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Supermassive Black Hole (song)

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"Supermassive Black Hole"
Song
B-side7", CD
"Crying Shame"

"Supermassive Black Hole" is a song by English alternative rock band Muse, featured on their fourth studio album Black Holes and Revelations. It was written by Muse lead singer and principal songwriter Matthew Bellamy. When released as the lead single from the album in June 2006, backed with "Crying Shame", the song charted at number four on the UK Singles Chart, the highest singles chart position the band has achieved to date in the United Kingdom. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 74 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[1] It was nominated for the Kerrang! Award for Best Single.

On 8 May 2008, the song was released as downloadable content for the rhythm game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, along with "Stockholm Syndrome" and "Exo-Politics". The song was also used in the 2008 movie Twilight in the baseball game sequence, and subsequently was used in the soundtrack. A version of the song was also featured on FIFA 07's playlist, this version of the song contains a more distorted guitar.[2] It is also the only Muse song to feature a distorted snarl. In 2006, it featured in the Supernatural episode "Hunted". It was also featured at the beginning of the Series 6 Doctor Who episode "The Rebel Flesh".[3] It was also used as a wake-up for Space Shuttle Atlantis astronauts on the vessel's presumed final day in space, 26 May 2010.[4] It also appeared in a scene of the Sopranos series, while Tony was talking with two boys at the Bada-Bing.

The song was covered by UK progressive metal band Threshold on their 2007 album Dead Reckoning, as a bonus track.

Influences

Bellamy said that the song was "the most different to anything we've ever done." Influences included bands such as The Beatles, Millionaire, dEUS, Evil Superstars and Soulwax. Bellamy said that "these groups were the first to mix R&B rhythms with alternative guitar. We've added a bit of Prince and Kanye West. The drumbeat isn't rocky, with Rage Against the Machine riffs underneath. We’ve mixed a lot of things in this track, with a bit of electronica; it’s different, slow, quite funky."[5]

In an interview with NME, Bellamy said "I was going out dancing in clubs around New York. That helped create tracks like 'Supermassive Black Hole'. Franz Ferdinand would have done it very well, with that dance type beat going on mixed with alternative guitar and I've always wanted to find that."[6]

Music video

The single's accompanying music video shows the band playing in a small furniture shop, clad in masks. This is intercut with images of dancers in Zentai suits which are then unzipped at the end to reveal beings made of space. The video was directed by Floria Sigismondi, who has directed videos for alternative bands such as Marilyn Manson, The White Stripes, Interpol, Katy Perry, Incubus and The Cure. Sigismondi described the video as replicating a recurring dream she has experienced, in which dancers wearing masks of their own faces or mirrors and full body suits fill a dark mirrored room. There are also flashes of a black circle, a depiction of a supermassive black hole.

Reception

NME gave the song a score of 8.5 out of 10, describing it as "dirty funk guitars rub[bing] saucily against a Prince-ish falsetto over a pink leather couchette".[7] A reviewer on Blogcritics commented that the song has "a bit of a 'disco' feel that some fans may not be expecting".[8]

Release

"Supermassive Black Hole" was the first single released from Black Holes and Revelations in the UK on 19 June 2006, available on vinyl, CD, DVD and digital download formats. It peaked at #4 on the UK Singles Chart, making it their most popular single released in the UK to date. In the US it was the third single to be released, on 23 April 2007. The single reached #6 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, making it the seventh highest-charting Muse single in the U.S. behind "Madness", "Starlight", "Uprising", "Resistance", "Panic Station", and "Undisclosed Desires".

B-side

The single's B-side, "Crying Shame", was first performed on 19 December 2004 at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre. The key was changed during the 2005 tour, and the studio track omits the riff found in the earlier live version. The lyrics also appear to have changed, and this is the first studio release in which lead singer Bellamy uses profanity.

Track listings

All tracks are written by Matthew Bellamy

7" vinyl (HEL3001); CD single (HEL3001CD)
No.TitleLength
1."Supermassive Black Hole"3:29
2."Crying Shame"2:38
Total length:6:07
DVD single (HEL3001DVD)
No.TitleLength
1."Supermassive Black Hole" (music video)3:29
2."Supermassive Black Hole"3:29
3."Supermassive Black Hole" (making-of video)12:04
Total length:18:05

Charts

Chart (2006) Peak
UK Singles Chart 4
Danish Singles Chart[9] 7
Italian Singles Chart[10] 9
Finnish Singles Chart[11] 10
Irish Singles Chart[12] 16
Swiss Singles Chart[13] 33
Dutch Singles Chart[14] 39
French Singles Chart[15] 51
European Hot 100 8
Australian Singles Chart[16] 34
Chart (2007) Peak
US Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks[17] 6

Sales and certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[18] Gold 400,000^

References

  1. ^ http://www.nme.com/list/150-best-tracks-of-the-past-15-years/248648/page/8
  2. ^ "Supermassive Black Hole (song)". MuseWiki. 2010. Retrieved 26 February 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ Marin, Dan (21 May 2011). "Doctor Who: The Rebel Flesh – Series 32, episode 5". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
  4. ^ "Atlantis bows out with Kennedy touchdown". The Register. 2010. Retrieved 27 May 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ "Supermassive Black Hole". Rock Mag (65). 3 March 2006.
  6. ^ "Muse reveal all about new album". NME. 2006. Retrieved 28 July 2008. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "Muse: Supermassive Black Hole". NME. 26 May 2006. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  8. ^ JP (13 May 2006). "Single Review: Muse - "Supermassive Black Hole"". Blogcritics. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  9. ^ "Muse - Supermassive Black Hole". danishcharts.com. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  10. ^ "Muse - Supermassive Black Hole". italiancharts.com. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  11. ^ "Muse - Supermassive Black Hole". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  12. ^ "Muse - Supermassive Black Hole". Irish-charts.com. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  13. ^ "Muse - Supermassive Black Hole". swisscharts.com. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  14. ^ "Muse - Supermassive Black Hole" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  15. ^ "Muse - Supermassive Black Hole" (in French). lescharts.com. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  16. ^ "Muse - Supermassive Black Hole". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  17. ^ "Artist Chart History – Muse". Billboard. Retrieved 13 September 2008. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ "British single certifications – Muse – Supermassive Black Hole". British Phonographic Industry. Select singles in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Supermassive Black Hole in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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