Muse
Will Of The People

LA RECENSIONE

Ninth studio album for Muse, “Will Of The People” arrives four years after that “Simulation Theory” which was not exactly warmly received, neither by critics nor by the public.

Where the previous effort decisively took a well-defined path (although, in terms of results, perhaps a bit uneven), drawing heavily from the eighties imagery and filling up on synthesizers and vintage sounds, this new work was conceived, according to leader Matt Bellamy, as a “greatest hits of originals.” Not coincidentally, Warner had requested a greatest hits collection from the British trio, but the three from Devon chose instead to compose ten brand new tracks, self-produced and recorded between London and Los Angeles.

Even in this new album, heterogeneity reigns supreme, but this time there is a greater sense of completion and the individual episodes seem connected by a much stronger glue compared to the previous attempt. At times, the much-demanded (by early fans) “return to origins” becomes evident, as in the industrial metal punches of “Kill Or Be Killed” or in the refrain of the lead single “Won’t Stand Down,” which soon dissolves into a metalcore coda never before ventured by the British band. In “Euphoria,” fanservice is almost touched upon, given the evident references to old and beloved episodes like “Bliss” and “Knights Of Cydonia.” In other cases, the true, great love of the virtuoso frontman Bellamy is retrieved: namely the Queen, who appear all too evidently in the pompous “Liberation.”

Everything is inaugurated by the glam rock of the title track, overly indebted to Reverend Manson’s old classic “The Beautiful People,” and by the second single “Compliance,” a synth pop that in fact turns out to be the least incisive episode of the work. “Ghosts (How Can I Move On)” moves into ballad territory for piano and voice, and closely recalls (as Matt himself stated) certain things by Adele. There is no lack of a devastating ride like “You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween,” which will be the next single and revives certain eighties pulses evident especially in the old “Map Of The Problematique.” It closes with the punk rock fired at a thousand à la Biffy Clyro of “We Are Fucking Fucked.”

A fine album this “Will Of The People,” ultimately the best Muse album since “The Resistance.”

Best track: “Kill Or Be Killed”