Format 7"
digital download | Length 5:59 | |
B-side "Reapers" (Live in Koln) (7") Released 16 April 2016 (2016-04-16) Recorded The Warehouse Studio
(Vancouver, British Columbia) Genre Hard rock
alternative metal
new prog
progressive metal | ||
"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 as the fifth and final single from Drones. 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.
Contents
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").
Music video
An official lyric video for the song was uploaded to the band's official YouTube channel on 29 May 2015. 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."
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."
Personnel
Personnel adapted from single liner notes.