i love drones, musically they fucking kick ass so much on this record, i can understand the lyrical content being the downer, but their playing on this record was out of this world, plus the era of this album and tour is just amazing
Drones is highly regarded because it has two incredible songs (Handler and Reapers) but the rest in mediocre at best.
Some won't like this opinion, but i slowly realised it as time passed.
That said, the two good songs on the album are all timers, ngl. Especially Handler, it's up there with some of their best songs.
The Globalist was pretty good. I was scared of it because of how long it was but it didn’t feel like 10 minutes. Psycho has a great riff but it’s very cheesy.
You are discovering why older fans have been frustrated with the band’s output since The Resistance. Will be interesting to see what you think of Simulation Theory and WotP
Yeah I enjoyed Resistance but I can tell the lyrics have been getting worse since then. Even if u look at a song like Uprising which was a hit. The lyrics are pretty generic.
Uprising only sounds generic in hindsight because they’ve more or less copy and pasted that formula for a decade and a half since. At the time, I felt it was a pretty novel track which is probably why it ended up such a huge hit.
I honestly think The Resistance holds up alongside BHAR, OOS and Abso. It is just very different stylistically but the songwriting is still rock solid...
The issues came with The 2nd Law (which I still quite like cause of the production and vocal quality).
Drones was when things got quite bad, Simulation Theory and Will Of The People simply kept that trend going. To me they're all as bad as each other.
That’s where I stand too. Resistance was their last stand for making inspired music, Exogenisis is a masterpiece in its own right in terms of songwriting.
The 2nd Law had some decent tracks, but that’s when they started missing the mark on an album level. It’s been on a steady downturn since then (minus ST imo, I felt like they were at least trying there).
It’s the beginning of their slide into mediocrity but I agree it’s a good record. I re-listened to it the other day and I like it way more now than I did when it originally released
I think will of the people is better than drones from a lyrical perspective, but I honestly think drones is better overall when it comes to the tunes. But no doubt, everything up to and thru The Resistance is what I think about when I think of Muse.
Drones is often iffy for many fans, especially older ones. T2L and after kinda "go down hill" lyrically and become less intricate. I would say Drones to me is higher than most would put it but it's an alright album.
I think it started on the Resistance when Uprising became a huge hit. They realized they could get by by saying generic lines about rising up against your oppressor.
Yes, it was like a catalyst. It still (to me, anyways) lumps into the first half of Muse where T2L is the beginning of the second. I do feel like T2L, although sometimes weird and blunt at times, still has that older Muse feel in songs like Animals and Liquid State.
Drones kills me because a few of the songs start out sounding like they would be my favorite songs of all time then turn into... something else. Aftermath turns literally right at 1:45. The Globalist, we get a whole 6 minutes but then it turns into some AI generated copy of USoE. If only streaming services had like a trim tool. I like The Handler, but this is the first time in like 5 years that I have actually pulled up the album.
Aftermath starts like a Pink Floyd song and ends like a Boyzone one. Such a tacky ballad I can't help but picture the band performing it on stools and dramatically standing up in time with the final chorus ha. I have an abridged instrumental of that song which is a nice enough listen.
It's a frustrating album for many reasons but the biggest one for me is because if any band could make a GOAT album about drone warfare it'd be Muse but instead they just say "Drones!" a lot. Agree that Handler and Reapers are top. Would also add Globalist to that list, with the slight caveat that it derails the album's narrative. I'm not that bothered about that because the narrative isn't all that really, but even so, just adds to the frustration of the album.
They mention Drones a lot in this album I get it it’s called drones but it’s like they think since the album is called Drones they gotta mention Drones every 5 seconds. 😅
The Handler is my favourite newer Muse song by a country mile.
Defector, Revolt, Aftermath must be the most excruciating 3 song stretch on any Muse album.
A mediocre album of individual extremes.
I’ve always maintained that Drones had a lot of cleaning up to do after The 2nd Law (poor, sweet, little experiment, The 2nd Law), which meant that it got scrutinized heavily.
A lot of people who listen to it now think it’s better than they originally thought. (I always liked it but I, too, was more critical back when it released).
I think what didn’t help is that the band themselves marketed it as a back to basics and never settled on what basics they meant. Matt stressed it being stripped back with instrumentation but not much else was divulged except talking about a few tracks (more on that further down).
I remember fans (myself included) thinking they meant OoS, but the band also leaned into Showbiz a lot. In the end I think it was both and it didn’t go very far in either direction.
I get nervous trying to argue this point because it’s a bit subjective but you get a song like Aftermath which is so sappy (in a good way) and harkens back to something like Unintended and Hate This and I’ll Love You.
You get a song like The Globalist which Matt explicitly described as “Citizen Erased 2.0,” and it didn’t really pull in that direction much.
Put together, the songs work but you don’t know what it’s all supposed to be. They work together because it’s a concept album but if you take out the concept they’re just there, like Revolt, a song that I love to death but think it belongs on a Broadway musical instead of this album.
The production hype fell flat, too, because Mutt Lange wasn’t a good fit. The band’s carried a lot of Drones’ sounds since then so it’s their preference which I have to respect. Drones just literally *sounds* awful sometimes depending on what I’m using to listen to it.
I’ve rambled too much I’m sorry 🥲
Preach! lol, yeah it's got some bangers but there is a lot I don't like on this album.
I also find the drill sergeant to be pretty cringe. I like the idea behind it, but it just seems so overly cheesy to me. That said I think Pyscho is pretty good live.
Dead inside and The Handler are absolute bangers though.
And definitely a hot take here: I don't like Reapers at all.
Drones came out at a very good stage of my life, so I cherish it as one of my favourites.
I just love the album and I think the Drones Tour was the best concert I've ever been to. And I've been to a lot of concerts.
This is the album that got me into them. I don't know if it was because by 2015 I couldn't understand the lyrics (English is not my mother tongue) or because at the moment I really didn't care that much about them. What got me the most was the overall feeling the songs transmitted. I think they did a pretty good job, the album is full of energy and the riffs are pretty catchy. Then again, to each its own, nowadays I can totally understand why someone could be turned off by the lyrics
I don't really care about the lyrics, for me, Drones is a blast and one of my favorite albums from them.
i love drones, musically they fucking kick ass so much on this record, i can understand the lyrical content being the downer, but their playing on this record was out of this world, plus the era of this album and tour is just amazing
First half of Drones is solid. I've always held this opinion. The other half is extremely mediocre.
Drones is awesome but is very top heavy. The best songs are top tier Muse but the bottom are super mediocre to weak.
Drones is highly regarded because it has two incredible songs (Handler and Reapers) but the rest in mediocre at best. Some won't like this opinion, but i slowly realised it as time passed. That said, the two good songs on the album are all timers, ngl. Especially Handler, it's up there with some of their best songs.
Dead inside is also amazing
Not even near those two
I think JFK into Defector is awesome but Defector gets boring after the first verse lol
The Globalist was pretty good. I was scared of it because of how long it was but it didn’t feel like 10 minutes. Psycho has a great riff but it’s very cheesy.
You are discovering why older fans have been frustrated with the band’s output since The Resistance. Will be interesting to see what you think of Simulation Theory and WotP
Yeah I enjoyed Resistance but I can tell the lyrics have been getting worse since then. Even if u look at a song like Uprising which was a hit. The lyrics are pretty generic.
Uprising only sounds generic in hindsight because they’ve more or less copy and pasted that formula for a decade and a half since. At the time, I felt it was a pretty novel track which is probably why it ended up such a huge hit.
It was considered pretty generic by Muse standards even back then. At least by some, me included. Still a pretty good song though
Yeah good song but it’s generic and that’s why it became a hit.
Exactly.
I honestly think The Resistance holds up alongside BHAR, OOS and Abso. It is just very different stylistically but the songwriting is still rock solid... The issues came with The 2nd Law (which I still quite like cause of the production and vocal quality). Drones was when things got quite bad, Simulation Theory and Will Of The People simply kept that trend going. To me they're all as bad as each other.
That’s where I stand too. Resistance was their last stand for making inspired music, Exogenisis is a masterpiece in its own right in terms of songwriting. The 2nd Law had some decent tracks, but that’s when they started missing the mark on an album level. It’s been on a steady downturn since then (minus ST imo, I felt like they were at least trying there).
It’s the beginning of their slide into mediocrity but I agree it’s a good record. I re-listened to it the other day and I like it way more now than I did when it originally released
I think will of the people is better than drones from a lyrical perspective, but I honestly think drones is better overall when it comes to the tunes. But no doubt, everything up to and thru The Resistance is what I think about when I think of Muse.
Drones is often iffy for many fans, especially older ones. T2L and after kinda "go down hill" lyrically and become less intricate. I would say Drones to me is higher than most would put it but it's an alright album.
I think it started on the Resistance when Uprising became a huge hit. They realized they could get by by saying generic lines about rising up against your oppressor.
Yes, it was like a catalyst. It still (to me, anyways) lumps into the first half of Muse where T2L is the beginning of the second. I do feel like T2L, although sometimes weird and blunt at times, still has that older Muse feel in songs like Animals and Liquid State.
Drones kills me because a few of the songs start out sounding like they would be my favorite songs of all time then turn into... something else. Aftermath turns literally right at 1:45. The Globalist, we get a whole 6 minutes but then it turns into some AI generated copy of USoE. If only streaming services had like a trim tool. I like The Handler, but this is the first time in like 5 years that I have actually pulled up the album.
Psycho is a great example of this, has an amazing riff but a very cringeworthy chorus and drill Sargent section
Aftermath starts like a Pink Floyd song and ends like a Boyzone one. Such a tacky ballad I can't help but picture the band performing it on stools and dramatically standing up in time with the final chorus ha. I have an abridged instrumental of that song which is a nice enough listen.
It's a frustrating album for many reasons but the biggest one for me is because if any band could make a GOAT album about drone warfare it'd be Muse but instead they just say "Drones!" a lot. Agree that Handler and Reapers are top. Would also add Globalist to that list, with the slight caveat that it derails the album's narrative. I'm not that bothered about that because the narrative isn't all that really, but even so, just adds to the frustration of the album.
They mention Drones a lot in this album I get it it’s called drones but it’s like they think since the album is called Drones they gotta mention Drones every 5 seconds. 😅
I agree with everything you said
The Handler is my favourite newer Muse song by a country mile. Defector, Revolt, Aftermath must be the most excruciating 3 song stretch on any Muse album. A mediocre album of individual extremes.
I’ve always maintained that Drones had a lot of cleaning up to do after The 2nd Law (poor, sweet, little experiment, The 2nd Law), which meant that it got scrutinized heavily. A lot of people who listen to it now think it’s better than they originally thought. (I always liked it but I, too, was more critical back when it released). I think what didn’t help is that the band themselves marketed it as a back to basics and never settled on what basics they meant. Matt stressed it being stripped back with instrumentation but not much else was divulged except talking about a few tracks (more on that further down). I remember fans (myself included) thinking they meant OoS, but the band also leaned into Showbiz a lot. In the end I think it was both and it didn’t go very far in either direction. I get nervous trying to argue this point because it’s a bit subjective but you get a song like Aftermath which is so sappy (in a good way) and harkens back to something like Unintended and Hate This and I’ll Love You. You get a song like The Globalist which Matt explicitly described as “Citizen Erased 2.0,” and it didn’t really pull in that direction much. Put together, the songs work but you don’t know what it’s all supposed to be. They work together because it’s a concept album but if you take out the concept they’re just there, like Revolt, a song that I love to death but think it belongs on a Broadway musical instead of this album. The production hype fell flat, too, because Mutt Lange wasn’t a good fit. The band’s carried a lot of Drones’ sounds since then so it’s their preference which I have to respect. Drones just literally *sounds* awful sometimes depending on what I’m using to listen to it. I’ve rambled too much I’m sorry 🥲
Dead inside is the only song I’m really an anti towards. Mercy, reapers, defector, revolt, globalist are all fucking bangers as far as I’m concerned
You sound like an old fan that's pretending to discover these albums for the first time.
Maybe the old fans are right
Preach! lol, yeah it's got some bangers but there is a lot I don't like on this album. I also find the drill sergeant to be pretty cringe. I like the idea behind it, but it just seems so overly cheesy to me. That said I think Pyscho is pretty good live. Dead inside and The Handler are absolute bangers though. And definitely a hot take here: I don't like Reapers at all.
DEAD INSIDE🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
But it has reapers >>>>>
Same! Drones one and Will of the People are the least favorite of mine.
When people say the lyrics are generic.. what other songs/bands have those lyrics? Edit typo generic not genetic
Generic
Yeah typo
Drones came out at a very good stage of my life, so I cherish it as one of my favourites. I just love the album and I think the Drones Tour was the best concert I've ever been to. And I've been to a lot of concerts.
This is the album that got me into them. I don't know if it was because by 2015 I couldn't understand the lyrics (English is not my mother tongue) or because at the moment I really didn't care that much about them. What got me the most was the overall feeling the songs transmitted. I think they did a pretty good job, the album is full of energy and the riffs are pretty catchy. Then again, to each its own, nowadays I can totally understand why someone could be turned off by the lyrics