Reapers (song)

"Reapers"
Single by Muse
from the album Drones
B-side	"Reapers" (Live in Koln) (7")
Released	16 April 2016
Format	7" digital download
Recorded	The Warehouse Studio[1] (Vancouver, British Columbia)
Genre	Hard rock alternative metal new prog
Length	5:59
Label	Warner Bros. Helium-3
Writer(s)	Matthew Bellamy
Producer(s)	Robert John "Mutt" Lange Muse
Muse singles chronology
"Revolt" (2015) "Reapers" (2016)
Drones track listing 12 tracks "Dead Inside" "[Drill Sergeant]" "Psycho" "Mercy" "Reapers" "The Handler" "[JFK]" "Defector" "Revolt" "Aftermath" "The Globalist" "Drones"

"Reapers" is a song by English rock band Muse. It was released as the second promotional single from the band's seventh studio album Drones, and was given a 7" single release, as part of Record Store Day 2016, on 16 April 2016. The song has peaked at number 75 on the French Singles Chart, number 71 on the Swiss Hitparade singles chart, number 37 on Billboard's Hot Rock Songs, and number 2 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Songs; it is the band's highest-charting track to date on the latter.

Release

"Reapers" was originally released a promotional single for Drones on 29 May 2015. The song got an actual single release as a Record Store Day 7" picture disc vinyl on 16 April 2016. The A-side consisted of the song's album version, while the B-side consisted of a live performance at the Gloria Theater in Köln, Germany. The release also included a fold-your-own paper plane (marketed as a "paper drone").^[2][3]

Composition

"Reapers" is a fast-paced song that showcases some of the band's heaviest influences. It opens with a frantic tapping solo in the key of D major, influenced by guitarists such as Eddie Van Halen and Buckethead. The verses see a shift into the parallel minor key, and they follow the Andalusian cadence progression, with guitar and bass work reminiscent of Muse's earlier song New Born.

The chorus is introduced by a Pentatonic riff, before moving to a tonally ambiguous I - ♭ VII - IV - I progression loosely rooted in G major. Bellamy's falsetto is backed by vocoder chants and stop-start guitar riffs.

After another repetition of the introduction, verse and chorus, the song heads into a guitar solo which makes heavy use of pitch shifting effects and trills. The guitar solo is unusual for Bellamy, as it does not follow any melodic ideas previously introduced in the song. Throughout the solo, the bassline reiterates the earlier Pentatonic riff, this time rooting itself in D minor, E minor, G minor and finally D minor again.

The song sees another dramatic shift after the final chorus, where its tempo decreases dramatically, and a chromatic bassline is introduced. Air raid sirens and screamed vocals are introduced as the guitar mimics the bassline, before launching off into a final solo. The song fades out with repeated chants of "Follow the yellow brick road," sampled from The Wizard of Oz.

Music video

An official lyric video for the song was uploaded to the band's official YouTube channel on 29 May 2015.^[4] Rolling Stone magazine called it "brutal and chilling ... fittingly blunt, depicting a man caught in the crosshairs of a drone and running for his life while a woman with red lipstick waits to pull the trigger."^[5]

Critical reception

In an album review for The Observer, Kitty Empire commented that the pacy song "exposes the overlap between the unfeeling destruction of drone warfare and the unfeeling destruction wrought by people tearing each other apart," referring to Muse frontman Matt Bellamy's break-up from fiancée Kate Hudson. She also compared Bellamy to Yngwie Malmsteen, noting that the song contains "meaty riffs."^[6]

Track listing

Digital download

Digital download
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Reapers"	5:59

7" vinyl

Side A
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Reapers"	5:59

Side B
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Reapers" (Live in Köln)	5:59

Personnel

Personnel adapted from single liner notes.^[7]

Tom Bailey – assistant engineer Matt Bellamy – composing Mario Borgatta – mix assistant Marc Carolan – engineering, mixing (live version) Tommasa Colliva – engineering, additional production Martin Cooke – assistant mixer Rich Costey – additional production, mixing Jacopo Dorici – assistant engineer

Nick Fourier – assistant mixer Robert John "Mutt" Lange – production Eric Mosher – assistant engineer Muse – production John Prestage – assistant engineer Olle Romo – additional programming Giuseppe Salvadori – assistant engineer Giovanni Versari – mastering (album and live version)

Charts

Chart (2015–16)	Peak Position
France (SNEP)[8]	75
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[9]	71
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[10]	127
US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[11]	37
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[12]	2

References

1. Drones (album liner notes). Muse. Warner Bros. Records / Helium-3. 2015.
2. "Muse – "Reapers"". Record Store Day (via Internet Archive. Archived from the original on April 15, 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
3. "Record Store Day: Muse - Reapers". BBC Music (via Internet Archive. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
4. "Muse - Reapers [Official Lyric Video]". YouTube. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
5. Blistein, Jon (2 June 2015). "Muse Rage Against 'Reapers' and 'The Handlers' on New Songs". Retrieved 10 June 2015.
6. Empire, Kitty (7 June 2015). "Muse: Drones review – an Orwellian breakup album". The Observer. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
7. "Reapers" (single liner notes). Muse (band). Warner Music UK / Helium-3. 2016.
8. "Lescharts.com – Muse – Reapers" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
9. "Swisscharts.com – Muse – Reapers". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
10. "CLUK Update 13.06.2015". zobbel.de. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
11. "Muse – Chart history" Billboard Hot Rock Songs for Muse. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
12. "Muse – Chart history" Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs for Muse. Retrieved 12 December 2015.