A varied many things happened this year in American music. Some good, some bad, some confusing as all hell. This was the year that pop’s finest got together to make a terrible song to benefit Haiti, the world decided that high school students singing sparkly covers of songs were more appealing than the actual songs themselves, and several bands that nobody gave a damn about for many years (Fuel, Bush, Yellowcard) engaged in lucrative tours. Mostly however, vocals became all the more irrelevant with the continued evil reign of auto-tune.

Basically your mileage may vary on how good a year for music 2010 was.

So as we enter the next year, hoping 2011 will bring a brighter future with more envelopes pushed, and less fevered egos. (As long as Kanye West is still alive, don’t expect the latter to happen any time soon.) For now though, I, and fellow music buffs ThornBrain and TheDramaticMonarch present a look back at the year, in the form of a quick retrospective of 16 of 2010’s biggest songs.

Yes, I realize it’s probably several days too late to make this sort of thing, but TOO LATE, I POSTED IT ANYWAY.

• • •

• “Dog Days Are Over” by Florence & The Machine
A driving chamber pop banger from British siren, Florence Welch, built around blasting beats and a repeating harp.

Sawtooth says:
That this song became a hit gives me hope for the future. That in a world where every female singer is trying to be Madonna, Dolly Parton, or some variation of soul diva, this tune would be a hit. I like Welch’s vocal style as well. Brings to mind the best parts of Lene Lovich, Grace Slick, and Exene Cervenka from X.

TheDramaticMonarch says:
When I first heard a snippet of this song during an ad for some TV show on Showtime, (or was it Showcase?) I immediately thought that Joss Stone was trying to make a comeback. Turns out that Florence Welch has a little more in common with Fiona Apple than Stone in the vocals department. Bluesy in a few places, a serene upper register in others and plenty of fire is injected to the adrenaline fueled chorus. She easily has one of the more captivating voices in the pop landscape. It has a quiet strength that sneaks up on you with a really punchy chorus. At the same time, it’s really catchy but miraculously doesn’t make you want to claw it out of your brain.

ThornBrain says:
Genuinely impressed! Florence seems like the kind of artist who could easily overdo it if she wanted to, be it with her vocals or the arrangements, but she doesn’t step over that boundary with this track. The strength of her voice and the energy of the music are at their perfect peak. Passionate and gutsy.

•

• “Power” by Kanye West
The first single off of West’s new album, built around a King Crimson sample, and tribal-influenced percussion.

Sawtooth says:
I never might have expected a King Crimson-sampling hip-hop song to sound any good. Normally I’m not a big fan of sampling massive parts of a whole song like that. Every time I listen to Kanye West though it just makes me wish that people would go back to doing it that way instead of just sparse synths and drum machines. Whatever bad things you have to say about West he still has the best production of any rapper out there. I just don’t see “masterpiece” in this tune, like so many music periodicals have been gushing about, though…

TheDramaticMonarch says:
I don’t really consider myself much of an ardent follower of Kanye West but I had no idea there was more than one version of “Power” out there! Ah well, I decided to settle on the version featuring Dwele. Upon listening, I found that the song was a tad overproduced. Yes, there is something rather entrancing about that prevalent choir but I felt as though they were overpowering most of Kanye’s rapping. Shouldn’t the words be the meat of a rap song, anyway? The only segments I was able to make out were some navel-gazing musings from Kanye about the public’s perception of him as an egomaniacal asshole. Points for self-awareness? Other than the “21st Century Schizoid Man” sample, I can’t really say “Power” took any kind of hold over me.

ThornBrain says:
Kanye’s sneer makes him sound kind of douchey, [redundant considering who this is, but I just wish I didn’t hear it so much in rappers these days], but this might be one of the least vomit-inducing hip-hop tracks I’ve heard in a while. Lyrics seem to be the [sub]standard [shit] posturing you hear everyday, (wank me a fucking river, pal), but the thick underlying bass, solid percussion rhythm, and airy background chorus drew me in before I even knew what hit me. Dude’s got some production chops.

•

• “Telephone” by Lady Gaga & Beyonce Knowles
Pop’s reigning weirdo sings about being too busy dancing to answer her phone alongside RnB’s reigning diva.

Sawtooth says:
Meh. That’s all I can say about Lady Gaga. If I wanted to hear female electro music, I can think of tons of other artists who do it infinitely better and don’t look like they’re trying too hard to be “challenging.” (Bjork, Goldfrapp, Ladytron, etc.) It’s really just a plain dance song at it’s roots, but I despise it all the same for all the headache-inducing rhymes in it.

YOU CAN’T RHYME “PARTY” with “RINGING”! OR “STATION” WITH “DANCING”! YOU JUST CAN’T!!!

Oh yeah, and Beyonce is in it too… For maybe half a minute.

TheDramaticMonarch says:
If you stripped away all the theatrics and product placement laden ten minute music video, it’s another run-of-the-mill, generic pop song that’s practically indistinguishable from any other tailor-made “club banger” clogging up the radio. You could assign the song to someone like Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey or Fergie and this song would still sound like a carbon copy of all the other sassy dance floor flooders. It simply has no personality of its own. To add insult to sparkly injury, Beyonce is a superfluous addition. I highly doubt it would make a huge difference in the song’s flow if Beyonce was swapped out of the song and Lady Gaga just sang her lines. Bottom line, there is nothing ground breaking or original about “Telephone”, much like Lady Gaga herself.

ThornBrain says:
Finally something unlikable! You know, my policy with Lady Gaga is this: if a few years pass and she’s doing something else, be it a different music style or different profession altogether, THEN I’ll be able to look back and say, “Yes, she was just having a laugh the entire time, and I respect her for fooling everyone”. If she’s still cranking out music as vapid and obnoxious as this [eh-eh-eh-go-fuck-your-self], then no, that excuse is as bogus as her Grammy nomination. Kind of surprised that she has a better singing voice than Beyonce, but that’s probably just the auto-tune, (love the forced glitch effect they sometimes do with it, or the stupid voices). Any and all connections between her and David Bowie or anyone else that supposedly influenced her is a direct attack on said person.

•

• “Tight Rope” by Janelle Monae & Big Boi
A bouncy R&B track with jazzy bongos and throwbacks to Motown.

Sawtooth says:
Goddamn do I love me some retro music. With all the horn stabs and funky basslines I could see this being done by several different singers from that bygone 50s/60s era that it’s inspired by. It loses some points from me for being a “do the-“ dance song, which we have far too many of. Big Boi’s rap section feels pretty tacked on as well. Still. Good song. Kinda reminds me of “Wonderful Night” by Fatboy Slim.

TheDramaticMonarch says:
My first glimpse of Janelle Monae came in the form of a special guest performance on “So You Think You Can Dance”. (Oh shush, over there!) Most of the guest performers shelled out on this show tend to be of the limply choreographed, little dressed and lip-synched variety. Then along comes Monae in her tailored black suit, tie, saddle shoes and spiffy beehive, slip sliding and singing her guts out…at the same time! “Holy crap!” I shouted at my TV. In a sea of airbrushed and autotuned pop tartlets, out leaps this gal who can actually sing and dance. LIVE. When it comes to the song by itself, I still found it fun, bouncy and lively as all get out. With the retro, old school Motown flair and modern flourishes (in the form of Outkast’s Big Boi), I get the impression that this song could have been released 20 years ago and it would still feel fresh and snappy. I’m not sure what the rest of her material is like but based on the strength of this song alone, I really hope Janelle Monae sticks around.

Of course, knowing my track record in predicting the face of modern pop music, 20 years time will have Janelle Monae competing on “Dancing With the Stars 48” while Katy Perry is inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. Sigh.

ThornBrain says:
Another strong, left field impression. Repetitive as Janelle’s vocals are, and generic as the “let’s dance” lyrics are, I can’t deny the strong funk backing, (more emphasis on rhythm than melody or tune, which is fine by me). I also enjoy hearing female R&B singers who forgo singing every note they can reach in favor of belting out a strong vocal with a voice of angelic silk, so the repetitive nature of her vocals are also forgiven. Big Boi almost got the same treatment, but he decided keeping in-time wasn’t badass enough. Overall easy on the ears, hard on the adrenaline. I like it that way.

The way I see it, there have been three different kinds of cover songs throughout history: There are those that don’t change much from the original, but capture or re-energize the spirit and essence of the original so well that it’s an extremely respectable effort. (See Social Distortion’s cover of “Ring of Fire” or Bauhaus’ cover of “Ziggy Stardust.”) Or there are those that take the original in a completely different direction and end up sounding wildly different from the song it’s based off of, and have a unique new take on it. (See DEVO’s cover of “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” or Apoptygma Berzerk’s cover of “Fade To Black.”)

I’m not here to talk about any of those though. I’m here to talk about the third kind…songs that miss the mark completely.

I don’t want to incite anger towards any of the artists involved, (But I will anyway.) for all I know the intentions were good. Maybe the musicians and singers in question really wanted to honor the memory of the songs they were covering. Whether that’s true or not, one thing’s for sure: They failed.

Miserably.

10. “Layla” by Eric Clapton – Original by Derek & The Dominos

Some of you might be a bit surprised. First of all let me make one thing clear: It is not the Derek & The Dominos “Layla” with Clapton and Duane Allman’s back and forth guitar dueling that I’m ripping into, it’s 1990s middle-of-the-road Clapton. The Eric Clapton who released an adult contempo album because he was feeling kind of down.

Even with that in mind some of you may be surprised. After all, among music critics, this version is widely considered the worst cover of a song of all time, and yet I’m including it at the very bottom of my list.

Here’s the thing: I don’t consider the 90s version of “Layla” to be a bad song, necessarily. It’s not a style of music I particularly like, and it’s vastly inferior to the Derek & The Dominos original, but as a piece of soft rock it does it job fairly well.

I still include it here for the sheer disappointment it caused on two fronts: It beat out “Smells Like Teen Spirit” for the Best Rock Song Grammy in 1992, one of the biggest upsets in Grammy history, and well… It’s Eric Clapton singing soft rock. He went from shredding blues to crooning to soccer moms. It’s like discovering one’s favorite athlete had been using steroids: It just kills you, man.

9. “Tutti Frutti” by Pat Boone – Original by Little Richard

I’m calling it here and now: white evangelical Christians are absolutely shit at entertainment in general. They had their chance, and ultimately what they have to show for it is Amy Grant, Stryper, Creed, and Pat Boone, the crooner who thought that Andy Williams was too racy.

Pat Boone had to have been very lucky to be famous during the 1950s, when American pop culture was at an all-time high for clean, non-threatening entertainment. It was during this time that Pat Boone was persuaded to make a similarly clean version of Little Richard’s maniacally brilliant song, “Tutti Frutti.”

Clean and WHITE. (It was the 50s.)

The end result was a soulless and sterile take on Little Richard’s hit, which had all the edge of a cotton ball. What was truly sickening however, was for all the musical incompetence and disturbing racial white-washing connotations of the cover, Pat Boone’s version became a bigger hit that Little Richard’s version.

To counter this later however, Little Richard sung his next big hit, “Long Tall Sally” at a deliberately breakneck speed, so no white artists keen on making a more family-friendly version of his music would be able to keep up with him.

How awesome is that?

8. “Once In A Lifetime” by The Exies – Original by The Talking Heads

Hands up to everyone who not only remembers, but is still a fan of the Exies.

That’s what I thought.

To the rest of the populace who are confused by my words, the Exies were nothing more than another addition to a growing legion of mopey nu-metal bands that inexplicably became popular during the early-to-mid-2000s. What they offered was the same brand of chugging soft-loud whiny metal that similarly interchangeable artists of the time period offered, with no discernible personality of their own to get in the way.

Oh, and they also recorded the absolute worst version of a Talking Heads song in human history.

The difference in genre couldn’t have been more massive. The Exies were an eyeliner wearing nu-metal band, while the Talking Heads were a quirky New Wave group from the 1980s. The original tune had a catchy beat and was punctuated with David Byrne’s manic rhymes about life and growing old, while the Exies decided that it needed more distortion and irritating amounts of angst.

As I said earlier there’s nothing wrong with taking a song in a different direction in covering it, but this version undergoes such a massive mood swing that it becomes a complete mess. It’s the musical equivalent of Bomberman: Act Zero, or whenever Frank Miller tries to write Batman.

7. “Boys Of Summer” by The Ataris – Original by Don Henley

Truth be told, I think this is one of those songs that nobody can pull off besides Don Henley. He just made it so personal, and the flourishes and touches that he added to it could only be pulled off by the Eagles frontman. That hasn’t stopped people from trying, though.

Two covers come to mind, both were equally retch-worthy. One was a cheesy Euro-beat version by DJ Sammy, but I opted not to include that one because I know DJ Sammy has done far far worse. So instead I offer up a more well-known version by another group who fizzed out without leaving anything of remote importance behind: The Ataris.

Let me frank: I absolutely HATE pop-punk/emo music. There’s few things that make my blood boil more than a bunch of snotty, shrill-voiced kids in skinny jeans whining about cutting themselves, apart from mainstream hip-hop, country, and nu-metal music. I hate this kind of music like Kefka hates espers.

The Ataris aren’t even pleasant to look at, because everything about them is filled with unlikable, shallow, emo kid stereotypes. So why would ANYONE think that they could pull off Henley’s song about loss of innocence with anything approaching subtlety?

One thing that galls me is they change one of the lines from the original, from “I saw a deadhead sticker on a Cadillac” to a “Black Flag sticker on a Cadillac.” The band doesn’t look like they were even alive when Black Flag broke up (1986), but they include that anyway.

What kind of pandering bullshit is THAT?

6. Any and all Kidz Bop songs

This seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it?

For those of you unfamiliar with the Kidz Bop compilations, some stuffed suit decided that it’d be a neat little novelty to take popular songs and have them sung by pre-pubescent little kids…Because pop songs just weren’t shrill and annoying enough without tone deaf children singing along to them.

Some people might argue that these songs are good because they’re so bad. Frankly I don’t subscribe to that philosophy, because that gives them too much credit for making already bad songs sound even worse.

Not to mention giving too much credit to a compilation that professes to be family friendly for the kids, but covers songs that cover material far from being appropriate for kids. Do the people who come up with these things realize that songs like “Feel Good Inc”, “Beautiful Girls”, and “Tik Tok” are about anti-consumerism, suicide, and being a whore that gives away their services for free? (Prove me wrong on that last one.)

5. “Everybody Hurts” by DJ Sammy – Original by R.E.M.

“Everybody Hurts” was a hit song by R.E.M. from the 1990s about depression and suicide from their acclaimed album Automatic For The People. It was punctuated by solemn guitars and a string section arranged by none other than John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. In short: It’s a sad song.

DJ Sammy however, an opportunistic DJ from the 2000s, decided to make a quick dance charts buck off of R.E.M.’s well-crafted ballad, and remixed it into a lifeless Euro-beat song with a generic female vocalist. It was cheesy, forgettable, and extremely poor in comparison to original, which is like comparing Taco Bell to real food.

If there’s a line to cross as far as remixing goes, I’m calling it right now: This is the line. No remixing somber 90s alt rock songs. Okay?

4. “Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart” by Macy Gray & Ol’ Dirty Bastard – Original by Elton John

At this point in time I think we can all agree that the loss of Ol’ Dirty Bastard was of little consequence to the music community. I point to this inexcusable Elton John cover as evidence.

Listening to it, I’m beginning to wonder if ODB was ever a legitimate rapper to begin with, because he sounds more like he got into the Wu-Tang Clan as part of a community service program that lets mentally deficient people be rappers for a day, and he forgot to leave when it was over.

The original version by John and singer Kiki Dee was already a fairly silly song in and of itself, and I guess it makes sense that someone wouldn’t go into covering this too seriously, but it’s one thing to be silly, and it’s a completely different thing to be completely annoying beyond human measure, which is what Ol’ Dirty Bastard is, who doesn’t necessarily “sing”, so much as “yammer like a hobo on free soup day.”

Oh, and Macy Gray’s there too, singing so hoarsely she sounds like she kicked back a bottle of Buckfast before recording it into a karaoke machine.

3. “Ring Of Fire” by Olivia Newton-John – Original by Johnny Cash

Speaking of people who weren’t a great loss to the musical landscape, I don’t think anyone with a working brain is too hung up that Olivia Newton-John’s star never took off to a great degree…well no one except stark raving Grease fans. (But I DID say people with working brains, after all…)

What is the best way to do a cover of a song by Johnny Cash- a legend in country music- justice? Why by turning it into a disco song, of course! But just to be sure that we don’t alienate the potential market there is to be had from fans of the original, which was an outlaw country tune, let’s throw in some twangy southern guitars and a harmonica, loading it down with incessant amounts of cornball.

So instead of the outlaw country song from the 1960s with its stylish horn section, we have a freak-show hybrid of excessive, 1970s disco, and country music filled with all the silly clichés that “Ring Of Fire” previously discarded.

Rightfully so, this cover remains drenched in obscurity, because the album it was on (Ironically titled Making a Good Thing Better.) sold dismally. For good reason, too. Whatever you think of Olivia Newton-John as a singer or whatever else, I once again defer you to my previous point that certain lines are not meant to be crossed.

In fact that’s a new one. No disco covers of outlaw country songs.

2. “Behind Blue Eyes” by Limp Bizkit – Original by The Who

The main problem with expecting people to like a cover of a sad-sounding song like “Behind Blue Eyes” (Even if it’s ironic sadness) is that generally most people can sympathize with the singer in question in the original version. I don’t know ANYONE who’d feel bad for Fred Durst, a pinnacle to egomania.

As far as song covers go, this is a particularly dismal one. Not because it sounds sad, but because Durst seems to go out of his way to deliberately disrespect the memory of The Who’s original tune, from the heavily processed yet shrill and thin vocals, to the vastly out of place synth noises, to the complete removal of the bridge, only to replace it with a generic, down-tempo hip-hop beat, and… Uh… Text-to-speech vocals??

The only explanation I can think of is that Durst was trying to earn back some sympathy points after pissing them all away by acting like an officious prick for the majority of his musical career, and wanted an emotional song to sing. Only problem? “Behind Blue Eyes” isn’t actually a sad tune. Not with lyrics in the bridge like:

If I smile, tell me some bad news / Before I laugh and act like a fool

That’s my guess. That Durst was trying to earn some sympathy points, but instead everyone just rolled their eyes.

1. “My Generation” by Hilary Duff – Original by The Who

It’s official. Nothing is sacred.

The original by The Who is the prototype punk rock song. It’s about rebellion in it’s purest, simplest, unfiltered form…A subject that a Disney tart like Hilary Duff couldn’t fake without an instruction manual.

Duff’s irritating pop princess voice ruins vocals that were meant to be screamed and shouted amidst rock guitars and drum solos. Oh, but there’s no drum solos or rock guitars either. In fact the only thing resembling drums we get at all is a generic pop beat that sounds like it came from the same drum machine that every other pop star got it from.

The most inexcusable part however, is the way it handles the song’s classic line about teenage rebellion.

How did it go again? “Hope I DON’T die before I get old”?

There aren’t enough desks in the world for me to bang my head against.

I am willing to allow for leeway for anyone reading this who liked any of the previous songs, but there is no compromise on this one. If you like this cover, then that means you like empty wastes of space. That is the only thing this song could possibly be characterized as.

In short: it’s beyond awful.

No More Stories starts off with a very strange, interesting, and confusing piece of production fun. A song which sounds as if it were composed backwards. Turns out this song has another hidden song called “Nervous”, layered over it in reverse. This effect gives this track an interesting (albeit difficult to listen to) effect, but the fact that there is a hidden track layered over it fascinates me. Some amazing band work and production went into making this/these track(s), so it’s a shame that this track is such a difficult listen in it’s entirety. A bad idea for an opener if you ask me, but clever enough to make it on the album. I believe it should have been one of those hidden tracks that you have to rewind from track one to hear, but it is still an amazing piece of engineering that deserves to make the record, there was apparently just no real comfortable place to put it.

The second track “Introducing Place Players” is the first “real” song on the album, and it is indeed amazing, with off beat guitar and drums channeling the memories Fugazi, or Shudder To Think. When the vocals kick in the song pushes you into the deepest depths of beauty, begging you to drown (and you’ll want to, it’s lovely). This song left me with much excitement, “Mew DID do something different for this record…” I thought, “…and it’s great!”. However, as the album played on, I felt most of the songs were just filler. Though they are all lovely in their own right, most of the tracks are easily ignorable until you come to the final actual song on the album, “Sometimes Life Isn’t Easy” which is a great closer, and wonderful song in it’s own right, calling back the feel of their third album Frengers. It really stands out on it’s own, with an interesting clap track in the background that is so unpredictable, I couldn’t possibly see a crowd clapping along to it properly during a concert. Since most of the songs on the record don’t have poppy hooks, and lots of the tracks tend to sound the same, this is one of the few songs on the album that I could see becoming a single.

Anyone who has been following these guys for sometime know that their first three records were very poppy and brilliant, and their fourth And The Glass Handed Kites was an epic masterpiece. This album takes the epic style they found with And The Glass Handed Kites but dismantles it and rebuilds it into something a little uglier. The songs don’t bleed together like the last album and while this one seems to try and have a concept to it, (there are two interludes on the record, a closing instrumental reprise, and the song “Hawaii” has an intro track called “Hawaii Dream”, the lyrics of which gave birth to the album’s title) the concept seems to fall short by lack of any real story telling, or musical theme. There is still plenty of experimentation with interesting time signatures, something Mew has always done, but they all seem to muddle themselves together on this record, with most tracks lacking in power and effectiveness, and focusing more on ambiance and beauty.

It is really hard to say everything about this record that needs to be said. I am probably making this album out to sound worse than it really is. IT IS NOT A BAD RECORD, IT IS A GOOD RECORD! I guess I had convinced myself it would be something even more powerful and amazing than their last album, and in all honesty that is an impossible attempt. A good example of this would be when Smashing Pumpkins followed Mellon Collie with Adore. Many fans were confused and disappointed, but that didn’t mean Adore was a bad record, it’s just not possible to top a masterpiece.

All in all it is still a wonderful record, with really good songs vaguely hidden between beautiful filler, and even though it is an enjoyable listen, as a Mew fan I found it to be a bit disappointing. Other fans of the band are sure to enjoy it, but not to many will consider it there favorite, and it will probably take quite a few listens to appreciate if you are new to their style. If you are a fan of dreamy bands like Jeniferever, Ride, or Mazzy Star, then give it a spin. I don’t see why anyone couldn’t enjoy this record, but it is still not Mew’s best. If you have never heard this guys before, I’d recommend listening to the Frengers album or And The Glass Handed Kites before this one.

Uprising

Mac: I don’t know if we could say anything about it that hasn’t been already said. Probably most discussed track. It’s cool and poppy. A lot of people can chant it and feel good. It has nice synth-bass goin’ on.
Steve: It’s a good choice for a single. There are some backing vocals during the guitar wail sometimes that sounds like “so come on” that I didn’t really like.
Mac: I was surprised that he could sing it the way it was on the album. When I watched it on the VMAs it was exactly the same. Pretty simple song.
Austin: I believe that the entire intro was very catchy. Dr. Who synths, thumping bass, good ryththm. It sounds like it’ll be a good song for live performances. I think every song on here would be. Muse just does them so well

Resistance

Austin: The only thing that bothered me about the song was the pre-chorus. I eventually came to like it, though.
Mac: “Resistance” kinda feels like the real beginning of the album, with “Uprising” only fitting lyrically, as you put it. Resistance feels like the beginning of a Muse album. I really liked the piano riff.
Steve: I really liked the drumming at the beginning. The catchy element of the drums leaves for most of the song, though.
Austin: If they kept the song at the same tempo as the verses. This would be my absolute favorite. The pre-chorus is just a bit too much of a leap
Mac: How’s that go? “It could be wrong, could be wrong”?
Austin: yea
Mac: Oh, I always hate when bands do stuff like that. I would have been much more satisfied if that was completely removed and there was just more emptiness. Also, there’s a backing vocal atmospheric track during that pre-chorus I don’t like so much either.

Undisclosed Desires

Steve: I’m finding myself liking this more and more with every listen. The lyrics feel a bit corny at times, though.
Austin: It’s the anti-muse song. Chris playing slap, Dom using a drum machine, and Matt NOT playing an instrument. The song is a bit too “R’n'B” for my tastes but it’s a good change of pace.
Mac: When it started, I was thinking “holy shit, it’s R’n'B”.
Steve: I wonder if they change this song up a lot when they play it live, or if they even intend to play it live at all.
Austin: I think Matt plays a keytar for this live.

United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)

Austin: Queen, Highlander, Lawrence of Arabia.
Mac: I love the intro. The piano on this track is my favorite on the album
Steve: I’m stuck between this one and “Guiding Light” as my favorite from this album.
Austin: The “sia”s took a bit of getting used to.
Mac: I really liked the Arabic influence on the piano and drums in the lead up to the midsection, and then again. Whatever that’s called… Interchorus?
Steve: Oh, yeah, those high notes were a bit goofy at first. It was one of those things done for musical purproses, rather than bringing out a certain part in the vocals.
Austin: Yeah… They just sounded a bit alien at first. All of the background noise in the piano solo was a nice touch.
Mac: Yes, expertly done.
Steve: Yeah, the flyover was a nice way to end it.
Austin: And a nice transition.

Guiding Light

Austin: I think Dom’s drumming on “Guiding Light” was very good.
Mac: The guitar solo in “Guiding Light” was probably the best on the album. Sounded like it was out of an 80s arena rock song.
Austin: But it was one of like, what, 3? The solo sounded very reminiscent of a Queen solo.
Mac: Ah, quite so.
Steve: There were a lot of elements in this album that seemed Queen-inspired.
Austin: I think I saw somewhere where someone had called this song the “Invincible” of The Resistance, and alot of things were 1984 inspired, too.
Mac: I enjoy this song because it gives me some kind of color. This song is very gold.
Austin: it’s one of those songs where you feel good after hearing it.

Unnatural Selection

Austin: Best live performance potential.
Steve: I think it had the weakest lyrics on the album. Musically fantastic song, but the lyrics weren’t as complicated or descriptive as the other songs.
Austin: I think that this song will end up being a massive fan favorite.
Mac: “Unnatural Selection” is going to be great if they put out a second HAARP. All these songs are.

MK Ultra

Steve: Another great Muse song intro. The guitar tone is great.
Austin: The lyrics are almost like calling out an oppressive leader.
Steve: The “They’re breaking through” section of the song seemed to be dragged out too far. It would have worked had they written more than just “They’re breaking through” for that part.
Austin: The fast part after that seemed a bit thrown in, too. This song seems more like an “Assassin” sequel than anything.
Mac: What? “MK Ultra”? I don’t get that at all.
Austin: I mean in terms of riffs and stuff like that.
Mac: “Assassin” was really hard and in your face. I don’t get that at all from “MK Ultra”. Even the parts that are supposed to be like that.
Steve: Yeah, I don’t see how it sounds like “Assassin”, either…
Austin: Maybe it’s just me then.

I Belong To You (+Mon Cœur S’ouvre à ta Voix)

Mac: “I Belong to You” DOES sound like a past song though, and it’s probably on there for the same reason. Well, maybe it doesn’t so much, but “Feeling Good” was put on the album for his girlfriend. Special version, yo, and dedicated.
Austin: “I Belong To You” was the weakest in my opinion
Mac: I thought it was about equal. It’s just a different style.
Austin: His French wasn’t bad though. I actually wish they’d put in “Glorious” instead of this. It would fit in a lot more.
Steve: It was an interesting addition, but it made it feel even more like a collection of songs, rather than an album.
Mac: Yep, yet another one. First we go from a pop synth-based and a song with an awesome audience chant to “Resistance”, and then we got the R’n'B thing going on. Then romantic piano, and some Queen thing. And there’s “I Belong to You”, then the awesome symphony.

Exogenesis (as a whole)

Austin: fantastic. not nearly the same effect when you listen to them out of order though
Steve: Yeah, and they could have been made one track to avoid that. It’s odd how they put two sets of songs together and then split up this one.
Mac: I thought it was pretty good, but only the first song blows my mind continually.
Austin: Matt’s vocals are almost a callback to “Microcuts” on that part.
Mac: Yeah, I love “Microcuts”. I’d quite enjoy the song if much more of the lyrics were not really words, but I listen to Sigur Rós all day.
Austin: At least this track leads to a similar end to the album. It’s epic.
Steve: I can see them playing these live with songs in between the parts as a medley. I’d love to hear that.
Mac: I’d like to see a lot of improvising too.
Austin: This whole track will be mind-blowing at stadiums.
Steve: Bellamy is a great improviser, I doubt he’d pass up the opportunity.

Final thoughts on the album as a whole:

Mac:  Technically, it’s quite good, but I don’t really “feel” any of it… Except that one song, like I said.
Austin: Just a very strange order to the tracks.
Steve: How do think this album as a whole stacks up to their previous releases?
Mac: Horrible, but you know I already said that.
Austin: It sounds good. It has elements from all the other albums and combines them.
Mac: Only thing worse were all the Muse demos that never got on any albums. I wanted more of “Space Dementia” and “Hoodoo”.
Steve: I think Black Holes blows this album away any day, but it’s a decent release.
Mac: Definitely.
Austin: You have to remember, this was their first venture into self-producing.
Mac: I don’t think that has anything to do with at all.
Austin: Of course it’ll have it’s hiccups.
Mac: Do you think the production itself had faults? It was probably the best I’ve seen from them.
Austin: It’s just that they didn’t have a professional producer. It lets them put exactly what they want without someone mucking it up. But no, I don’t think the production was bad at all. It was good for being self-produced.
Steve: When there’s a professional producer in the studio, there’s always someone around to give a second opinion, I assume. A producer may have suggested more piano on a track, or a longer intro/outtro. The band only has so many critics before the album is finalized and released.
Austin: I’m just sad there won’t be any B-sides for this album. Those tend to be some their better tracks.
Steve: B-sides would have been nice, yes.
Austin: Matt straight up said something along the lines of “We only recorded what’s on the album. nothing else.”
Steve: Hopefully they’ll have a small recording session for an EP in the near future.
Austin: I doubt that. they usually wait about a year and a half to get back in the studio.
Mac: This album may have sold moderately well on the Muse name, but it was a flop.