What Is Music?: A Music Podcast About Music

The Big Mates discuss Pokemon, Halloween, cowboys, and watch every music video by Muse. Adam, Steve, and Lucas embark on an epic jounrey and watch all of the Muse videos in one sitting and offer comments, opinion, and general musings on them. It is long, rambly, and hopefully a lot of fun! How do the music videos hold up? Will they even make it all the way through?! Find out on this episode of Wha...

The Big Mates discuss Jaws, Paul Simon, Game of Thrones, and Cryosleep , the solo album by Matt Bellamy. Adam, Steve, and Lucas talk about the context and release of the first (and so far only) solo album by Bellamy, exploring the context behind the album, how it was recorded, and then going track-by-track, discussing the music, lyrics, themes, and everything inbetween! What does a Matt Bellamy so...

Adam goes solo and is joined by author, critic, musician, and comic, Marc Burrows to discuss Chrstimas songs, music criticism, and Marc's new book, "Manic Street Preachers: Album-by-Album," to which Adam also contributed a chapter. Adam and Marc talk about Manic Street Preachers, their career, and how the book came to be. They also find time to discuss music generally, whether criti...

The Big Mates provide insightful commentary for Muse Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire 2017 . Adam, Steve, and Lucas discuss the show as put together by some fantastic bootleggers! Head to YouTube to watch along here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JUx5zXUttI Or don't - the episode is designed to work without it! You can now wear your fandom on your (literal) sleeve! What Is Music? now ha...

The Big Mates discuss Blink-182, Helping You Back to Work Vol. 1, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, and a selection of b-sides by Muse. Adam, Steve, and Lucas discuss some b-sides and rarities from across the band's career, discussing the content and recording process. Adam and Steve also attempt to guess which era each b-side is from! Which songs have been included? Who will score the most poi...

In this very special episode The Big Mates discuss reaction videos, service stations, slang, and the recent Manic Street Preachers tour. Adam, Steve, and Lucas reminisce on their experiences of The Ultra Vivid Lament tour, which saw them take in two Manics shows - Cardiff Motorpoint Arena (just Steve and Adam) and Brighton Dome (with Lucas too!) Get the lowdown on the songs played and get a taste...

The Big Mates are joined by @takeunobow (real name Emma) to talk about representation in films, vomiting at gigs, musical theatre, and much more ! Adam, Steve, and Lucas chat to Emma about Muse , the fanbase, her artwork, stan twitter, problematic musicians, hyperfixation, and Emma shares her Top 10 Muse songs! What takes the top spot? Where does this episode fit in the timeline? Where are all the...

The Big Mates provide insightful commentary for the Simulation Theory Film by Muse . Adam, Steve, and Lucas discuss the narrative/concert film as released in cinemas and onto Blu-Ray/streaming platforms. Watch along here by buying or renting! Watching along not strictly necessary! You can now wear your fandom on your (literal) sleeve! What Is Music? now has a RedBubble shop with lots of cool and s...

The Big Mates discuss TikTok, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Greek alphabet, and Disk 2 of the deluxe edition of Simulation Theory by Muse. Adam, Steve, and Lucas take a look at the disc of bonus content that came packaged with deluxe editions of Simulation Theory. They go track-by-track to examine these new versions, alternate mixes, and instrumentals. How does it match up to the album proper...

The Big Mates discuss the Shepard Tone, George Michael, memes, and Simulation Theory by Muse. Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their discussion on the band's eighth and most recent studio album, exploring the context behind the album, how it was recorded, and completing their track-by-track deep-dive, discussing the music, lyrics, themes, and everything inbetween! What will the final scores be...

The Big Mates discuss fizzy drinks, vaporwave, Bob Dylan, and Simulation Theory by Muse. Adam, Steve, and Lucas begin their discussion on the band's eighth and most recent studio album, exploring the context behind the album, how it was recorded, and beginning their track-by-track deep-dive, discussing the music, lyrics, themes, and everything inbetween! What does Irn Bru taste like? Are we l...

The Big Mates are joined by music journalist and author, Mark Beaumont to discuss Kanye West, sex rampages, Reading Festival, and all things Muse. Adam, Steve, Lucas, and Mark chat about the band, taking in their whole career and looking at how they fit into the current musical landscape, and also discuss Mark's book, Out of This World: The Story of Muse . They also find time for Mark to brin...

The Big Mates provide insightful commentary for the Drones World Tour Film by Muse . Adam, Steve, and Lucas discuss the show as released into cinemas (and sneakily uploaded to YouTube). Watch along here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gii3EX0OamQ You can now wear your fandom on your (literal) sleeve! What Is Music? now has a RedBubble shop with lots of cool and stupid designs. You can get the des...

BONG. THIS IS AN EMERGENCY NEWS BROADCAST. The Big Mates  discuss the newly released album by Manic Street Preachers, The Ultra Vivid Lament . They give their first impressions and pick some standout tracks. You can now wear your fandom on your (literal) sleeve! What Is Music? now has a RedBubble shop with lots of cool and stupid designs. You can get the designs on basically any product you like,...

The Big Mates discuss conspiracy theories, Celine Dion, The Cramps, and Drones by Muse. Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their discussion on the band's seventh studio album, exploring the context behind the album, how it was recorded, and concluding their track-by-track deep-dive, discussing the music, lyrics, themes, and everything inbetween! They also find time to chat about New Kind of Kick...

The Big Mates discuss the sunburn, trifle, Roy "Chubby" Brown, and Drones by Muse. Adam, Steve, and Lucas begin their discussion on the band's seventh studio album, exploring the context behind the album, how it was recorded, and beginning their track-by-track deep-dive, discussing the music, lyrics, themes, and everything inbetween! What is this album about? Does it RAWK? What&apos...

The Big Mates provide insightful commentary for Live at Rome Olympic Stadium by Muse . Adam, Steve, and Lucas discuss the show as released into cinemas and on DVD and Blu-Ray. Dig out your copy, or watch along here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THYSQJfmie0 You can now wear your fandom on your (literal) sleeve! What Is Music? now has a RedBubble shop with lots of cool and stupid designs. You can...

The Big Mates discuss football, Men in Black, dabbing, and The 2nd Law by Muse. Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their discussion on the band's sixth studio album, exploring the context behind the album, how it was recorded, and finishing up their track-by-track deep-dive, discussing the music, lyrics, themes, and everything inbetween! Can they figure out a better tracklist? What will the scor...

The Big Mates discuss Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, Greg Wallace, and The 2nd Law by Muse. Adam, Steve, and Lucas continue their discussion on the band's sixth studio album, exploring the context behind the album, how it was recorded, and digging into their track-by-track deep-dive, discussing the music, lyrics, themes, and everything inbetween! Does a theme emerg...

The Big Mates discuss the 2012 Olympics, the lineage of Jesus, the relentless passage of time, and The 2nd Law by Muse. Adam, Steve, and Lucas begin their discussion on the band's sixth studio album, exploring the context behind the album, how it was recorded, and beginning their track-by-track deep-dive, discussing the music, lyrics, themes, and everything inbetween! What is the second law o...

The Big Mates are joined by News Editor of the NME, Andrew Trendell to discuss Eurovision, music magazines, gigs, and all things Muse. Adam, Steve, Lucas, and Andrew chat about the bandm taking in their whole career and looking at how they fit into the current musical landscape. They also find time to discuss Manics Street Preachers and Andrew brings in Top 10s for both bands! Find out more on thi...

The Big Mates discuss creativity, Thierry Henry, Legoland, and EVEN IN EXILE by James Dean Bradfield. Adam, Steve, and Lucas cover the 2020 solo album from the Manic Street Preachers front man and do a track-by-track deep-dive, discussing the music, lyrics, themes, and everything inbetween! But first they talk to Patrick Jones , poet, author, playwright, political activist, one half of the writing...

The Big Mates provide insightful commentary for Muse Live at Wembley Stadium 2010 . Adam, Steve, and Lucas discuss the show as put together by the people at MuseBootlegs.com Head to MuseBootlegs.com to download the bootleg and watch along! Or don't - the episode is designed to work without it! You can now wear your fandom on your (literal) sleeve! What Is Music? now has a RedBubble shop with...

The Big Mates provide insightful commentary for Muse Live at KeyArena, Seattle in 2010 . Adam, Steve, and Lucas discuss the show as broadcast on MySpace and many, many other things. Watch along with this video (or don't - the choice is yours, and the episode works on its own!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t06Zkf6Z_Q You can now wear your fandom on your (literal) sleeve! What Is Music? no...

The Big Mates discuss coasts, critical analysis, cross-pollination, and The Resistance by Muse. Adam, Steve, and Lucas conclude their discussion on the band's fifth studio album, rounding off their track-by-track deep-dive, discussing the music, lyrics, themes, and everything inbetween! They also find time to cover Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever) . How does the three-part symphony cl...