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Absolution (album)

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Untitled

Absolution is the third studio album by English alternative rock band Muse. It was released on September 21, 2003[1] in the UK and almost six months later on March 23, 2004 in the U.S. by Taste Music Limited. The album yielded the band's first big American hits - "Time Is Running Out" and "Hysteria", the former becoming their first UK Top 10 single. Unlike previous albums, the recording and releasing of Absolution was not subject to constraining schedules, allowing the band to take as much time as they felt necessary to refine and alter their songs.

As with their previous albums, Absolution is mostly targeted at the "alternative rock and hard rock" audiences,[2] and has a strong Apocalyptic tone.

Background

Writing and composition

The band spent much of 2002 recording the album with producer Rick Costey.[3] The album incorporates themes of fear, mistrust, personal achievement and joy.[3] Bellamy said that the beginning of the Iraq War had an effect on their songwriting.[3]

As with previous albums, the band was compared to Radiohead and one reviewer called Bellamy's vocals a "Thom Yorke vocal impersonation".[4]

Release

The first release from the album was download-only single "Stockholm Syndrome".[3]

The album debuted at No. 1 in the UK charts, and soon after, reached No. 1 in the French charts. Within weeks of release it reached the top 5 in twelve countries, the top 10 in fifteen countries and the top 20 in twenty countries. Due to the long delay between the UK version and U.S. version releases, Absolution remained popular worldwide for an unusually long time, and saw the release of 5 singles (and 1 charity special download "Apocalypse Please"). Absolution sold 71,597 in its first week in the UK and has gone on to sell over 600,000 (in the UK), making it double platinum. It has also gone platinum in Europe as of April 2005 with sales over 1,000,000 in the continent. The album has sold 513,000 in the United States as of April 2007 making it Muse's first album to go gold there. It has also sold over 2.5 million worldwide as of April 2007.

The album reached #1 on the Top Heatseekers chart and #107 on the Billboard 200 in the USA. It was their first album to chart in the US.[5]

Critical reception

Track listing

All lyrics written by Matthew Bellamy, all music written by Matthew Bellamy, Dominic Howard, and Chris Wolstenholme, except where noted.

  1. "Intro" – 0:22
  2. "Apocalypse Please" – 4:12
  3. "Time Is Running Out" – 3:56
  4. "Sing for Absolution" – 4:54
  5. "Stockholm Syndrome" – 4:58
  6. "Falling Away with You" – 4:40
  7. "Interlude" – 0:37
  8. "Hysteria" (Bellamy/Wolstenholme) – 3:47
  9. "Blackout" – 4:22
  10. "Butterflies and Hurricanes" – 5:01
  11. "The Small Print" – 3:28
  12. "Endlessly" – 3:49
    • "Fury" (bonus track between "Endlessly" and "Thoughts of a Dying Atheist" on Japanese release) – 5:02
  13. "Thoughts of a Dying Atheist" – 3:11
  14. "Ruled by Secrecy" – 4:54

Initial copies of the CD featured inlay errors, where the songs "Interlude" and "Hysteria" switched places on the track listing.

Limited edition UK bonus DVD

  1. "The Making of Absolution" documentary

(Also Hysteria and Interlude positions are switched on the tracklisting, yet this is not the case on the album)

Australian Tour Bonus Disc

  1. "Stockholm Syndrome" – 7:14
  2. "New Born" – 6:11
  3. "Muscle Museum" – 4:18
  4. "Hysteria" – 4:14
  5. "Bliss" – 4:01
  6. "Time Is Running Out" – 4:06

This bonus CD is entirely composed of live versions, recorded at the Big Day Out in Sydney, January 23 2004 for Australian radio station Triple J and broadcasted in the radio show "Live at the Wireless".

B-Sides

"The Groove" - 2:38
"Fury" - 5:02

Personnel

Chart positions

Album

Year Chart Position
2003 UK Albums Chart 1
2004 Top Heatseekers 1
2005 The Billboard 200 107

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
2003 "Stockholm Syndrome" UK Downloads Chart 31
2003 "Time Is Running Out" UK Singles Chart 8
2003 "Hysteria" UK Singles Chart 17
2004 "Sing for Absolution" UK Singles Chart 16
2004 "Apocalypse Please" UK Downloads Chart 10
2004 "Butterflies and Hurricanes" UK Singles Chart 14
2004 "Time Is Running Out" Modern Rock Tracks 9
2005 "Hysteria" Modern Rock Tracks 9
2005 "Stockholm Syndrome" Modern Rock Tracks 31

References

  1. ^ "Muse website". Retrieved 2007-04-21.
  2. ^ Tim DiGravina. "Muse - Absolution". mp3.com. Retrieved 2007-04-21.
  3. ^ a b c d Gene Stout (2008-05-07). "'Absolution' plows the ground for Muse's U.S. following". Seattle PI. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
  4. ^ Tim DiGravina. "Absolution review". All Music Guide. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
  5. ^ "Billboard chart history". Retrieved 2008-06-10.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Absolution_(album)&oldid=223418052"