music Muse - Drones Free Weezy Album – Lil Wayne The eleventh album by the American rapper is a reinvention for the artist. With a focus on himself by ditching high-profile collaborations and the auto-tuned chorus hooks, Free Weezy Album is his best album in a while. With strong stream-of-consciousness lyricism that seems to come from the heart rather than head, and oddly refreshing conceptual themes that made him so worthwhile, Wayne sounds like he finally gets it. Dark Before Dawn – Breaking Benjamin The band’s fifth album, the first since 2009 and featuring almost an entirely new lineup, is more of the same. But in this case it’s a good thing. As smartly-produced, largely inoffensive blasts of generic hard rock go, you could do a lot worse than this quintet. Long-time fans will be pleased to know that despite the changes, the band still retains their typical late nineties/early noughties post-grunge sound, but the riffs seem to have more meat on the bone and lead singer Benjamin Burnley’s rejuvenated enthusiasm shines through. E.MO.TION. – Carly Rae Jepsen The third album from “that woman who sang Call Me Maybe” is another batch of ridiculously catchy pop songs that have no artistic substance but are bound to get teenage girls (and guys) bopping up and down on the dancefloors around the world. Credit to Jepsen; she sure has a knack for penning a brilliantly likeable (or hateable) ballad, and there’s something refreshing about a bunch of feel-good ballads that don’t take themselves too seriously. But unless you are the type who likes lavish gratings of cheese on your food, this record will become unbearable after a few listens. What’s the story? Drones is the seventh studio album by England’s biggest rock band, Muse. Drones is a concept album following the protagonist’s journey from abandonment to indoctrination as a ‘human drone’ and eventual defection. Muse aimed to return to the simpler guitar-bass-drums rock sound of their earlier albums after experimenting with orchestral and electronic music in their more recent catalogue. Worth a listen? The heavy and catchy riffs, coupled with Queenesque operatic bombast are still there, and lead singer Matt Bellamy’s falsetto vocals still impress, but the lyrical content is dire. Subtlety is not the band’s forte, and yet another album which screams of government conspiracy theories and mind control is just tiring. After mostly ditching the keyboards and the cellos, it would have been nice to see a return to singing about space and science fiction, or anything remotely different. Muse continue to buy into their own hype and ridiculous posturing. If the band are to return to their previous heights, they need a change in direction. Verdict: Average release from a band slowly losing their way. 96 August 2015 www.bahrainthismonth.com Shorts
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