OTM took a long, hard look at recent Muse offering The 2nd Law upon release, and aside from learning to tune out the irksome “M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-mad-mad!” detail that my SO and I like to joke is Kate Hudson “ruining another band”, not much has shifted in our opinion.  The album remains patchy, unfocused and aside from a few tracks (“Supremacy”, “Madness”, “Panic Station”), it sadly doesn’t merit the spins that The Resistance does.

“Follow Me” is one of the album’s lowlights:  its sentimental “baby love” undercurrent with strangely morbid lyrics comes out of the box sounding like a remix, as opposed to a thoughtful composition.  I’m not surprised that it’s been chosen as a single for precisely this reason:  after all, it has crossover potential, meaning increased exposure and sales as a North American tour hits full stride.

While the video for “Madness” came laden with the semi-cryptic and dark world imagery of The Resistance, Muse has chosen a “live performance” motif for this video.  This only confirms for me that it’s meant as a media vehicle for touring a market that likely latched on more for tracks like “Supermassive Black Hole” and “I Belong To You”.  While hardly their first performance video, “Follow Me” doesn’t manage to completely enthrall me.  The style of shooting reminds me of that David Lynch Duran Duran concert for American Express:  overkill of the effects, instead of allowing the organic majesty of a Muse concert to stand alone.  I’ve seen this band live:  you truly don’t need to dress them up.

In happier news, the band has also dropped a lyric video for “Supremacy”, also known as “the song that would have been a way better theme for Skyfall than the dragging Adele ditty”.  Serious props to Muse, by the way, for not only releasing lyric videos in the first place, but for making them a fun watch.  If the band releases “Panic Station” as perhaps the final single, I will be a very happy girl.  As for “Supremacy”, I really want the band to thumb their nose at the Bond execs and have a wry “spy” video.  The single drops February 25th, but you can groove along now.

So, what do you think of The 2nd Law and the single choices?  Do they represent the material well?  What tracks rank highest for you?  Feel free to drop a comment or tweet us at our new official Twitter, @OTMidnight.  (You can continue to follow Amber’s personal musings @emptysthemepark).