Muse : iSOUND.COM™

Stats

Plays: 8105 Views: 14140
Members: Formed: 1997 iSound Site: www.isound.com/muse

Biography

Sounds Like

Artists:
McLusky
Slipknot
Longpigs
Idlewild
Mansun
Kent
Ash
Jeff Buckley
JJ72
Garageland
Elbow
Ed Harcourt
Rufus Wainwright
Bright Eyes
Jeremy Enigk
Razorlight
Suede
Daves Radio
VIE
Mirrorsessions rock band
SPARKY'S COSMIC JOURNEY
One Perfect Minute
Until Your Heard
Genres:
Alternative Metal
Hard Rock
Instrumental Rock

Featured Video

Featured Album

	Black Holes and RevelationsNot Rated Released: 2007

Mp3s

Song	Play	Download	Add to station	Comments	Price	Rating(1-5)	Album
Starlight		N/A	Add to station	Add Comment	Free	Not Rated	[Single]
Supermassive Black Hole		N/A	Add to station	Add Comment 1 Comments	Free	Not Rated	[Single]
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Albums
Click on one of the albums below for more info.
	Black Holes and RevelationsNot Rated Released: 2007
	Origin of SymmetryNot Rated Released: 2004
	AbsolutionNot Rated Released: 2003
	Deadstar/in Your World EpNot Rated Released: 2003
	AbsolutionNot Rated Released: 2003
	In Your World/Dead StarNot Rated Released: 2002
	Deadstar/In Your World EPNot Rated Released: 2002
	Deadstar/In Your World [Single]Not Rated Released: 2002
	Hullabaloo SoundtrackNot Rated Released: 2002
	Random 1-8Not Rated Released: 2000
	Unintended, Pt. 2Not Rated Released: 2000
	Unintended, Pt. 1Not Rated Released: 2000

Biography

The Muse that drove out of Glastonbury 2004 was a very different one from the Muse that had arrived. Following seven years of near solid touring, buzzing with nervous anticipation; their escalation from being the biggest band in Teignmouth in 1997 to one of the biggest bands in Europe by 2004 had been a rocket ride but still, closing Glastonbury was a major step-up, a classic Eavis gamble, and with a weary, mud-drenched crowd facing a long Sunday night welly-trudge home even Muse themselves doubted they could pull it off. “We got offered the headline slot which scared the shit out of us to start with because we didn’t think we were big enough to do it,” says bassist Chris Wolstenhome. “The day was muddy and miserable, and as it was the end of the festival we thought people would be kind of jaded, but it was completely the opposite.”

Pull it off? They pulled it off, tied it down, strapped it to a space shuttle launch engine and blew it clear out of the galaxy. Glastonbury 2004 saw Muse storm troop onto the high table of classic Glastonbury headline acts and prove themselves a formidable force in British rock. It was only with that triumph fresh in their throats, they claim, that they realised they’d ‘made it’.

So the band that walked onto the Pyramid Stage that night was a phenomenon hitting its peak. A band that, at the age of 19, were swept out of decorating jobs into private jets and limos as the A&R pack-hunt hunt for Muse began, that spectacularly broke every rule of Proper Rock from releasing an Egyptian/funk crossover debut single (‘Muscle Museum’) to writing riffs so elaborate in their brilliance that they threatened to garrotte anyone daring to play them (‘Plug In Baby’) to rocking up Nina Simone (‘Feeling Good’). A band that have more than doubled their audience with each new album released (1999’s ‘Showbiz’ shifted 500,000, ‘Origin Of Symmetry’ hit the million mark in 2001 and 2003’s masterpiece of epic malevolence ‘Absolution’ sold twice that) and establishing themselves as the most thrilling operatic sci-fi carnival on the European arena circuit inside five years. A band that, by tearing up the Big Sheds of Europe, were themselves being torn up by The Road. “I’m sure we go through cycles,” says Matt, “like having a great time then getting jaded where the vibes are just a bit dark. But with the second coming of that cycle, we were like, ‘oh god, we’re going downhill again, we need to go home and not book a tour for a long time’.

But, “Absolution” was becoming a cult hit in the US so with the highs of Glastonbury behind them and with two sold out dates at Earls Court that Christmas to bolster their standing back home, Muse hit the mid West circuit, stripping away the arena flam and bluster and re-discovering the broiling, accident-prone three-piece beneath. “We went from playing these massive arenas in Europe to playing to 200 people in some pokey hole again,” Matt laughs. “That’s the price of getting too comfortable on large stages. But it was good to be treated like a new band over there and get that feeling of being discovered again.

Invigorated, Muse took a month off to work out where ‘home’ was - Matt relocated to a town just outside Milan, Chris and his ever-growing family remained in Teignmouth and Dom stuck about in London’s ‘trendy’ Highbury - before reconvening in summer 2005 in the bat-infested Chateau Miraval studio in a Knights Templar town in Southern France. Matt: “It reminded me, if anything, of Devon. Most of the writing process started out there, being a quieter place and truly cut off from the lifestyle we had.”

Their previous albums, they figured, were borne of necessity; hurried in the face of impending tour dates and hobbled by the need to ensure they could be played live. This time, they took a No Limits approach - no tour was booked, no studio tomfoolery was out of bounds; they were to explore the technological possibilities of the ‘studio band’. However, the equipment at Chateau Miraval was, frankly, not up to the job of recording a Muse album, so the band decamped to New York to complete the bulk of recording in the Electric Lady and Avatar studios and to soak the record with much-needed dance floor flavas. “Hendrix’s ghost was hanging around,” says Matt, “and Bowie came in for a day and said hello. That was good; to get the nod of approval from the old boy. If we’d stayed in France for the whole album it probably would’ve ended up real prog. Songs like ‘Knights Of Cydonia’ would’ve been twenty minutes long. Going to New York for some reason tightened everything up and it got more groove orientated. Songs like ‘Starlight’ and ‘Supermassive Black Hole’ and ‘Hoodoo’, they all had grooves that radically changed when we went to New York, I don’t know if that was the vibe of the city or what.”

If Muse sound like a new band on ‘Black Holes and Revelations’ it’s because, after Glastonbury, they are: expanded of mind, settled of spirit and anything but sedentary of sound. Still, some of this might come as a shock: after opener ‘Take A Bow’ takes over where ‘Absolution’ left off – all doomy celestial synths and Matt’s preacherish wails of “You will burn in hell for your sins!” – we suddenly rocket off into unexplored quadrants. ‘Starlight’ is an Abba gig on the moon, ‘Map of the Problematique’ is Depeche Mode impersonating Queen for a Bond theme and, most surprising of all, ‘Supermassive Black Hole’ is a dance floor electro-metal stomper, resembling Beck giving Marilyn Manson a helium blowback in Studio 54. Which is not to mention the triptych of Italian folk-influenced meta-country that closes the record in a flurry of flamenco frenetics and mariachi horns. ‘Absolution 2: Back To The Planets’, this most certainly is not.

For continuity, in fact, we must look to the lyrical themes, where fans of the apocalyptic soundbite, the madcap conspiracy theory, the revolutionary rabble-rousing, the weird stuff about aliens inventing all earthly religions and other such classic Muse concerns will not be disappointed. The idea that identity cards are the first sign of the onset of the end of the world? That’ll be ‘Take A Bow’, Matt: “There‘s definitely a connection to Revelations with that. It talks about a time when people will not be able to purchase anything without a number or exist without a number. Instead of going for a job interview they‘ll just swipe you. They‘ll get your medical history, your financial history, the lot.”. The theory that the Earth is actually an expanding sphere, being sucked towards the gigantic black hole at the centre of the universe (as emotional metaphor)? ‘Supermassive Black Hole’, mate.

The fear of our civilisation going the way of the Roman Empire? Check out surf-prog album closer ‘Knights Of Cydonia’. The loss of hope in the face of unjustifiable wars? It’s all there in the central duo of ‘Soldier’s’ Poem’ and ‘Invincible’. And as for ‘Exo-Politics’… “That’s about the possibility of an orchestrated alien invasion created by the New World Order,” Matt argues, utterly without the aid of hard drugs. “There are some people who think that in the next ten years there’ll be an orchestrated alien invasion. Not an invasion but aliens will appear. Not appear but there’ll be discussions about it. There are definitely some funny things going on. A whole load of things, which, if you add them all together, add up to the feeling that something big is going to happen in the next ten years. You can look at it all and get overwhelmed with fear or you can look at it all and say it’s all being orchestrated as a way to keep people down.”

Well quite. But whereas ‘Absolution’ gazed on helplessly at the subjugation of humanity by corrupt world leaders and encroaching environmental or galactic disasters (and certainly, ‘Black Holes And Revelations’ has its fair share of climate change/oil crisis/global inflagration paranoia), on the new album’s pivotal track ‘Assassin’ Bellamy appears to be calling for nothing short of a global revolution – “Shoot your leaders down/And join forces underground…. Destroy demonocracy”.
“I think we’re approaching that time,” Matt nods. “If you look at those protests in France, the size and level of protest doesn’t really relate to what they’re protesting about. I think there’s something underneath that people are feeling, particularly the younger generation. We feel like we’ve been born into some pre-created situation where we don’t actually have any control over anything. We’ve got an aging population as well and that control factor grates a little bit. I feel, through this album, that I’m feeling pessimistic and frustrated about it all but at the same time I’m not against revolutionary moves and I wouldn’t be ashamed to have incited a small riot, if it’s for a good cause.”
The time has come. The New Muse Order is on the rise.

Bio written by: loser_freak

Artist Forum


Discussion Topic	Creator
tries to get board more popular..favourite song? ive only heard 2 of their albums but mine are probably...TSP (thats my absolute favourite) fillip, sunburn, muscle museum, thoughts of a dying athiest and time is running out...hmm yeah	loser_freak

Replys	Listener
i like IN your world, Hysteria, Time is Running out The small print and Plug in baby they all rock and also British lol.	Aidan
ooh i love plug in baby too... woo english! ahem...yes...	loser_freak
i enjoy enlightening my ears with muscle museum	monkey_kong
yeah its a good song... i also like fury...i eventually got it the other day	loser_freak
time is running out...tsp..hysteria..thoughts of a dying atheist...and i think ruled by secrecy is really pretty...	shadowbug26
I know this sounds wierd but that piano solo in Butterflies and Hurricanes is pretty cool Matt Bellamy is a Genius	Aidan
I know this sounds wierd but that piano solo in Butterflies and Hurricanes is pretty cool Matt Bellamy is a Genius	Aidan
yeah i love that too	loser_freak
yeah they are a good example of british bands.. and thats coming from me who doesnt particulurly like muse. how dare you make another board! i love plug in baby, feeling good and time is running out is OK... i suppoooosee... i like feeder	whoamiagain
then go to the feeder boards... and whay's wrong with another board?	loser_freak
nothing.. just thought it would be cool to have just one.. maybe	whoamiagain
no dear... why dont more people like muse?!	loser_freak
time is running out	obsessed4eva_gc
yaah good song good song	loser_freak
i love the snaps in that song..they make me laugh for some odd reason..	shadowbug26
the snaps?...you mean like in the intro?	loser_freak
yeah, right before Matt starts singing.	shadowbug26
ooh yeah...thats cool...i wanna review a muse song but i dont know which one	loser_freak
::scrolls up:: review TSP...you said it was your favorite.	shadowbug26
I think i may just do that... ty shadowbug.	loser_freak
anytime ^_^	shadowbug26
I can't be bothered to do it now...Oh well.	loser_freak
i'm lost...	BLASTT
I'm lost all of the time.	loser_freak
i have absolution and my favorite song is time is running out i love this band as soon as word gets out about them there are probably gonna be more popular.	antisocialloser
Oh My God, there's hardly any topics on this forum, i thought Muse were huge worldwide not just in the U.K.... Anyway they've made some incredible songs, i like 'Bliss' the video to that is really cool too, 'Plug In Baby', i've heard'Time Is Running Out' too much, it's really irritating, lol i'm not too keen on 'Absolution' myself.. But yeah, they've done alot of really good songs..	Hellz_Hunny
I think Muse have to be the best thing that's happened over here in Britain since Iron Maiden! lol... That's probably the only good thing about being English, the pride in a couple of really good bands...	Hellz_Hunny
Ahh yes! I love Bliss... I now have Origin of Symmerty, I only need Hullabaloo now.	loser_freak
they have a kik ass bassist!	SESDUDE
Time is running out and sing for absolution are my faves. Muse is so inspiring...	official_punk_lo0ser
sunburn, absolutly classic track, hysteria, coz its got on eof the best bass lines iv heard in my life, plug in baby,bliss, new born, and id have to probably say TSP aswell, its growing on me loads. muse rock, went to see them last december they ruled!	Manley182
I've heard "Time is Running Out" & "Hysteria" and they f-in rock... I just recently got their Absolution album... I am gonna be listening to it later this week... I think that it's gonna be so awesome...	Mr_Vergoyginboot
I've listened to Muse's Absolution a good 2 or 3 times and it rocks so damn hard... Right now I am listening to Muse - "Hysteria"...	Mr_Vergoyginboot
Absolution is perhaps my favourite album ever. I love it. And now, as I'm talking about it, I have to listen to it. I love it.	loser_freak
you have a good taste in music my favorite song on the album is probably Stockholm Syndrome	FattyMcfatfat18
oh no, i actually dnt have any muse albums cos i only recently started gettin into them properly but frm the singles iv herd on tv i wud say time is running out and bliss	jampunk2711
Ah Bliss. I love that song. You should get Absolution, it won't disappoint you.	loser_freak
Either Hysteria or Apocalypse now. It's no fair! You have to pay $20 for an import of Origin of Symmetry her in America. You lucky limey bastards	Master_Shake
i like this band a lot their new album is really cool	fairiekisses
Stockholm Syndrome, Apocolypse Please, Time is Running Out, a few other songs on Absolution... haven't really heard much else by Muse... I like the guys high voice... He sure does gasp for breath quite frequently.......	katiejk85
hey whats the new single called? i wanna download it..	televator06
the new one? the newest one i know of is "stockholm syndrome" i love that song!	chickie
Americans are unlucky... I can get... and have got all their albums. looks smug	loser_freak
damn you loser_freakraises fisti never see ther old albums.i should try sam goody.but they have albums at 20 bucks while in other stores there cheaper.but in samgoody i find albums that i cant find in other stores.	chevellefan_99
Then go there! Now! I've re-fallen in love with Muse... I didn't listen to them for ages... but I lsitened to them the other day and I was like 'Wow... they are actually the best band ever...' hehe. I love Unintended... it's so beautiful.	loser_freak
damn u i dont know what untided or whatever u said is.WHY!? eh oh well i got 20 buck again so i see which cd ill buy.heehe.	chevellefan_99
Hehehe... Get Showbiz! Do it now!	loser_freak
I am thinking stockholme syndrome,hysteria ,sing for absolution,Apocalypse please,Butterflies and huricanes, htoughts of a dying athiest. o hell the whole Absolution CD is killer.	Captain_Feces
i love all muse's songs i need to defintely buy their album absolution though. their so fucking talented LOL	coolgirly2
all their songs are hella good. but i especially like hysteria, time is running out,and sing for absolution.	cyeniDexkisses69
all their songs are hella good. but i especially like hysteria, time is running out,and sing for absolution.	cyeniDexkisses69
all their songs are hella good. but i especially like hysteria, time is running out,and sing for absolution.	cyeniDexkisses69
whoops, accidentally clicked submit three times. my bad!	cyeniDexkisses69
wow havent been here in a while.havent gotten there cd.	chevellefan_99
You got to in is a sick and beastly album.	Captain_Feces
i have finally got their album absolution and it's so good but my favourite muse album is origin of symmetry!	coolgirly2
Really, i am surprised because i indeed like absolution the best but i havent listened to the other albums too much, but i will now check them out.	Captain_Feces
cool captain_faeces i hope you won't be disappointed because that's opinion but i just love muse anyway!	coolgirly2
because that's my opinion	coolgirly2
I have there three albums now because i did not knw that they finally released one of them to the us last year. They all rule they are so good i would love to see them live	FattyMcfatfat18
yeah i want to see them live aswell! they are so good!	coolgirly2
what i don't understand is why you're all only mentioning the tree albums they've released and i've noticed one guy who's menitoned a bside. what happened to all the other b sides and the songs they've played from the forthcoming album "blackholes and revelations"? i've heard 3 tracks from the new album and also a b side to the new album aswell. they are brilliant. i like the way the band is progressing. i think starlight on the new album could be a really big hit!!!!!! and yes, they are phenomenal live!	sambinney
Plug in baby rocks! and so does bliss :D xx Damn my bf is going to see them play in edinburgh it sucks! xx	raindropsonroses
I have now listened to more albums and my favorite now, is Showbiz, such a good album.	Captain_Feces
yaheard they are goood real goood i now have all there albums after buying there new one a couple dayse ago	FattyMcfatfat18
I like alot of their songs but have found that i enjoy their earlier stuff more, early like the album Showbiz! classic.	TheMaverick
Muse is the best!! I just love all their great albums!! =D =D	lady_of_sorrows
i like some of their stuff but i think they are a bit whiny and it gets boring they are excellent live favorite song is black holes and revelations is that how you spell it??	_xflyingdaggerx_