THE 2ND LAW

"The 2nd Law" is the 6th album by UK rock group Muse. This album was released in 2012 and a follow up to 2009's "The Resistance". When the album dropped, I was aware of this album when it came out and was more than familiar with the main single off this album; "Madness". But I never owned the album and never gave it a fair go at the time. I think at the time I thought it wasn't worth listening to and I don't think it really got much praise from critics.

Having listened to this album quite a lot for the past few weeks I can see why this album may have not done as well as what came before. While it still feels like a Muse album. They did go off in all sorts of directions in this album and although there are electric guitars present throughout the album, I would go as far as saying it doesn't really feel like a rock album they have made previously. In "The Resistance" they went in a slightly more prog direction. This album doesn't do that but does have experimental elements. Even when you take the single "Madness", it is a class track has a nice beat to it and good wee guitar solo. Slightly slower feel to it than normal. Certainly not a heavy rock track. The thing I remember the most about this track is the bass Chris uses as it is unique. It has this digital display above the strings on the main part of the bass where you pluck. He then taps the digital display to create the sound. And it is a dominant feature of the track which makes it stand out.

Next track "Panic Station" is totally opposite, it has a thumping bass line and is like a dance rock track. It's upbeat and has a great groove to it. That's the thing about this album, it never stays in the one place and there are so many twists and turns throughout the album. It's clear that at this stage in their career, Muse still wanted to progress their sound and not sit on what had come before. "Prelude" sees Matt back on the piano accompanied by a string section. Another bow to Muse's string which enables them to make such eclectic albums.

"Explorors" is track which is worth a mention. I remember my dad used to go on about this track at the time as he thought it was absolutely brilliant. And it really is. It's got a different song structure to normal. Kind of a build- up track to an extent without fully exploding to make a nice listening experience. Another major twist on this album is "Save Me" and "Liquid State" which sit side by side where bassist Chris sings on both for as main vocalist. As far as I'm aware this was the first time up until this point in time, he has done this. And it's great, he doesn't have the theatrical range in vocals like Matt, but he has this certain calmness and control which adds so much to the album. I'm surprised the band never utilised him as a vocalist earlier.

In their 5th album "The Resistance" I labelled the finally to the album one of the best they have ever done to finish an album bar Knights of Cydonia. It was a 3-part prog classic. On this album they went for more of the same but this time in two parts. The first part "The 2nd Law: Unsustainable" starts quite dramatically and again utilises a string section. Then it takes a turn and has all these cool effects and a women's voice as a voiceover. The second part "The 2nd Law: Isolated System" has strong post rock vibes about it is a piano driven track. It's funny that a ton of bands do music purely like this second part and in some places do it better than Muse. But because Muse have those punchy rock, mainstream friendly tracks. Muse are the ones that get the recognition. If you like this sort of track, you should really check out bands like Nordic Giants, it's what they do and they do it very well.

Overall, I think this is a really underrated album and I am so glad I went back to it and gave it the proper attention it deserves. This is Muse really experimenting with their sound and pushing their boundaries further than ever imaginable.