Muse is a British rock band from Teignmouth, founded in 1994. The band consists of singer, guitarist and pianist Matthew Bellamy, drummer Dominic Howard and bassist Christopher Wolstenholme. Muse achieved success with albums like Origin Of Symmetry and Absolution. In 2018, the band's eighth album was released.
Matthew, Chris and Dominic found their life in English Teignmouth utterly dull and decided to form a band. The boys were then thirteen years old. Various names were considered: The Gothic Plague, Rocket Baby Doll and Fixed Penalty. Under the name Muse, the trio released a nameless EP in 1997.
Early years
Under the supervision of cult producer John Leckie (Radiohead, Stone Roses, The Fall), Muse made their debut album Showbiz in 1999. Then things moved lightning fast. Muse supported Live, Skunk Anansie and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and played at major festivals like Glastonbury and Rock Werchter. The band was often compared to Radiohead, but the three very young Englishmen quickly built their own fanbase.
In 2001, Origin Of Symmetry was released. Opinions ranged from 'completely rubbish' to 'brilliant'. With singles like ‘New Born’ and ‘Bliss’, the CD became a big hit in Western Europe and Japan. However, the record company did not want to launch the album in the United States, which later led to a break between Muse and the label.
Major breakthrough
The definitive breakthrough came a year later with the album Absolution. Well-known singles include 'Time is Running Out' and 'Hysteria'. Absolution is a challenging album with heavy themes like religion and death, but the audience was clearly ready for it. Muse got the main stage at all major European festivals and achieved their first success in the United States.
High expectations
With such successes, expectations for the fourth album, Black Holes and Revelations, were high. Singer Matt said he wanted to make a more experimental album: more electronic, but also symphonic and classical. In 2007, Muse played at Pinkpop. The fifth album, The Resistance, was released in 2009, a few months earlier than expected. The album sounds fuller and more bombastic than its predecessors, but still has the recognisable Muse sound.
Sunday Morning Classic: The Resistance
On 3 October 2021, our Sunday Morning Classic spotlighted the fifth studio album The Resistance. It was released on 14 September 2009; the tracklist was already announced on Twitter on 3 July. Critics were mainly positive about the album, especially praising Muse's ambition, the classical music influences, and the thirteen-minute trilogy Exogenesis.
The first single from the album was Uprising; it was released on 3 August 2009. The last three tracks of the album form a symphony (Exogenesis) that Bellamy worked on for years. All music and lyrics were written by Matthew Bellamy. The Resistance was recorded at Lake Como in Italy.
The album starts with the delightful, rousing track Uprising. According to singer Matthew Bellamy, the song is a rock version of Goldfrapp. Bassist Christopher Wolstenholme said the following about the song: Uprising carries that protest feeling. I think the whole song is about having a kind of distrust of those in power, whether politicians or bankers. We live in a society where you're expected to keep quiet and just accept things. How fitting is that in this time of Covid and QR codes.
Source: NPO and Wikipedia Photo: Warner Music Sweden
