I’m sure you’ve all heard of Muse’s new direction of wanting to exclusively release singles instead of albums. If not head to nme and read their article. It’s quite a unique move, but there are obvious pro’s and con’s attached to the idea. Lets run through them
Pro’s
- It’s unique, I’m sure it’s done in the past but to be fair, it’s not the norm now is it? But hey, you can’t make an omlet without breaking some eggs, and by eggs i mean the songs in an album, and by omlet i mean an album? I don’t know, to be honest I actually just wanted to use that phrase in the entry
- Shorter times for song delivery, songs are released more sparodicly due to the lack of dependancy to release a batch of songs colletively.
- More raw tunes? I’m predicting this move will generate more spontaneous and raw tracks, the thing with releasing an album is you have loads of time to redo a song if needs be, so if you’ve recorded track 1, and halfway recording you go “hmm, perhaps we could add arrppegios on track 1″ and bam, changes made, this can be considered a pro or a con if you ask me since adding stuff to a song can welcome in the double edged sword theory (felt like saying fury but perhaps too cheesy?)
- Muse can technically make more money with singles than an album since the only way of buying the song is to buy the single, with the album you can pretty much scrap the singles unless they put B sides on them (and not stupid live tracks)
Cons:
- There’s no “collective” feel. Albums can generally have themes and atmospheres attached to theme, releasing just singles won’t have that same feeling.
- Fans will have to pay more to collect all the singles
- Not much impact compared to releasing an album, even the HAARP dvd seems to be bringing in attention and whatnot, having it released one by one will lose that build and wait that some of us love
- We’ll miss epic listening parties that sometimes the fans can share, I dont know how many people went to the Absolution listening party but that was beyond epic. It was played inside the London Planeterium and it really captured the feel of it with the visuals etc. The Muse HAARP at vue screening was also another epic event.
There’s probably more which I’ll add if I can think of many, suggest some too 
In my honest opinion, I would rather have the band release album to generate more momentum when the album is released, the bummer is when these albums get leaked and distributed before they are release and unless you are reviewing the album, it’s just not cool anymore.
So yeah, another poll on whether or not this is a good idea…
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Wow, I’m surprised that people aren’t too happy of no album move, feel free to post comments on why
It’s just the lack of continuity for me. Muse albums are like hour-long parties to me, filled with lots of oddly enjoyable insanity. Separating things into singles will pretty much ruin that party (although that raw songs things sounds good). Also, at my age, in my area, Muse albums… err… singles are extremely hard to find, and I hate ordering stuff over the Internet so that’ll only leave me with having to support Frostwire more than I support Muse.
Would you however sacrifice 1-2 years waiting for a new album with no new tracks out though?
I agree that without the album format, the singles may lack thematic elements that tend to be so captivating. However, I think that releasing singles is a great experiment considering the way the music industry is going these days and lack of respect for the artistic integrity of music that is a result of the accessibility to free music. As far as the music itself is concerned, this could be an opportunity for Muse to experiment alot and stretch their musical boundaries because they will not be restricted to trying to make each peice fit into a specific album. Sometimes the best ideas are the first instinct, rather than something that has been worked and reworked to death. Many artists lose freshness in an effort for perfection. Because Muse has become so popular, they face expectations for greatness and asinine over-thinking is exactly what will kill them at this point.
I’d rather have an album than have to download singles… besides the fact that I hate downloading stuff, I would miss the inlay with all the lyrics, artwork and pictures. How many of us researched what HAARP is on Google and then realised that the very same picture (from the HAARP website) was in the inlay on Black Holes and Revelations (page 5 from memory)? Was it not the coolest feeling to realise that HAARP meant something HUGE and you were able to deduce what it meant from the inlay (or was that just me)? That and amongst other things like not being able hug the CD after a bad day at school (yes, I am obsessed) and not being able to consider yourself as a Museologist [one who "studies" Museology
] after categorising your Muse CD collection in chronological order, you couldn’t do things like that with downloads. I’d definitely rather buy an album!
To Crazybobbles’s second comment:
I think that the wait would be worth it just to enjoy another behemoth Muse expirience, instead of just tiny snippets of Muse’s art every once in a while.
Lala makes a good point, though. Lack of continuity would certainly allow for more experimentation and diversity in musical styles.
Which is good. (oops… =])
hey I totally agree with um…dilshad
whoever they are, they are spot on lol. i love albums more than singles…singles show you only one side to the band in one song…albums let you become totally surrounded by many different songs. hello, we need that kind of thing from muse!!! singles are a no-no for me. btw dilshad, is your last name howard by any chance? 
At first I was swaying negativel to the idea, I know I haven’t really enjoyed downloading singles on their own in the past (eg B-sides etc). Not having them collected together (and for iTunes sake, that would be quite annoying). That’s why I love Hullaballo CD 2! I guess that’s what they’re kind of aiming for in a way…
So I think it would be a good experiment, for the rawness of the songs and really focusing on one song at a time (as the audience), but I don’t think they should ditch albums forever! so I’m half-half. They shoud try it out though, maybe for no shorter then two years, and see how it goes. I mean, now that they’ve expressed the idea, can’t you be curious as to what the outcome could be?
Two other points I thought of:
It will be annoying having to keep your ears peeled all the time for the release of new material.
And, having some ’singles’ might be good for airplay…
hmm… all I know is is that I’m curious now that the idea is out there!!
I think I’d prefer them to release collective wholes than separate incoherent slices. Especially since with BHAR I feel like Muse really nailed that, it really feels like a strong album with the songs in the right order and they fit each other.
Although… I do love singles but mainly the old Muse singles you know? Where you had like 4 b-sides for one release like Plug In Baby… And please put them on one single and not on two. THEN it would be great! Like small EPs with 5 songs every few months.
I voted for BAD but I’m basically open for anything as long as it’s fantastic new music by Muse! ^_^
airplay? okay i disagree there. i believe that when a song gets too much airplay on a radio station people tire of it or when a new band gets played on there, they get thrashed by the dj more often than not. i think the magic of muse is that they are truly awesome in their own right and don’t need to be mainstream to be as big as they are. i am in love with many mainstream bands and a few that have gone mainstream (e.g. mcr) and while they are wonderful, there is something about muse which makes muse different to them all. would love to know what you guys think!
I prefer the album format because it’s a beautiful sensation to have all their songs, i don’t want to wait for their singles for month!
opal bellamy: While I do hate overplay of some music, I think it is impossible for me to get tired of any Muse single. I also think that BHaR was a step in the direction of the mainstream for Muse. Maybe not wholly, but many of those songs had mass appeal, which was not the case in previous albums. The only time that the mainstream becomes a problem is when an artist is trying to work towards appealing to it. That is what is wrong with pop music. It is art for business rather than art for art. Disagree as you might, the best bands out there are just exploring the field, perfecting the craft and just generally jamming and having a good time.
Anyway, in response to the whole issue…dont fear change! There might be aspects of this type of release that you all like better. Give it a try before you decide its not a good idea!
This idea is really good and really sound…except for a band who tour to death like Muse, I’m not sure how well it would work. But hey, I’m ready to be proved wrong.
I am actually very excited about this new development - I would love for Muse to try to release music without the album format. This way, each song can be heard and interpreted separately, without having to immediately compare it to the songs heard before or after it on an album. Each song could be a completely diferent side of the band, instead of having an album that shows a side being released after a long lapse of time. I also feel for the band - can you imagine how taxing it must be to try to live up to that name? Instead of peaking and then slowly tapering down, Muse are trying something new. I have always seen Muse as a sort of a revolution - except they are not trying to implement change - they are the change. They don’t theorize, but rather act. And don’t be TOO alarmed - they did say they would release compilations! I know it’s not the same, but like Lala said - don’t fear change!
compilations?! i can’t take much more of this…look, all i am saying is that singles are going to take FOREVER to get to us and when they do, there are only going to be two or three songs on there (not even that if you live in Australia as I do…we don’t get what the rest of you appear to). i would much rather have a nice fat album to go through at my own pace and enjoy it for however long it takes for them to either:
a)tour like mad
b)bring out another album.
it’s been working for them before, why do they have to change? change can be a good thing, i do realise that, but this sort of change i do not like. not one little bit.
I realise that the release of singles as opposed to albums is just a possibility so I am well aware that Muse haven’t decided to do this or not.
I agree with Opal Bellamy… I believe that the problem with releasing singles is that there are some people who just don’t have access to be able to buy downloads of the internet… those who are under 18 (me for example) can’t access iTunes because you need to have credit card details… my parents won’t allow me to use theirs and I completely understand… giving security details over the internet is just too much of a supermassive risk. There are other factors too… like I mentioned earlier. So if we cannot buy the singles in that way, how else can we legally buy the songs? I live in Australia too, and every (and I mean all) record stores have stopped selling singles since 2000-and-whatever (I can’t remember). I am totally, all for change, and I will still find a way to buy the music if Muse decides to sell their songs as singles, it’s just that I personally prefer albums, it’s all just my opinion, and my opinion can change!
Just as a side note to illustrate the frustration at the fact that I live in Australia, apparently, according to some certain music stores, we aren’t even going to be able to buy the Special Edition of HAARP.
*nods at dilshad*
think of us who can’t buy the damn songs from the internet and being in a country which doesn’t get the free stuff…no “lost in the groove” type tracks that are hidden on singles and other things…we won’t get that! i hope muse looks at ALL of the pros and cons before making a decision…
I personally have never really been a fan of downloading things, because due to system crash or hard drive corruption you can lose them. Plus, they don’t feel as tangible. I know I personally get a sense of fulfillment upon buying something that I can actually hold in my hand and look at. (Or upon receving my limited edition HAARP!) For instance after downloading Radiohead’s In Rainbows, I felt somewhat empty. Sure, I had the music, but that was ALL I had. No booklet, no cover, no cd, just some .mp3’s.. Also, living in the US, I find that actually finding singles is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Many of my local record stores are JUST NOW getting Origin of Symmetry and Hullabaloo, and those are major releases! But a single? Forget it. Also, I know I’d listen to just the one song over and over and wear it out a LOT quicker, whereas an album spaces out the listening, meaning less chance of overdoing it, but that’s just my opinion.
Well I recon if thats what they want to do, then so be it.
I think it’ll break the ice for them and they’ll do some funky stuff and all.