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Muse (band)

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For other uses, see Muse (disambiguation).
Muse

Muse are an English rock band formed in Teignmouth, Devon in 1994 under the alias of Rocket Baby Dolls. Afterwards, they changed their name to Muse, decided to forgo university and undertook a career in music.[1] The band comprises Matthew Bellamy (vocals, guitar, piano and keyboards), Christopher Wolstenholme (bass guitar) and Dominic Howard (drums and percussion). Muse blend alternative, hard rock, progressive rock, classical music and electronica to help form the new sub-genre of new prog. Muse are known best for their energetic and visually dazzling live performances, and front man Matthew Bellamy's eccentric interests in global conspiracy, extraterrestrial life, paranoia, theology and the apocalypse.[2] Muse have released four studio albums with their first Showbiz coming in 1999. The most recent, Black Holes & Revelations (2006), was also the most critically acclaimed, garnering the band a Mercury Prize nomination and a third place finish in the NME Albums of the Year list for 2006.[3]

History

Formation and early years (1992–1997)

The members of Muse played in separate bands during their stay at Teignmouth Community College in the early 1990s.[4] The formation of Muse began when 14 year old Matthew Bellamy successfully auditioned for the part of guitarist in Dominic Howard's band. They asked Chris Wolstenholme, who played drums at the time, to learn to play bass guitar for the band.

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.[5][6] "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." Shortly after the contest, they decided to forego university, quit their jobs, change their name to Muse, and move away from Teignmouth.[7]

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 Studio, situated in a converted water mill in Cornwall.

This meeting led to their first proper recordings and the release of an eponymous EP on Sawmills' in-house Dangerous label,[5] 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 with Safta Jaffery 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 produced the influential The Bends by Radiohead, and had produced for 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.[5][6]

The release of this album was followed by tour support slots for 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)

During production of the band's second album, Origin of Symmetry, 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 in Origin of Symmetry, and in Bellamy's extensive use of pitch-shifting effects in his solos.[8] The album also features a reworking of Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse's "Feeling Good". Muse successfully sued Nescafé in 2003 when they used Muse's version of "Feeling Good" in a television advert without permission, donating the £500,000 compensation to Oxfam.[9]

Celine Dion was also threatened with legal action in 2002 when she planned to name her Las Vegas show "Muse", despite the band owning the worldwide performing rights to the name. Celine Dion offered $50,000 for the rights but Muse rejected this with Bellamy stating that "We don't want to turn up there with people thinking we're Celine Dion's backing band." Eventually Dion was forced to back down.[10]

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.[11] 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."[12]

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 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 book 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 US leg of the 2004 tour began ominously as Bellamy injured himself on stage during the opening show in Atlanta.[13] The tour resumed after several stitches and a couple of days.

The band played at the Glastonbury festival in June 2004. After the festival, the band described the concert as "the best gig of our lives",[14][15] 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."[5]

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", which has never been performed live to date.[16] Absolution eventually went Gold in the US.[17]

Black Holes & Revelations (2006–2007)

In July 2006, Muse released their fourth album, again produced by Rich Costey, titled Black Holes & Revelations. The album was released officially in Japan on June 28 2006, Europe on July 3 2006 and in North America on July 11, 2006. 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.[18] Black Holes & Revelations was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Music Prize, but lost to Arctic Monkeys. The album did, however, earn a Platinum Europe Award after selling one million copies in the continent,[19] The album's title and themes are the result of the band's fascination with science fiction and political outrage.[20][21] In August 2006, Muse recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios for Live from Abbey Road.

The first single from the album, "Supermassive Black Hole", was released as a download on May 9 2006 and accompanied by a music video directed by Floria Sigismondi, followed by the general releases as a single the following month, all ahead of the main album release. 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 also had a six-minute promotional video filmed in Romania. The fourth single from the album, "Invincible", was released on April 9 2007,[22] Another single, "Map of the Problematique", was released for digital download only on June 18 2007, following the band's performance at Wembley Stadium.[23]

Prior to the release of the album, the band resumed making live performances, which had halted while recording, making a number of promotional TV appearances starting on May 13, 2006 at BBC Radio 1's One Big Weekend. 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 in August 2006.[24] The band's main touring itinerary started with a tour of North America from late July to early August 2006, and after the last of the summer festivals, a tour of Europe began, including a large arena tour of the UK.[25] The band spent November and much of December 2006 touring Europe with British band Noisettes as the supporting act. The tour continued in Australia, New Zealand and south-east Asia in early 2007 before returning to England for the summer. One of their biggest performances were two gigs at the newly-rebuilt Wembley Stadium on June 16 and 17. Both Wembley concerts were recorded for a DVD/CD release titled H.A.A.R.P, which was released on the 17th March 2008[26] in the UK and 1st April 2008[27] in the USA.

The touring continued across Europe in July 2007 before heading back to the US in August. They earned a headline spot on the second night of the Austin City Limits Music Festival on September 15, 2007, after The White Stripes cancelled their performance. They also performed at the October 2007 Vegoose in Las Vegas alongside bands like Rage Against the Machine, Daft Punk, and Queens of the Stone Age.[28] Muse played their final show of the Black Holes & Revelations tour as headliner of the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas after playing to sell-out crowds throughout South-East Asia, Australia, the United States and New Zealand.

H.A.A.R.P. and future plans (2008–)

On March 17 2008, Muse released their live CD and DVD package H.A.A.R.P. The title refers to the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program - a scientific research program aimed at studying the properties and behaviour of the ionosphere. The CD and DVD document the live concerts performed by the band at Wembley Stadium in London on June 16 and 17 2007 respectively.

Template:Future In an interview given in May 2007 to Kerrang!, Muse stated that 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 had begun. The band are also thinking of hiring an orchestra for some of the tracks. They also revealed that the next album should be self-produced, in order to have more freedom. In an interview in a January 2008 edition of NME, Matt Bellamy stated that he is not sure of what format the new songs are going to take, stating, "it may just be albums, but it may be a stream of singles, or it may just be one 50-minute symphony, do you know what I mean? Who knows?" The new songs will be released in whatever shape or form in late 2008-early 2009. Bellamy also said in an NME interview that he wanted to do a "15 minute space-rock guitar solo". [29]

In October 2007 interview with the Daily Star, Dominic Howard 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.”[30] He also confirmed that the band will start writing and recording properly in 2008.

A number of individual live appearances are also planned in 2008. In March they played concerts in Dubai, Johannesburg and Cape Town[31]. On 12 April they are set to play a one-off concert at the Royal Albert Hall in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.[32] In August they will be headline acts at V Festival 2008, playing in Chelmsford on Saturday 16th August, and Staffordshire on Sunday 17th August.[33] They have also suggested that UK and Ireland dates are planned. In several interviews they have shown interest in playing a new gig in Belfast on August 14th and a gig in Marlay Park, Dublin on August 13th (both confirmed in The Irish News on April 4th) and hinted at the possibility of a future stadium tour or concerts in South America.[34]

Band members

Current members

Touring members

  • Morgan Nicholls – keyboards, synthesisers, backing vocals, bass guitar (2004, 2006 - present)
Nicholls played bass guitar at V Festival on 2004, when Wolstenholme broke his wrist during a football match with Didz Hammond from The Cooper Temple Clause.
  • Dan "the Trumpet Man" Newell – trumpet (2006 - present)

Discography

Main article: Muse discography

Studio albums

Live/compilation albums

Awards

Template:Muse awards

References

  1. ^ Dan Martin (2007-06-16), "Muse play Wembley Stadium mega gig", NME, NME
  2. ^ "Muse play supermassive free show". NME News. NME.COM. 2006-06-26. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  3. ^ "NME Albums Of The Year 2006". NME. 2006. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  4. ^ "Teignmouth Community College". Rock Pilgrimages. Virgin Radio. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  5. ^ a b c d "muse: biography". microcuts.net. Retrieved 2007-08-04.
  6. ^ a b "Muse", Kerrang!, 1999
  7. ^ "Muse". Artists. Taste Music. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  8. ^ "Muse's Matt Bellamy Talks". Ultimate-Guitar.com (possibly reprinted from Total Guitar (UK Magazine)). December 25, 2003. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ NME, 2003 http://www.microcuts.net/uk/news/archives/06242003-nme_article.php, retrieved 2008-01-19 {{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  10. ^ "Band muses on Dion name victory". BBC News Online. 2002-10-18. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  11. ^ Ghori, Imran (2004), "Muse", Mean Street, vol. 15.06, retrieved 2008-01-27 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  12. ^ Carlson, Dean. "Origin of Symmetry - Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  13. ^ "Muse singer hurt during US show". BBC News Online. 2004-04-14. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  14. ^ "Muse". MTV.TV artist of the week. MTV. June 2004.
  15. ^ "Muse: Road To Wembley Part 4 - Glastonbury, triumph and tragedy". NME News. NME.COM. 2007-06-14. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  16. ^ Adam, Mamo (December/January 2008), "Tales of the Tracks - Muse", Rip It Up, p. 31 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  17. ^ "Search Results". Gold and Platinum. RIAA. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  18. ^ "Muse - Black Holes & Revelations". Music Charts. αCharts. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  19. ^ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards - 2006". News. IFPI. 2006. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  20. ^ "'Kate Moss? We briefly met once'". Popworld. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  21. ^ Raper, Dan (2006-07-19). "Black Holes & Revelations". Pop Matters. Retrieved 2008-01-24.
  22. ^ "Muse confirm new single". Retrieved 2007-07-26.
  23. ^ "MOTP - Wembley Souvenir Download". Microcuts.net. 2007-06-08. Retrieved 2007-01-27.
  24. ^ "Confirmed Festival Dates and Album Release Date". Muse Management. 2006-03-13.
  25. ^ "Current Tour Dates". Muse Syndrome. 2006-02-05.
  26. ^ "H.A.A.R.P - CD/DVD - Out March 17th!". News. Muse. 2008-02-01. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
  27. ^ "Muse to Release Live CD/DVD on April 1st". press release. Warner Bros. Records. 2008-02-19. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  28. ^ "Muse headlining Madison Square Garden". The Rock Radio. May 4, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  29. ^ "DVD and new Album Info". MuseLive.com. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
  30. ^ "Muse Cruise, Rockers will make waves on Med tour". The Daily Star. October 11, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  31. ^ "Tour Dates". Muse. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  32. ^ "Royal Albert Hall 2008". Teenage Cancer Trust. February 18, 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  33. ^ "V Festival Announcement!". Muse. 2008-02-12. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  34. ^ "Muse to play London's Royal Albert Hall". NME.COM. 2008-02-19. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
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