After much eager anticipation, progressive arena rock giants Muse have returned with news of a new album and a new song. However, ‘Psycho’, the first track to be shared from Muse’s forthcoming seventh studio album, Drones, has divided the opinions of fans.
It didn’t take long after the track’s music video was unveiled via YouTube for fans to mobilise and take to social media to air their criticisms of the track. While many fans insisted that the track was a welcome return to the band’s old sound, some weren’t as enthused.
“This is the kind of song I expect Muse to write in 5-minutes,” writes YouTube user Denny Fader. “As a long-time listener, they’ve given too much gold over the years for this to be considered quality work. There’s just no character here.”
Others were less analytical, but no less critical. “Honestly, was so excited to hear ‘Psycho’, but now that I have, it’s become my only hated Muse song. Even their worst songs still have something good or interesting about them. This is just repetitive and boring,” writes Spetsnaz Beaver.
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“Maybe that was the point what with indoctrination and such but that’s not an excuse for bad lyrics and music. Maybe this song can be ever so slightly elevated when placed in the context of the album as a whole but on it’s own it’s just awful.”
And some still have apparently abandoned Muse altogether in the wake of the band’s obviously controversial new single. “Wow… All I have to say is wow… Ripping the posters off my wall. I think I’m done. Fuck you too Muse,” wrote YouTube user Typhoon792.
Of course, the track has received plenty of good reviews, too. Like one user who wrote enthusiastically, “I like it. Muse never really disappointed me though. Don’t care what the rest of the dickheads on the internet think.”
“Gonna be honest, was disappointed at first but after a couple of hours this song has really grown on me. To all you complaining about it, don’t judge too quick. Compared to the previous album, this is much heavier rock and it’s awesome. Welcome back Muse!” wrote Luke Burke.
Meanwhile, others reserved criticism for the themes of the song. Such as user Montmorency Scarper, who wrote, “What I don’t understand is how people are arguing about riffs and ‘simple’ lyrics and cursing when there is what i think could be a real issue.”
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“Personally as a member of the military I don’t find the song offensive but I feel like others might when they’re being called psycho killer drones.” However, the band has indicated the album’s themes deal with a fictional narrative about mind control.
According to frontman Matt Bellamy, the album from which ‘Psycho’ has been taken deals with “Drones”, which are “metaphorical psychopaths which enable psychopathic behaviour with no recourse. The world is run by Drones utilizing Drones to turn us all into Drones.”
“This album explores the journey of a human, from their abandonment and loss of hope, to their indoctrination by the system to be a human drone, to their eventual defection from their oppressors.”
Drones is slated for release Friday, 5th June. The album’s first official single, ‘Dead Inside’ will debut the week of 23rd March. ‘Psycho’ is available now with pre-orders of Drones.
