Muse Shows Olympic Spirit In "Survival" Video

The British atmospheric powerful rock trio Muse has been chosen to represent the UK at the upcoming London Summer Olympics with their latest track "Survival," the lead single from the English alternative rock band's sixth studio album, "The 2nd Law," is scheduled to be released on September 17th. With the games scheduled to kick off on July 27, audiences can now expect this thundering rock anthem to play throughout the Olympics.
"Survival" gradually emerges as another of Muse's chorus-less, build-to-a-cataclysmic-climax mood pieces. The lyrics match this competitive mentality, "Survival" certainly gives off an enormous vibe. It feels like a classic rock jam that Queen or ELO would've crafted, rife with strings, pianos, guitars and choir vocals. Appropriately, it's comprised entirely of various athletic feats from past Olympic games. The group says that the song is "about total conviction and pure determination to win."
That goes a long way toward explaining why Muse don't appear at all in the just-revealed video for "Survival," which instead features a thrilling montage of past Olympic glory and defeat. Because the Olympics area all about inclusion and global unity, the nearly four-minute clip makes sure to include all the sports that will be featured. "Survival" might be amongst the most ear-scorchingly, arse-burstingly, aneurysm-inducingly brilliant songs in Muse's canon, and it's clear that Muse have the spirit of the Olympics in mind.
The clip opens with a quick rewind through some of the Games' biggest moments back from 2012 to 1896, the birth of the modern games, which rolls out over triumphant moments from the past century-plus of competition. As frontman Matthew Bellamy begins his Queen-like call to athletic greatness we see a montage of sportsmen and women staring with intensity and raising their arms in victory. In the middle the Olympic credo, "Faster, Higher, Stronger" flashes across the screen as the song builds to a chorus-assisted crescendo. It's as insanely overblown as the Olympics themselves.