous, and this track ticks those boxes - i dont understand why people take them so seriously, for a long time they have composed music with tongues firmly in cheek. Just enjoy the general epicness and buffoonery!!
Also i imagine this track will be single-only, and the album will generally be darker in theme.
This is totally written in Muse's style. I don't understand why so many people say that it's bad.
Granted, the lyrics are generic, but keep in mind that they were written for a WORLDWIDE sporting event. Most "sports anthems" have terrible lyrics anyway.
I personally want the album to be out already so I can get it.
Oh, Ghod! - It's aweful... Not the song, the principle.
Can we not have this anymore... Else we get the Kieser Chiefs singing the Queen's Jubilie anthem and the Arctic Monkeys playing the anthem to the Scotish Referendum...
Maybe Tom Morello should give Muse a call and say "Do you remember when you made records about the power of the State and propogander? - Well... Making the State national theme for an elite sporting ceremony isn't very compatible with this.."
Thank Christ I'm not in the UK this Summer to hear this every ten minutes on the BBC...
just really epitomizes mediocrity in my book. It's like every band get vindicated by the public, so they almost expect a certain sound from themselves after awhile. And now, Muse is just trying to be Muse. It sounds like they are trying to parody themselves, and it's just not even cool anymore. as an aside, these lyrics are like... wow. It's a shame that this is how a majority of the world is going to be introduced to Muse.
I quite liked it, musically at least. Not a fan of the lyrics or the way Matt's singing. Still, I'm really surprised this was chosen for the Olympic anthem. Really surprised.
EnglishToolRage wrote:
Maybe Tom Morello should give Muse a call and say "Do you remember when you made records about the power of the State and propogander? - Well... Making the State national theme for an elite sporting ceremony isn't very compatible with this.."
That was only their last two albums. And they were never a very political band when it came down to it.
Matt sounds out of his comfortable voice range in most of the song. It sounds like he's forcing that "epic" kind of voicing, but feels unnatural for him. Any "regular" Muse song would have served better for this. Even "Starlight", "Invincible", "Assassin"... Dunno, they have loads of great songs that fit the Olympics mood they tried to get with this one. Still, the song is okay and it has a couple of good moments, but yes it is a bit disappointing coming from Muse. Let's see how the album plays out.
It's not as good as Muse usually is, which is disappointing, but still a listenable tune IMO. Much more enjoyable than bubblegum pop or sth as the Olympics theme. The lyrics are bad tho.
Also too soon to judge the album based on one song written for a special occasion/purpose.
If nothing else, ya gotta applaud Bellamy for integrating those 7 string riffs to the official Olympics theme song! That's quite remarkable.
I had high hopes for this album after the lacklustre (but not completely bad) Resistance. I hope this turns out to be one of the weaker songs of the album.
Also, if they wanted to sound like Queen whilst singing a cheesy anthem, they should have just covered 'We Are the Champions'.
"The song will be played throughout the Games including when athletes enter the stadium, in the lead up to the medal ceremony and also as the theme for all international TV coverage."
Won't everybody be tired of this song after about 2 days?
