The 2nd Law - Muse
User Score
6.7 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 179 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 128 out of 179
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 179
  3. Negative: 32 out of 179

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  1. jos95
    Oct 2, 2012
    4
    Appalling compared to previous releases, The 2nd Law is disjointed and completely lacking in cohesion. They try to have too many styles and influences on the album, from prog rock to dubstep and none of them form together in a satisfying way. Matt's staccato vocal delivery is just pompous and irritating, and the two part symphony at the end has nothing on Exogenesis. Like the rest of the album, it's just lots of tidbits thrown together to pass off as experimentation. The only acceptable songs on the album are Panic Station and Supremacy. Matt and the boys need to come down to a little place called Earth, somewhere they were clearly at during the Origin of Symmetry era. That album was amazing. This is pure crap.… Expand
  2. kermitology
    Oct 9, 2012
    3
    Pretty disappointing effort as far as I'm concerned. Muse turned to the fashionable sound of the day (dubstep) and made an album that will easily date itself. It's all over the place and doesn't grab me like some of Muse's earlier work has done a good job of.
  3. Pat
    Oct 2, 2012
    3
    All I can say is, "not good." I am quite disappointed with this album. Almost every song on here makes me cringe. I was a long time muse fan up until resistance, and this album somehow is less listenable than that. Still, Muse is amazing live and will make these songs better when played on stage. Hopefully they will go back to using their full potential as musicians instead of this over produced queen want to be nonsense with dubstep baked in. The only song I liked, which gave me hope for the album, was the first one, 'Supremacy.' From there it goes straight down hill. Madness has the potential to be a good song but is marred with pop influences. The two songs where bassist, Chris Wolstenholme sings, are fairly dreadful due to a pretty obvious lack of vocal talent. He can sing well enough for backup, but he comes out flat at lead. Essentially, if you were a Muse fan pre Twilight, you will most likely hate this album. Post Twilight fans will eat it up.… Collapse
  4. BrandonBonasera
    Oct 2, 2012
    4
    As a fan of previous Muse albums, I am really disappointed that Muse had to do this to the fans. What did Muse do you ask? Well Muse decided to create a terrible album that completely destroys what made them so good by the slow and incredibly tedious tunes and the unnecessary dub step used in one of their songs. This album also lacks cohesion and is completely joyless and dull when trying to be cinematic. Muse, you need to clean up your act and create something that made your previous albums most memorable, if not amazing.… Expand
  5. TixyLix
    Oct 2, 2012
    3
    I want to like it but it is by far Muses worst album, the lyrics just make me cringe like they were written by a child. During the build up they kept saying how they were going to be doing dub step and funk and crazy electric guitar solos, none of which exist. They make an attempt at something... however it never hits the genres they advertise. I'm a big Muse fan but I cannot recommend this album to anyone. Songs I do like again I get put off because they're obvious rip offs, Supremacy is obviously trying to be a James Bond title track, Panic Station just rips off the bassline from Another One Bites the Dust and Big Freeze is basically a generic U2 track. I just don't get this album, it isn't Muse, it isn't creative and just makes me cringe so much.

    The biggest disappointment since Resistance, which at least had some original ideas and a few good songs.    … Expand
  6. Voldie
    Oct 3, 2012
    4
    Definitely worst Muse album to date. Bits and pieces of different styles and different concepts thrown in one not-so-good-smelling mess.

    Out of 13 tracks 8 are fillers, other tracks sound like a collection of singles, not an album.
  7. grabnar55
    Oct 2, 2012
    0
    This album is a waste of time, if you want to listen to muse than listen to their other albums because this album is just **** boring, Bellamy is a sell out.
  8. MonsieurMazure
    Oct 2, 2012
    0
    La tournure commerciale qu' a pris Muse et le nombre de groupies qui s'est multiplié montre l'évolution musicale pathétique des anglais.
    Rien ne sert de faire une critique sur l'album puisque c'est le néant, le vide, le rien !!!
  9. julybish
    Oct 3, 2012
    0
    Awful! The worst album Muse has so far produced. It seems to me Bellamy has spent too much time in hollywood! Really boring and disappointing. Hopefully he'll get back on track.
  10. superRadCat
    Oct 3, 2012
    4
    I honestly don't entirely know what to think about this album. For the most part it just doesn't sound like Muse. I've read several reviews from people stating that their lack of traditional Muse trappings is due to the evolution of the bands sound but in reality it's not that they've evolved and more that they seem to have run out of original ideas. I really want to love it but this album is completely disjointed and sounds more like a tribute album to the '80's greatest pop and rock music with some dub step thrown in for good measure. On their own each song ranges from acceptable to great ( with the exceptions of "Liquid State" and "The 2nd Law-Unsustainable"), but many of these songs don't sound like Muse at all. That wouldn't be a problem and could be attributed to the progression of their musical style, except that those songs sound nearly identical to songs written and performed by existing bands, especially "Big Freeze" which sounds exactly like U2 with Matt Bellamy as the front man. All in all this isn't a bad album but it isn't a good one either and I feel like the least they could have done would have been to market this as a kick ass tribute to '80's rock instead of a Muse album.… Expand
  11. MusiclyMade
    Oct 4, 2012
    4
    It's not as bad as I thought it would be, but I realised after a while that I laughed my way between 'Follow Me' and both 'The 2nd Law' tracks. What was quite weird was, considering they're both title tracks, 'The 2nd Law' tracks don't feel like part of the album at all.
  12. mako_psy
    Nov 4, 2012
    3
    I've been a fan of Muse since early 2000, or 2001 when a friend introduced me to their fantastic music in High School. I grew up listening to them religiously, and watched them go from a relatively unheard of band, to the giants they are today. Which is why I shock even myself by scoring this album so low. Unfortunately, I have to give an unbiased review, and unfortunately I found this to be a complete disappointment. I understand they are constantly evolving and changing direction, but this is just complete nonsense! The first time I heard Unsustainable, I could barely recognise that it was Muse. It just sounded like another generic wobble wobble artist. Of course, the rest of the album isn't quite the same, but it still doesn't live up to the bar their other albums set. There's only one song on the album worth listening to, and surprisingly it's Chris who sings it. Muse are the most talented band around today, and they have so much potential, it's just a shame they decided to abandon all creativity and release an album that was clearly made for the masses - but I guess it's just business at the end of the day. Such a shame.… Expand
  13. doogiehowser
    Oct 3, 2012
    4
    First off, you guys don't have the best professional review on here: BPM! It's funny and pretty reflective of how Muse try to present themselves to their audience. This album is just the next in a long line of diminishing returns. The official song of the Olympics has a line that reads "vengeance is mine?" Seriously?
  14. sickboy83
    Dec 17, 2012
    0
    This is one of the worst things I've ever heard. What a piece of c**p. Lobotomized Muse fans and payed music critics can say what the hell they want: this is a piece of s***t
  15. pxl
    Dec 20, 2012
    2
    I am definitely not a fan of the direction Muse are going. Unsustainable isn't terrible bad but it's really the only song within the album I can even slightly enjoy.
  16. Windowchecker
    Mar 5, 2013
    2
    When you constantly check if the minijack is properly connected to the player in fear of embarrassment that someone might hear what you're listening, then you know the music is bad, really bad. Being a fan of Muse, im stumped. Dont wanna give it zero so might as well mention that Supremacy is somewhat decent, but... ugh... I dont like this album, at all. I guess they cant all be good.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
70 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 30
  3. Negative: 0 out of 30
  1. Absolute Punk (Staff reviews)
    Dec 5, 2012
    65
    From its atmospheric nineties leanings to Bellamy's consistently on-the-mark channeling of Bono, it's not too hard to imagine The 2nd Law having a similar legacy ten or twenty years down the road: not a great album, but an adventurous one.
    Read full review
  2. Kerrang!
    Oct 29, 2012
    80
    Does this all meld together into the cohesive whole of a perfect album? Well, no, not really. But does The 2nd Law represent a band whose only limitations seem to be the high ceiling of their collective imagination? The answer here is an emphatic yes. [6 Oct 2012, p.52]
  3. Mojo
    Oct 22, 2012
    80
    Muse and David Campbell's melodramatic arrangements occasionally raise a smile, but if you like your rock symphonic and your vocals histrionic, The 2nd Law delivers. [Nov 2012, p.87]
See all critic reviews »