Background
of Muse: from Teignmouth, Devon, England. genre is alternative rock, progressive rock, classical music, funk, electronica,
and heavy metal to help form the sub-genre of new prog. started in 1997. labels are Warner bros. records, Taste Media, Mushroom,
and Helium 3. members are Matthew Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme, and Dominic Howard. more recently Morgan Nichols has featured
on bass and keyboards in Black Holes and Revelations. Known for their energetic live perfomances and released 4 studio albums.
While at Teignmouth Community Colllege in the early 90s they played in separate bands. The
formation of Muse began when Matthew was 14 and successfully auditioned for the part of guitarist in Dominic Howard's band
called Altostrata and Chris joined as bass to replace Phys Vandit.
In '94 under the name Rocket Baby Dolls
(gothic/glam) they won a local battle of the bands contest. Shortly after they changed their name to Muse and quit the University,
their jobs, and moved away from Teignmouth. They started playing gigs in London and Manchester. A meeting with Dennis Smith,
the owner of Sawmills, a recording studio, led to the first proper recording and the release of a self-titled EP on Sawmills's
Dangerous label. Despite their minor success of their second EP, British record companies were reluctant to back Muse but
American labels were happy to sign them. Signed with Maverick records December 24, 1998.
Their first album was Showbiz and the
second album was Orign of Symmetry. The album might have led to Muse making a significant impact on the American music scene
but Maverick considered Bellamy's vocal style not to radio friendly and asked Muse to change some of their songs prior to
the US release. They declined and left him and he didn't release the album. It was finally released on Sept 20, 2005 when
they signed to warner.
In 2006 Q magazine place them in 74th
place in a fans poll of the 100 greatest albums ever.
In 2007 the song "space dememtia" was
used in a Dior commercial.
2003 Absolution was released. Yielded
the hit single "Time is Running Out." Muse described it as an uplifting album with a positive message coming through songs
like "Blackout" and "Butterflies and Hurricanes." Many lyrics on this album have political references. They went on their
first international stadium tour and released 5 singles "Time is Running Out", "Hysteria", "Sing for Absolution", "Stockholm
Syndrome" and "Butterflies and Hurricanes".
2006 they announced that they were to
release a new album called Black Holes and Revelations. It leaked on the net but released officially in Europe on July 3,
2006 and in N. America on July 11,2006. Charted No. 1 in UK, much of Europe and Australia and No.9 in the Billboard 200 chart.
