Muse have released a new electronic-infused single "Madness", which you can hear in the player below (via NME).
It is the second song to be released from their forthcoming album "The 2nd Law", the first being "Survival" which became the official London Olympics anthem.
As some fans noted with the last single, the new release has more than a passing resemblance to a Queen song.
Speaking about their new album, drummer Dom Howard said:
"Every time you finish a new album you feel excited and nervous and anxious about what's going to happen with it when it gets released, but with this one we've discovered some new ideas for our band. Every album for me seems to open up doors to the future and this one does more than ever."
Hear the new Muse single "Madness" here.
"The 2nd Law" will be released on October 1.
Does it sound a lot like the Queen song "I Want To Break Free" to you? Let us know your thoughts on the new Muse single in the comments.
Weird choice as a first single from long waited album.
That said it sounds like Bellamys solo song. Its just him and that synth. A beatiful love song,strong Queen,Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys vibe here.
Yeah there will be people crying for (New Born/Plug In Baby/KoC) No 2. but at this point they dont have to prove a shit so they can do whatever they want.
It will take people time to get into this, but I have high hopes for this album. It's not another "Resistance" or "Black Holes" but it will be something separate and special.
They still have to prove they still rock, so if they wish to make music that is irrelevant their choice but I'm hooking off. See ya at the otherside of the franchise
The songs starts out really well and then instead of a Butterflies and Hurricanes explosion of sound it goes into this 'should-have-been' semi awesome dubstep drop.
Sorry just my opinion. Madness' dubstep influence is more what I'd expected of a MUSE and dubstep hybrid.
Really good pop song, the more I listen the more I like it, but apart from the cool vocal harmonies there's nothing too special about it and doubt it will become a 'Muse Classic' or whatever!
I really liked it to be honest, love the ending part.
But you know Muse is always releasing a single that isn't representative of the album itself.
Remember Supermassive Black Hole for BH&R and Undisclosed Desires for The Resistance? They were R&B/pop-oriented and have no particular links with the rest of the album they are in. So I'm sure it'll be the same thing for The 2nd Law.
From "Survival", a huge, orchestral stadium rock ballad, to "Madness", a quiet, introverted electro-pop song. I don't think they could cover more ground on one album. That's sweet.
How the **** does this sound like 'I want to break free'? I honestly fail to see any resemblance lol still a pretty shit song tho sounds like hes fired his band and started jamming with a ****ing computer instead like soo many other previously awesome bands
Honestly, I don't really like it all that much but I still find myself listening to it over and over. It's growing on me. I'm getting the album because Muse is one of my favorite bands and I am STOKED to hear Chris's two songs.
I like it. It is not a rock song but it doesn't mean it isn't good. It's plain, catchy, choral and pretty uplifting. And I liked the bluesy solo..Muse's new album will probably have all kinds of things in it. I really doubt it will have one style all the way through and I'm sure there will be songs for ALL tastes.
I'm dismissing it because it does nothing for me. It doesn't get me moving or thinking or involved or anything. It's just boring. Until the last outro bit which is pretty cool. Just because we don't like it, doesn't mean it's because of a stereotypical "pop-sucks" response.
I have to say, it is Muse's nature to be experimental and I can understand, I love all their albums so far maybe Black Holes & Revelations less than the others but I can respect it for what it is. However this is so wrong for me, I hope Muse do not pursue this approach in the next album. What disappoints me is in an interview they said they took a lot of inspiration from Skrillex. Not cool. Sorry Muse.
This sounds nothing like "I want to break free" what are you all listening to? I have heard songs that sound way more like something else and no one ever makes mention of it but this gets compared to "I want to break free?" I could see the vocal style sounding similar (although, ironically, Matt sings much higher in this song than Freddie does) but nothing else. The tone of the songs sound nothing alike.
Anyway, this is the only single I've heard off the new album, although, I've been hearing about "Muse's shitty new dubstep direction" for a while now and have been curious to make my own opinion. I personally think this song is really good, albeit a bit generic in ways and far from Muse's typical sound, but Matt's voice always shines. He makes this sound like so much more is going on in the song than there really is. Love his big vocal harmonis towards the end
There's only a very VERY slim resemblance to "I Want to Break Free." But it's only for a short part. Nowhere near enough to call it a copy.
As for the song itself, I don't like. But I've never really been a fan of Muse so whatevs.
The dumb (or ingenious?) thing about this sound is that we know it will not sound anything like this live. Live, it will be a heavy, poundind, rhythmic, minimalist song and the crowd (I wont be there) will love it...
So why produce a record that wont sound like the song at the gig?
I quite like it to be honest, much better than "the 2nd law" when you posted that up! Hope the rest of the album is abit more like this than "the 2nd law". I do definately see the resemblence with "I want to break free though", but oh well, as David Bowie said "Talent borrows, genius steals"
I like this song. But that's it. I don't love it in the same way that I have loved almost all of their previous songs (apart from a couple on Resistance). It's a decent song, and I kind of like it. But nothing more than that.
It's new, it's fresh and it's still Muse. The first two minutes lead me to believe this song was a load of rubbish, but from the guitar solo onwards, it made the song feel complete.
For those of you looking for metal riffery and guitar stuff, fear not. It is certainly present on numerous tracks on the album, and Matt has said he's made more effort with guitar solos and riffs on this album than ever before. Lets hope he's right!
I appreciate the lesson, but I'm fully aware of the difference between dubstep and brostep. I stand my position that "Unsustainable" isn't brostep. Just because traditional dubstep isn't defined by transformers sex noises and "a dirty bass drop" doesn't mean those are the only things that define brostep. To get technical, I would say the drums in "Unsustainable" are a big differentiator, but I also think of brostep as mainstream dubstep you would associate with bro-y culture i.e raving, rolling, and a general ignorance of "proper" electronic music. Taking "Unsustainable" as a whole (and not just the transformers sex noises and "dirty bass drop"), I can't see it as part of the brostep scene.
Not particularly liked anything from this new album so far. Will wait and see what the full release is like before passing judgment. I can't say I'm super stoked though.
Muse have a pretty dedicated fanbase, but all the comments from fans seem to be defending it. A true sign that something is shit, if it was good, comments would be positive.
I'm all for a band experimenting but it has to be for the better, pushing the talent and creativity of the band. Radiohead - Kid A that was something new in both direction and sound in a totally none generic way. The new attempts by Muse are the complete opposite boring, generic, uninspired change.
...If I go to one of my friends and show them a Muse song, I want to show them a MUSE song, not Matt Bellamy being the male Lady Gaga!
Definately not buying this album. If there's any way I'm getting this album, it's piracy, and even then, most likely half of it will go into my trash
tbh most of muses's songs are quite large scale, they have only a few tender quieter songs, few of which they play live. this song fills that gap i think.
There seems to be a lot of the "sounds like queen" crowd about tonight doesn't there? This song just does not sound like I want to break free in any way. But I still like it the same. And if so, so what? Why can't people tell the difference between fact and opinion? Who the **** cares if anyone of us does or doesn't like it there just a band playing what they wanna play. Personally I think Muse have a message to get across in their music and they do so using a lot of different instruments and setups and what not. Lets all just enjoy whatever we want and enjoy they fact we're enjoying it, listen to whatever you want it doesn't affect anyone else so enjoy it. come on guys lets just go get high in a tent in the woods or something and just listen to whatever we want. Someone bring beer.
And girls.
I'm not entirely sure I like where Muse is going with this. Their last album was also heavy with synths. And I don't know if I like that. It'd be nice if they went back to the style of their first albums, like "Origin of Symmetry" with the heavier guitar sound and the arpeggiated riffs.
Song structure and vocal phrasing, and wording, reminds me of U2's Zooropa/Achtung Baby. The background vocals remind me of Queen. This will sound great live since it's very dynamic and provides a soundscape. I think the live version would have conventional drums added to it and layered distorted guitar FX too. They opened up on the U2 360 tour (they got a lot of influence from that tour), so that would give you an indication of how they would perform this live. I would enjoy mixing them live, performing this song.
Dafuq? Haha remember this is just a song, not all the album, and this seems to be one of the softest songs of the album, so maybe there will be some other many powerful songs to make a great mix, we only need to wait for the album and see what happens...
I kinda enjoyed Survival. Not the best they can do, but it still sounded like Muse. That dubstep thing and this one, however... Not really liking it. Still, these guys are brilliant musicians, so I hope the rest of the album is as good as I expect it to be.
Well still... That's a different kind of music and it sounds like a mixture of electro-techno-carolling with a touch of mo-town chorus. And he sings like a pop singer. Not to forget the synth and the guitar solo !?!?!?
Oh look, everyone bitching about Muse.....again. If you don't like it don't but it. But that's not fair. Ok so two songs we're pretty poppy. Boo Hoo. If you truly liked them, you'd buy the album and give it a chance. I liked Unsustainable. Madness is good, but not as good as Unsustainable. Survival was good too. Grow up. Stop bitching. If you like it, listen. If you don't, then don't but please stop coming here and bitching about it
This is the the best thing I've heard off the new album so far. The other new songs made unenthusiastic about "The 2nd Law", but if the rest is like this it should be a great album.
wasn't keen on this song until after the solo, i thought after then it was good, and actually left me dissapointed when it finished; but only because i wanted that part to continue.
i used to think muse were the jesus of real music, but im not sure any more i think we may have to hope jack white saves our musical souls if muse cant.
It's kinda...I don't know...I don't mind the "tasteful simplicity" approach, but they haven't done it very well I don't think. The ending was pretty good though, a bit unexpected, and it made the song. But I still don't really like the song. And I did think of "I Want To Break Free" when I first heard it.
To be honest, I feel this album is probably going to be an ultimatum for me with Muse. Black Holes was okay, The Resistance was disappointing, and if I don't like this album or the direction it goes in, I don't think I will buy another Muse album.
I get the feeling this is better heard as the full album, rather than a collection of singles like so many "albums" are nowadays. For that, I applaud them and look forward to the release!
Much better than the last two songs released,have sort have given up on ever hearing the old muse sound ever again! Quite an interesting pop song, the last minute of the song reminds me more of U2 than of Queen. At least they weren't trying to make another bohemian rhapsody clone again- enough of those!
Well, I don't really like it, but it's not a bad song. I think if it's very repetitive and maybe if they added some heavy bass it would be better. But then again, I am not a song writer.
I think comparisons to "I Want to Break Free" have been overexaggerated, to be honest. There are a couple of vocal phrases that sound similar, but are way too short to constitute a sizeable portion of the song, so I think plagiarism there is out of the question. The solo is where it bears the closest resemblance in that regard, but I would say they probably just listened to too many Queen albums at the time and it inadvertently coloured their sound.
On the quality of the song itself, - certainly very subdued, and considerably more "mainstream" oriented; most music of their career had a lot of darkness, ambience and dynamics, multilayered and ranged from all-out aggression to introversion. It seems they have gotten too comfortable in their own skin; they're still playing around with sounds, but there is no danger to it, the explorations aren't nearly as bold, and their overall identity as a group has somewhat decayed... Maybe they became too popular for their own good?
The guitar solo was cool but the effect was weird. I personally feel like it needed some reverb or something, it did't fit in, it felt cut and pasted in. I feel very sorry for hardcore Muse fans because this is not the Muse we all knew, at all. If you put that aside, it's not so bad. It is still better than every song on the top forty list
I've been listening to Muse for a long time, and they have been one of the most interesting bands in the modern era to follow. They're ability to deliver so many great/diverse songs through their career is the reason they are one of the biggest bands in the world, and why their music will still be celebrated for generations to come.
Well..what can I say? It's not their old style of music and I can already hear everyone turning on them for changing their style. Compared to their old stuff (especially on Origins of Symmetry) it's pretty much a 360 and, I have to say, I like their old stuff better. Based on this single, I don't have high hopes for the album. This one's gonna be more mainstream. However, I can always count on MUSE to make killer songs so...let's hear it. Who knows, it might grow on me.
dont like muse dont like this song.typical run of the mill pop song from a typical run of the mill pop group.oh and dub step is the stupidest crap since hip hop.make it go away
I am disappoint. I consider myself a pretty strong muse fan, but this is their third single that either just hasn't hooked me or kinda sucked. I'm not buying this album.
Cool, mellow song. You can hear the U2 influences they mentioned. Look up the songs 'Numb' and 'So Cruel' and you'll probably understand (Not that I consider it a ripoff).
Not too bad. I actually really liked the vocal melody and the chorus, but the synth sounded like one of the effects of FruityLoops. The solo sounded a little dry, by nice and catchy.
This far this is the only song I like from the three. Survival gave me the feeling that they had written it in 5 minutes. Unsustainable was a bit too long and repetitive, even for a minute and a half song. This song is quite complex in its structure and yes, it sounds a bit of queen in the beginning and a bit of U2 in the chorus. I like it.
I think hype just kills the people's abilities to just listen to the songs and not over-analyze them. Bands should do like Tool more often. No release date, no previous singles, no 30-seconds previews of the songs, no releasing the tracklist. Just put the album out.
honestly, im not a muse fan... but that was a really good song. but i would really understand why muse fans would be really disappointed. I might have been too if i was a fan, but its a good song in my opinion
I like it. They were going for a nice simple pop song and it worked, I'd even say it's one of the best things they've released.
As for only being Bellamy and the electronic instruments, the song originated out of a jam and the other two members have expressed their satisfaction for the song. It's not like they'll be standing around live or something anyways.
I goddamn hate their new sound. I mean, most Muse songs aren't that intricate, or the riffs particularly complex, but they have a great sound and show a good "guitarsmanship". This synth bullshit, repeating in a neverending loop, is uther crap, and it makes me very very sad to ear it. After songs like Assassin, Dead Star and Stockholm Syndrome, these 3 revealed songs are making this Muse album the first I won't be buying
You can tell why people think it's similar to I Want To Break Free... the Queen influence is definitely there in the backing vocals and the guitar solo sounds kind of similar to the keyboard solo in IWTBF... But this song is kind of irritating honestly...
I think Muse are undergoing a process similar to Linkin Park's.. They want to change and they start to make songs that are nowhere near as good as the old ones. Just my opionion though.
That said it sounds like Bellamys solo song. Its just him and that synth. A beatiful love song,strong Queen,Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys vibe here.
Yeah there will be people crying for (New Born/Plug In Baby/KoC) No 2. but at this point they dont have to prove a shit so they can do whatever they want.