Even though Muse has been around over 20 years, they take their time between releases, averaging about every 3 years. Simulation Theory came out in November is only their 8th studio album. Unlike Drones and 2nd Law, which emphasized a heavier rock sound, Simulation Theory relies heavily on synths and seldom-today used fat keyboard sounds from the 80s. Growing up and being a big fan of keys-dominated music as well as the 80s, this album for me is their best in quite a while, successfully mixing the "Muse sound" with shades of both the 80s and a far distant future.

Music aside, it's the music videos they produced for this album that do a brilliant job of putting the music within the visual context they were trying to capture, laden with 80s pop culture references, science fiction and campy horror films - but also through the lens of how the future was imagined in the 80s. The album artwork sets the mood and tone, created by Kyle Lambert (who did the artwork for Stranger Things), it's designed to emulate a retro-futuristic 80s movie poster.



It's still a "pop/rock" record and certainly won't be for everyone here. But this is one of Muse's best albums ever from where I sit. I measure that for me (with this type of music) in earworms. There are many catchy tracks that reward with repeated listening and will be inducted into their "greatest hits" catalog.

FYI, the music videos are loosely joined together in this order: Dig Down, Thought Contagion, Something Human, Dark Side, Pressure, Algorithm.