#CONCEPT OF SIMULATION THEORY ALBUM MUSE MOVIE#
It’s like that one movie you loved as a kid, one that despite knowing isn’t “GOOD,” can’t help but hold onto anyway. That’s about the best way I can describe how I feel about Simulation Theory. Simulation Theory, even at its worst, has that kind of optimistic, empowering, and “it all works out” ethic that something like the Back To The Future does. I choose to think of it as Muse adopting the attitude of art from that era, especially films. The 80s theme might be more than just a visual and sonic gimmick. Perhaps after the flack Drones received, they decided not to take themselves too seriously, and if they were going to be called over-the-top and tacky, they might as well have fun with it. It sees the band at their most tongue-in-cheek, and while I hesitate to call them self-aware, I wonder if the band aren’t intentionally playing it up. Simulation Theory is basically a parody of an album like Black Holes & Revelations, and I think I mean that in a good way. Oddly enough though, I’m tempted to say that might be the point of the whole thing. It’s cheesy, overblown, and sees Muse flirt with pop more directly than ever. Many people, including fellow hardcore Muse fans, are going to hate this album, and I understand why. Let’s hope there isn’t too many lasers when they play live.Overall, I’m relieved to say that like Simulation Theory more than I expected to after Thought Contagion dropped earlier this year. On paper, some strange dreamy pop melding with a stadium rock band shouldn’t be seamless but they’ve managed to pull it off. Simulation Theory is an album that pushes the conventional Muse sound in a way that ends up being oddly complementary. Each song has its own accompanying video and the entire thing featured heavy production input from the band themselves, something you can tell through just listening to it. The thing that sets Simulation Theory apart is that you can hear how much they enjoyed writing and recording this album. Synthesised horns do battle with Bellamy’s guitar riffs in the main verses, and also add an endearingly cheesy element to it. Chris Wolstenholme relies on a myriad of effects that makes his bass tone sound like something out of Tron, and you’d nearly be forgiven for mistaking it as a guitar on the first listen.
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Pressure features one of those iconic bass riffs that will inspire people to pick up the instrument, just like Hysteria did way back in 2003. Yet they still manage to make silky synth-pop meld with it to create something brand new, but undeniably Muse. The Dark Side features some of Bellamy’s best vocals and rolling piano arpeggios while Pressure has the monster stadium-filling riffs that the trio are so well known for. This in itself is a victory for any band, but for Muse to still be doing it as consistently well is hard to comprehend. Muse have been around since 1994 and in that time, they’ve rode the turbulent waves of an ever-changing musical climate, constantly evolving their sound and never allowing it to stagnate. It feels fresh out of Blade Runner and really creates a post-apocalyptic feel through menacing synthetic beats. There’s the usual apocalyptic prophecies, with Bellamy warning “evolve, push us aside, render us obsolete” on opener Algorithms. This time around though, they seem to have pulled it off. It’s pretty clear that this whole concept album thing is something Muse are adamant on sticking to – this is the fourth album in a row they’ve tried it. Simulation Theory sees them embrace pop and roll with it, fusing Matt Bellamy’s haunting vocals with a narrative about a simulated world. If there’s one thing you can depend on Muse for, it’s that they release some really off the wall stuff.Ģ015’s Drones was a rock-opera that was so over the top, it was difficult to really understand what they were getting at.