“Drones” Songs Ranked

Muse seem to be alternating between experimental and pure rock albums, so after “The 2nd Law” it was only natural that we got this great rock record. Plenty of great songs here, but how would I rank them?

I’ve linked a few of my other Muse lists below:

Bad

12 – Drones

This barely even counts as a song, and I can’t believe they didn’t just end the album on “The Globalist”. In the “Bad” tier purely because of how frustrating it is.

Meh

11 – (Drill Sergeant)

I know this sets up “Psycho” quite well, but at the end of the day it’s only an interlude track and it’s nothing special.

10 – Revolt

One of the few songs on a Muse album that I actually don’t like at all, “Revolt” is just a cheesy rebellious song that does nothing for me whatsoever.

OK

9 – (JFK)

Why have I put another interlude track above “Revolt”? Well, this interlude feeds into “Defector” so brilliantly that I usually play the two together whenever I listen to “Defector” on it’s own. And also “Revolt” is not good, did I say that before?

Good

8 – Aftermath

At first this just seems like a nice little filler track, but after listening to it a few times I’ve really started to appreciate it more. It’s not quite a “Great” song yet, but with enough listens it might end up there eventually.

Great

7 – Psycho

The most famous track on the album, and I think it might be a teeeeeny little bit overrated. It’s still a great song, but definitely not the best on the album by any means. Killer riff though.

6 – Dead Inside

A great start to the album, but not the most amazing album opener we’ve ever had. This song rocks, but it’s nowhere near on the level as openers like “Take a Bow”, “Supremecy” or “New Born”.

5 – Defector

Starting with the aforementioned “(JFK)”, this song pulls you in straight away with some gnarly guitar and bass sounds. Matt’s vocals are on top form, and the insane vocal harmonies add another layer to an already brilliant song.

4 – The Handler

One of the best pure rock songs the band have ever made, you really get the sense that the guys just sat down one day and jammed until they got this track. That pure rock feel is what makes this track great, and every member of the band gives an outstanding performance.

3 – The Globalist

There aren’t many Muse songs that are this long (I can only think of “Citizen Erased”, but even that’s only seven minutes), but boy does it live up to it’s runtime.

The true ending to the album, it’s split up into three sections – two slow parts to start and end the song, and a bonkers middle part that blows my socks off every time I hear it. If they’d have ended the album here, that would have been one of their best final songs ever.

2 – Mercy

The band must really like this one – they’ve played it at ever live gig since this album’s release. I do really like this one as well, and can see why they play it so often – it has that crowd pleaser / big stadium vibe that only Muse could pull off like this.

Amazing

1 – Reapers

I think this is the Muse album with the least “Amazing” songs on it, and although a lot of the songs are great they never really transcend rock like some of the band’s other work.

“Reapers”, however, is an amazing song that I’ve absolutely loved ever since I heard it. The choruses and outro are insanely heavy and distorted, and Chris’s bassline is one of the most frantic he’s ever done. This song proves that, even after twenty years, the band can still make a rock classic.

Aaaand that’s my list. Almost done with all the Muse albums, there’s only one more left – and it’s their most recent, controversial one. Until then, check out some of my other lists: