 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Muse Background and Bio :
Muse's fusion of progressive rock, glam, electronica, and Radiohead-influenced experimentation is crafted by guitarist/vocalist Matthew Bellamy, bassist Chris Wolstenholme, and drummer Dominic Howard.
Bored by the sleepy life provided by their hometown of Teignmouth, Devon, the three British friends began playing music together. They started the first incarnation of their band while only 13 years old, changing the name of the group from Gothic Plague to Fixed Penalty to Rocket Baby Dolls as time passed.
 By 1997, the bandmates settled on the name Muse and released their self-titled debut EP on Dangerous Records, followed by the Muscle Museum EP in 1998. The group's emotive, passionate sound and live presence drew critical acclaim and industry buzz, and Muse signed a deal with Maverick Records after a trip to New York's CMJ festival.
The singles "Cave" and "Uno" preceded their debut full-length album, Showbiz, which was released toward the end of 1999. Two years later, Muse issued The Origin of Symmetry and had a major hit with "Hyper Music," which helped propel the album to platinum status in the U.K.
In 2002, fans were treated to Hullabaloo Soundtrack, a combination rarities/live set that peaked at number ten in Europe. Muse then returned with a proper studio effort, Absolution, which became the band's first album to chart in America. A short North American tour in the spring of 2004 coincided with Muse's spot on the fifth annual Coachella Music and Arts Festival, and Absolution eventually went gold in the U.S.
Back at home, the album earned Muse their second platinum certification. Released two years later, Black Holes and Revelations marked the band's brightest, most dynamic set of material to date, topping the U.K. album chart within its first week and earning Muse their second consecutive number one album at home.
In America, Black Holes and Revelations broke into the Top Ten. Muse toured Europe, America, Australia, and Southeast Asia in support of the album, and their dynamic stage performance (which won the band multiple awards for Best Live Act, including accolades from the NME Awards, the Q Awards, and the Vodafone Live Music Awards) was captured on 2008's H.A.A.R.P. Live from Wembley.
The trio spent the remainder of that year -- as well as the early part of 2009 -- in the recording studio, eventually emerging with the release of The Resistance in September. Heather Phares, All Music Guide
... Source Article Here ...
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
More about Muse :
Formed in Devon, England in 1994, it took nearly a decade for prog-rockers Muse to break through in the United States. Despite initial comparisons to Radiohead, Muse persevered with its combination of apocalyptic imagery and sci-fi guitar work, and by the early 2000s, the group had become one of the biggest rock groups in the world.
 Muse's 1999 debut, Showbiz, was recorded by British producer John Leckie (Stone Roses, Public Image Ltd.) and released stateside on Madonna's Maverick Records imprint; despite such taut singles as "Sunburn" and "Muscle Museum" — both of which featured the creeping guitar lines and distressed vocals of frontman Matt Bellamy — Showbiz failed to make much of an impact in the U.S. The band's follow-up, Origin of Symmetry (2001) introduced more keyboards and pianos to the group's sound, resulting in overwrought but nonetheless engaging singles like "Bliss." Though it was a critical an commercial hit in the U.K., Maverick did not issue the album in America, and Origin wouldn't receive a proper stateside release until 2005.
In 2002, Muse released a double-A side single, "Dead Star"/"In Your World," as well as the live album Hullabaloo Soundtrack. But it wasn't until 2004 that the group finally made a large push in the United States, with a set at that year's Coachella festival in support of Absolution (Number 107, 2004). The album found the band inching closer toward Queen territory, especially on the theatrical "Time Is Running Out," a doomsday anthem which garnered radio play in the United States and helped the band earn a spot on that summer's Curiosa tour. The band's next album, Black Holes & Revelations (Number Nine, 2006), was its most idiosyncratic album yet, with songs such as the robotic dance-club hit in "Supermassive Black Hole" (Number Six Modern Rock, 2007) and the pop ballad "Starlight" (Number Two Modern Rock, 2007). The album's high point, "Knights of Cydonia" (Number Ten Modern Rock, 2006), is a mish-mash of spaghetti-western guitar and "Bohemian Rhapsody"-style vocals and, like the best Muse songs, it is audacious enough to work. In March 2008 the band released HAARP: Live At Wembley, a live recording of the band's June 2007 show at Wembley Stadium that debuted at Number 47 on the Billboard Top 200. ... Source Article Here ...
|
|
|
