muse

Muse, from left to right: Matthew Bellamy, Dominic Howard, and Chris Wolstenholme.
Background information
Origin	Teignmouth, Devon, England
Genre(s)	Alternative rock New prog Progressive rock
Years active	1997 – present
Label(s)	Warner Bros. Records Taste Media Mushroom Helium3
Website	Muse.mu
Members
Matthew Bellamy Chris Wolstenholme Dominic Howard

Muse are a progressive rock band formed in Teignmouth, Devon in 1997, comprising Matthew Bellamy (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Chris Wolstenholme (bass guitar, keyboards, vocals) and Dominic Howard (drums, percussion). More recently, Morgan Nicholls has been featured on bass and keyboards in the Black Holes and Revelations era live performances. The band blends alternative rock, progressive rock, romantic music, funk, electronica, and heavy metal, to help form the new sub-genre of new prog. Muse is known best for their energetic live performances and frontman Matthew Bellamy's eccentric interests in global conspiracy, theology and the apocalypse.^[1] Muse has released four studio albums. The most recent, Black Holes and Revelations, was also the most critically acclaimed, garnering the band a Mercury Prize nomination and coming third in the NME Albums of the Year list for 2006.^[2]

History

Formation and early years (1992-1997)

While students at Teignmouth Community College in the early 1990s, the members of Muse played in separate bands. The formation of Muse began when 14 year old Matthew Bellamy successfully auditioned for the part of guitarist in Dominic Howard's band, Altostrata. Friend Chris Wolstenholme was asked to learn to play bass guitar for the band, and so joined to replace Phys Vandit.

In 1994, under the name Rocket Baby Dolls and with a Gothic/glam image, the group won a local battle of the bands contest, trashing their gear in the process (they were "the only real rock band" there).^[3][4] "It was supposed to be a protest, a statement", Bellamy said, "so, when we actually won, it was a real shock. A massive shock. After that, we started taking ourselves seriously."^[5] Shortly after the contest, they decided to forego university, quit their jobs, change their name to MUSE, and move away from Teignmouth.^[5]

First EPs and Showbiz (1998-2000)

After a few years building a fan base, Muse played their first gigs in London and Manchester. The band had a significant meeting with Dennis Smith, the owner of Sawmills, a recording studio in a converted water mill in Cornwall.

This meeting led to their first proper recordings and the release of a self-titled EP on Sawmill's in-house Dangerous label, with a front cover designed by Muse drummer Dominic Howard. Their second EP, the Muscle Museum EP, attracted the attention of influential British music journalist Steve Lamacq and the weekly British music publication NME. Dennis Smith subsequently co-founded the music production company Taste Media especially for Muse (the band stayed with Taste Media for their first 3 albums).

Despite the minor success of their second EP, British record companies were reluctant to back Muse, and many sections of the music industry asserted that - like many of their contemporaries - their sound was too similar to that of Radiohead. However, American record labels were keen to sign them, flying Muse out to the U.S. first class for corporate auditions. They signed with Maverick Records on December 24, 1998. Upon their return from America, Taste Media arranged deals for Muse with various record labels in Europe and Australia, allowing them to maintain control over their career in individual countries.

The partially transparent UNO CD-single

John Leckie, who had produced the influential The Bends by Radiohead, the Stone Roses, "Weird Al" Yankovic and The Verve, was brought in to produce the band's first record, Showbiz. The album showcased the band's soft style, and the lyrics made reference to the difficulties they had encountered while trying to establish themselves in Teignmouth.^[3][4]

The release of this album was followed by tour support slots for the Spice Girls and Savage Garden in the United States. 1999 and 2000 saw Muse playing major festivals in Europe and gigs in Australia, accumulating a considerable fan base in Western Europe, particularly in France.

Origin of Symmetry and Hullabaloo (2001-2002)

Their second album was Origin of Symmetry, again produced by Leckie.

The band experimented with unorthodox instrumentation, such as a church organ, Mellotron, and an expanded drum kit. There were more of Bellamy's high-pitched vocal lines, arpeggiated guitar, and distinctive piano playing. Bellamy cites guitar influences such as Jimi Hendrix and Tom Morello (of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave), the latter evident in the more riff-based songs on Origin of Symmetry, and in Bellamy's extensive use of pitch-shifting effects in his solos.^[6] The album also features a reworking of Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse's "Feeling Good". This album was described by Neha Nimmagudda as "an electrifying thrillride through the ruins of a post-apocalyptic universe, strewn with the sonic fragments of contemporaneity."

Muse have been compared with Queen, although this is partially due to their way of working the stage, with Bellamy's style reminiscent of that of Queen's Brian May.^[7] Comparisons to Radiohead were still evident: Dean Carlson of the All Music Guide commented on the album saying "if you want to sound like Radiohead when even Thom Yorke doesn't want to sound like Radiohead, you might as well take it to such preposterous, bombastic, over the top levels."^[8]

The album might have led to Muse making a significant impact on the American music scene, but Maverick had reservations about Bellamy's vocal style (considering it not to be "radio-friendly"), and asked Muse to change some of their songs prior to U.S. release. The band declined and left Maverick, resulting in Maverick's decision not to release Origin of Symmetry in the U.S. (The album was finally released in the U.S. on September 20, 2005, after Muse signed to Warner).

Having built up a strong reputation as a live band over the course of the Origin of Symmetry tour, Muse decided to release a live CD and DVD. The DVD, Hullabaloo, featured live footage recorded during Muse's two gigs on consecutive nights at Le Zenith in Paris in 2001 and a documentary film of the band on tour. A double album, Hullabaloo Soundtrack was released at the same time, containing a compilation of B-sides and a disc of recordings of songs from the Le Zenith performances. A double-A side single was also released featuring new songs "In Your World" and "Dead Star". The song "Shrinking Universe" from Hullabaloo Soundtrack was used in the 2007 film 28 Weeks Later.

In 2007, the Muse song "Space Dementia" was used in a Dior commercial featuring Eva Green, and directed by Wong Kar Wai, promoting Midnight Poison.

In the February 2006 edition of Q Magazine, Origin of Symmetry was placed 74th in a fans' poll of the 100 greatest albums ever.

Absolution (2003-2005)

In 2003, a new studio album, Absolution, was released. Produced by Rich Costey (who had previously produced Rage Against the Machine), the album demonstrated a continuation of the experimentation displayed in Origin of Symmetry, while maintaining a sense of the band as a three-piece. The album yielded the hit single "Time Is Running Out".

The album is built around the theme of the end of the world, and reactions to that situation; despite this, Muse described it as an "uplifting" album, with a positive message coming through in songs such as "Blackout" and "Butterflies and Hurricanes". The apocalyptic theme draws from Bellamy’s interest in conspiracy theories, theology, science, and the supernatural. The song "Ruled By Secrecy", for example, takes its title from the Jim Marrs novel Rule By Secrecy about the secrets behind the way major governments are run. Many lyrics on this album have political references.

Chris Wolstenholme of Muse performing at the Mod Club Theatre, Toronto in 2004. The international Absolution tour included the band's first shows in North America since 1999.

Finally receiving mainstream critical acclaim in Britain, and with a new American record deal, Muse undertook their first international stadium tour. It continued for about a year and saw Muse visiting Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, and France. Meanwhile, the band released five singles ("Time Is Running Out", "Hysteria", "Sing for Absolution", "Stockholm Syndrome", and "Butterflies and Hurricanes").

The band played at the Glastonbury festival in June 2004. At the time, Bellamy described the concert as "The best gig of our lives",^[9] but very shortly after the concert, drummer Dominic Howard's father, Bill Howard, who was at the festival to watch the band, died from a heart attack. "It was the biggest feeling of achievement we've ever had after coming offstage," Bellamy said. "It was almost surreal that an hour later his dad died. It was almost not believable. We spent about a week sort of just with Dom trying to support him. I think he was happy that at least his dad got to see him at probably what was the finest moment so far of the band's life."

Muse continued their tour. Their last dates were in the U.S. and at the Earls Court arena in London, where they played an extra date due to the high demand for tickets. They won two MTV Europe awards, including "Best Alternative Act," and a Q Award for "Best Live Act." At the end of 2004, Vitamin Records released The String Quartet Tribute to Muse by The Tallywood Strings, an album of instrumental string versions of some of Muse's songs. Muse received award for "Best Live Act" at the 2005 BRIT Awards.

The band finished touring in January 2005, then visited the U.S. in April and May. On July 2 2005, Muse participated in the Live 8 concert in Paris, where they performed their singles "Plug In Baby", "Bliss", "Time Is Running Out" and "Hysteria".

An unofficial DVD biography called Manic Depression was released in April 2005; the band was not involved with the project and did not endorse the release. Another DVD, this time official, was released on December 12 2005, Absolution Tour, containing re-edited and re-mastered highlights from the Glastonbury Festival 2004, and previously unseen footage from London Earls Court, Wembley Arena, and the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles. Two songs, "Endlessly" and "Thoughts Of A Dying Atheist", are hidden tracks on the DVD taken from Wembley Arena. The only song from Absolution not to appear on the live DVD is "Falling Away With You"; it has never been performed live^[10]. Absolution eventually went gold in the US.

Black Holes and Revelations (2006-2007)

In 2006, Muse announced that they were to release a new album (produced again by Rich Costey) titled Black Holes and Revelations. The album leaked onto the Internet on June 7. The album was released officially in Europe on July 3, 2006 and in North America on July 11, 2006. It was released to the Japanese market on June 28, 2006. The Japanese edition included an extra track, "Glorious", which is only available globally as the b-side to the "Invincible" vinyl. The album charted at No. 1 in the UK, much of Europe, and Australia and also achieved American success, reaching No. 9 in the Billboard 200 album chart. Black Holes and Revelations was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Music Prize; however, Muse lost to Arctic Monkeys. The album did, however, earn a Platinum Europe Award after selling one million copies in the continent, and the band received the 2006 Q Award for Best Live Act.

The album's title and themes are the result of the band's fascination with space, particularly with Mars and Cydonia. The cover artwork was designed by Storm Thorgerson and depicts a Martian landscape with four men seated around a table and four miniature horses on it - presumably the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who have outgrown their horses.

The first single from the album, "Supermassive Black Hole", was first released as a download on May 9, 2006, accompanied by a music video directed by Floria Sigismondi. The band revealed the song was inspired by the work of Soulwax and one-time support band Millionaire; a thank you was posted on Millionaire's website but can no longer be found^{[citation needed]}. The single was officially released online on 12 June, 2006, with the CD release taking place on June 19. The CD release contained the B-side "Crying Shame." The second single, "Starlight", was released on September 4, 2006. "Knights of Cydonia" was released in the U.S. as a radio-only single on June 13, 2006 and in the UK on November 27, 2006. It charted in the Top 10 and was accompanied by a six-minute promotional video filmed in Romania. The fourth single from the album, "Invincible", was released on April 9 2007,^[11] Another single, "Map of the Problematique", was released for digital download only on June 18 2007, following the band's performance at Wembley Stadium.^[12]

Muse recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios for Live From Abbey Road in August 2006. On November 2, 2006, Muse won the Best Alternative and Best Live Act awards at the 2006 MTV European Music Video Awards in Copenhagen, and performed their single "Starlight". Justin Timberlake, presenting the awards, commented that Muse was the best band there when introducing their performance of "Starlight", and lead singer of The Killers, Brandon Flowers, mentioned Muse while receiving their Best Rock award, saying that the award belonged to Muse. The band also won the BRIT award for Best Live Act in February 2007.

The band started performing live again on May 13, 2006 at BBC Radio 1's One Big Weekend, followed by a number of other promotional TV appearances. The main live tour started just before the release of their album and initially consisted mostly of festival appearances, most notably a headline slot at the Reading and Leeds Festivals^[13] and headlined on the last night of the Festival Internacional de Benicàssim Festival Internacional de Benicàssim in July 2007. A tour of North America took place from late July to early September 2006, and after the last of the summer festivals, a tour of Europe began, including a large arena tour of the UK.^[14] The band spent November and much of December 2006 touring Europe with British band Noisettes as the supporting act. The tour continued in Australia and south-east Asia; Muse have published further tour dates up to November 2007, when they will tour in Australia and New Zealand. Major performances included the Big Day Out 07 and the headlining spot at the Isle of Wight Festival on June 9 2007 and two headlining 90,000-capacity gigs at the newly-rebuilt Wembley Stadium on June 16 and June 17. The support acts for the Wembley shows were The Streets, Rodrigo y Gabriela, and Dirty Pretty Things on June 16, and My Chemical Romance, Biffy Clyro, and Shy Child on June 17.^[15] Both Wembley concerts were filmed for a DVD/CD release titled "Live At Wembley 2007" slated for release at the end of November 2007, which may include possible footage from the rest of the Black Holes and Revelations tour.^[16]

Muse continued their world tour across the U.S; headlining Saturday night of Lollapalooza in Chicago on August 4, 2007 (drawing their largest U.S. audience to date), Madison Square Garden on August 6 2007, Philadelphia's Festival Pier on August 10 2007,^[17] and also headlined Austin City Limits Festival in September 2007. Muse were confirmed as part of the lineup for October 2007's Vegoose in Las Vegas, alongside bands like Rage Against the Machine, Daft Punk, and Queens of the Stone Age.^[18]. ^[19]

Future plans

In an interview given in May 2007 to Rock Mag and published in the July 2007 issue, Bellamy confirmed that he has begun to work on a new album and new songs, some more in line with electronic or "dance music" and others more with classical or symphonic music. The band is also thinking of hiring an orchestra for some of them. He also revealed that the next album should be self-produced, in order to have more freedom.^[19]

In October 2007 in an interview with the Daily Star, Dominic Howard announced plans for a Mediterranean coast tour:

He also continued the idea of more electronic music, saying “We think it might have quite an electronic feel. Normally we need total time out from touring to sit down and reflect but this time round it feels different. We’re buzzing at the moment.”^[20]

Discography

Main article: Muse discography

Awards

Notable covers of Muse songs

• Dream Theater - "Stockholm Syndrome" (live only)
• Scala & Kolacny Brothers - "Muscle Museum" (2002)
• The Section Quartet - on album Lizards Like Us (2004) - "Time Is Running Out"
• The String Quartet Tribute To Muse (2005): "Stockholm Syndrome", "Map Of Your Head", "Time Is Running Out", "Muscle Museum", "In Your World", "Showbiz", "The Small Print", "Sunburn", "New Born", "Bliss", "Sing for Absolution"
• William Joseph - Within (2004) "Butterflies and Hurricanes"
• Threshold - "Supermassive Black Hole"
• The Feeling - "Time Is Running Out"
• Sick Puppies - "Stockholm Syndrome"
• The Rasmus - "Unintended"
• Pitty - "Stockholm Syndrome" (live only)

Movies

The Muse song Shrinking Universe was used in the trailer for the film 28 Weeks Later.

An instrumental version of the Muse song Apocalypse Please was used in the trailer for the film 30 Days of Night.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Muse

• muse.mu - Official Website
• Muse (band) at the Open Directory Project
• Muse at Last.fm
• Muse at MusicBrainz
• Muse at MySpace
• MuseWiki

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