The Singles Jukebox

As with genetics, particularly under a Dawkinsian interpretation, a meme’s success may be due to its contribution to the effectiveness of its host.

[Video]
[3.25]

Tim de Reuse: Ah, Muse, ever self-serious, ever the harbingers of unspecific doom. Decrying the way ideas go viral in this dang-ol modern age of ours, without providing any hint of context as to what these ideas are or why you ought to be worried about them spreading, gives you a shell of a complaint that the listener is free to project in a direction of their choice. Same Muse we know and love, right? But it’s 2018, their instrumental formula hasn’t appreciably changed, and I don’t have the patience for any music that wants to seem “political” but goes out of its way to avoid alienating Glenn Beck.
[3]

Katherine St Asaph: A good way to troll Matt Bellamy is to wait until this title comes up in conversation, then go, “Oh, so like a meme?”
[2]

William John: Muse’s intention behind the portrayal of a depraved, apathetic world on “Thought Contagion” might’ve been to incite resistance, but it seems unlikely anyone would be inspired to a revolution if it’s to be soundtracked by wobbles that might’ve passed as fashionable a decade ago and endless, migraine-inducing guitar squiggles.
[2]

Nortey Dowuona: Looping theremin synths leap over chugging guitars and thick, awkward drums, and out-of-place piano slides underneath pulsing bass. The background vocals drown out Matt Bellamy, which is probably for the best.
[6]

Micha Cavaseno: Wearying pomp married to Scooby Doo theme-level theatrics, with none of the honest relation to camp. Matthew Bellamy sounds as preposterous and as deluded as any despot he aims to mock these days, and his band have long run out of ideas to flatly drill into their listeners’ heads. Incredible how a man who thinks he values free thought as much as he does is so demanding and petulant.
[2]

Alex Clifton: Did Matt Bellamy finally read 1984 and then feel possessed to write a song about it? That bassline is killer, but this is just too heavy-handed.
[3]

Edward Okulicz: I can’t hate this because that wobbly riff reminds me so much of “Time to Burn” by The Rasmus (lord, remember them? I sure do), only instead of relatable, crunchy angst, you’ve got Matt Bellamy babbling. That song came out in 2003, at a time when I still really liked Muse. Thinking about that, while I’m not old, I feel old, and while Muse were not always dreadful, they sure seem dreadful.
[4]

Will Adams: So much shouting, yet so little to say.
[4]