I can almost guarantee that every single one of you reading this article has at least heard a Queen song. Iâm also quite sure that most of you have at least some of their catalog on your iPods or in CD or even vinyl form. And thatâs because Freddie Mercury was a golden god among men â one of the greatest vocalists, composers, and musicians of all time. Matthew Bellamy is not Freddie Mercury. When, in 2001, Muse released Origin of Symmetry, undeniably one of the greatest rock albums of this generation, many thought that the guitarist/frontman/mastermind might be able to become a parallel to the Queen genius, a savior of the mainstream music world, and they had good reason: a piano-arpeggio-into-schizophrenic-rock-masterpiece in âNew Born,â an Earth-shattering rendition of a jazz standard in âFeeling Good,â and not to mention a decade-defining riff in âPlug-in Baby.â Then the hope started to dwindle. Absolution was good but not as good, Black Holes and Revelations had some exciting tracks but some filler as well, The Resistance proved to be the low point in their career, dishing out a handful of forgettable tunes. The 2nd Law, which sees Muse experimenting with different sounds and structures, is, if nothing else, better than The Resistance. When the first trailer The 2nd Law was released, the whole âMUSE GOES DUBSTEPâ thing spread around music forums like an incessant virus. As it turns out, the electronic influences on the album arenât as prevalent as some had hoped (and others had feared), but they do add a much needed dimension. On âFollow Me,â Muse enlist producer Nero to drop a chugging synth-and-bass beat, and âMadnessâ comes complete with a repetitious vocal sample and companion phasing bass line. The most evident influences of electronic music â and dubstep in particular â manifest in the two-part âtitle trackâ that closes the album. âThe Second Law: Unsustainableâ and âThe Second Law: Isolated Systemâ overflow with dubstep flourishes, orchestral strings, and robotic female spoken word lines. Itâs because of these things that the tracks donât sound like they belong on a Muse album at all, but theyâre a welcome contribution to a disappointingly dull record. âMadnessâ and âFollow Me,â despite the dynamics, arenât particularly great songs: they arenât unbearable; itâs just that they donât stand out much at all. There are only a couple of total throwaways on the album: âBig Freezeâ feels like lazy regression wrapped in an echoing, U2-ish guitar riff, and âExplorersâ is the cheesiest, most boring ballad â or song in general â Muse has ever recorded. The fact that it culminates in Bellamy bidding you to âGo to sleepâ and fading out on its twinkling, television-musical piano with the frontman uttering a soft âshhhhhhâ is enough to ruin the whole album. The other songs on The 2nd Law have their moments, but none qualify as classics. Opener âSupremacyâ starts with triumphant guitar chords, awkwardly meanders into a hushed vocal section backed by snare and timpani that sounds more like bad musical theater, hits an epic vocal climax, and drops into James Bond spy riffage in the span of less than two and a half minutes. Many of the songs see Bellamy satisfying his Queen obsession, none more so than âPanic Station,â which, with the funky drums and swaggering bass line, sounds like a rewrite of âAnother One Bites the Dust,â and âSurvival,â which is quite obviously what Bellamy sees as his groups âWe Are the Championsâ (albeit with some pretty impressive metal-infused guitar). The lyrics often showcase Bellamyâs ego (âLifeâs a race, and Iâm gonna win/Yes, Iâm gonna win, and Iâll light the fuse, and Iâll never loseâ from âSurvivalâ) or come across as taking themselves too seriously, as in âMadnessâ or the title tracks or â gulp â âExplorers.â The two best songs on The 2nd Law might be âAnimalsâ and âLiquid State.â Throughout âAnimals,â full, glossy keyboard dances smoothly on top of Dominic Howardâs laid-back drum beat and Chris Wolstenholmeâs proggy bass as Bellamy mixes in smooth, Spanish-influenced guitar leads. Meanwhile, âLiquid Stateâ sees Wolstenholme contributing lead vocals and songwriting, showcasing not only his distinctive bass style but also his hitherto untapped vocal talent, making it the most interesting thing Muse has done with a vocal since âSupermassive Black Hole.â Itâs because of this, rather than despite it, that âLiquid Stateâ is by far one of the most enjoyable tracks on the album. But why is it that Matt Bellamy isnât Freddie Mercury? The answer is simple: listen to three songs from Queenâs catalog at random â say, âSomebody to Love,â âStone Cold Crazy,â and âCrazy Little Thing Called Loveâ â and youâll see that, in terms of composition and singing ability, Freddie Mercury wasnât predictable whatsoever. Meanwhile, Bellamy â despite his vocal range, despite his guitar and piano abilities, despite his skill as a composer â has little vocal and guitar dynamics and seems to have rendered himself useless of writing a song that isnât based on a major chord progression leading up to a crescendo. None of this is to say that The 2nd Law is a bad album, because itâs not. Almost all the songs have good qualities (almost because of âExplorers), and âAnimalsâ could even go toe-to-toe with the lesser Origin of Symmetry tracks. But in a world where music no longer needs saving, Matt Bellamy still wants to be a superhero, and itâs the egotism and seriousness on the album that make it almost silly. Overall Rating: 6/10 Jack H. Evans is the entertainment editor for The Bark. Follow The Bark on Twitter@BeardenBARK and like The Bark (Bearden High School) on Facebook.