![]() Those Fender-type sounds can be too thin to fill the space in a three-piece band. With a little cash in his wallet – Bellamy sought a new guitar that merged two different worlds in one unique shape, as he told in an interview last year: “I was torn between an SG and the Telecaster-type shape, feel, sound and everything. Unfortunately, due to a particularly exuberant show in Dublin in 2000, this guitar was no longer workable. On their travels, a brief spell was also spent aboard Dave Gilmour’s Astoria houseboat studio, moored on the Thames.īellamy’s guitar arsenal was considerably smaller in 2001, with his main guitar of the Showbiz-era being a slimline double-cut Gibson Les-Paul which included a Roland MIDI pickup. The band returned to Sawmills studio in Fowey, Cornwall, ventured out to Ridge Farm Studios in Surrey before jaunting across to Real World Studios in Box, Wiltshire. As time was on their side, and facing considerably less label pressure following the relative success of Showbiz, The rest of the material was worked up and captured at a range of studios. Once more, Muse sought the wisdom of John Leckie to see through the remainder of album number two. Though the bedrock of four of the album’s key tracks were down, Bottrill wasn’t charged with finalising the record, leaving due to a commitment to helm Tool’s Lateralus. The band set up live to capture the intensity of their live performances raw, overdubbing additional parts later in the process. The transcendent Bliss and ambitious album opener New Born alongside the moody Darkshines. It was a tantalising portent of what was to come.ĭuring the sessions with Bottrill, the band laid down three more new tracks, two of which would grow into further singles – and setlist staples for the ensuing decade. The band’s regular wallowing in heartbroken angst had taken a hard right turn into sci-fi surrealism. Bellamy’s centrepiece riff feverishly jogged around the B minor harmonic scale with a fluidity that spotlighted his burgeoning guitar hero potential, snapped to a solid, funky rhythm section provided by Wolstenholme and Howard. Plug In Baby was undoubtedly the strongest piece of music that Muse had written to date. So I can’t actually quite work it out, that’s for you lot to work out.” When pressed on the song’s meaning in an interview with Channel HQ’s James Mathieson in 2004, Bellamy muddied the waters further “It’s all random, it just comes out, I’ve got no idea what I’m singing about at all, It does mean something! Trust me. The productivity of these sessions would result in – as the band would later state – the backbone of their second record.Ī newly discovered appetite for magic mushrooms had swerved Bellamy’s songwriting into more vivid directions, and Plug In Baby’s lyrics abstractly alluded to both sex toys and a futuristic vision of computerised, synthetic love. This growing favourite was driven by a propulsive, classically-inspired riff. On the heels of extensive touring, Bellamy, along with bassist Chris Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard, decided to record a batch of new tracks with Tool producer Dave Bottrill, namely a song that the band had been performing live for a while. A mere two years on, Muse re-emerged with both a sharper focus – and sharper teeth. Contemporary reviews of 1999’s Showbiz heavily emphasised Matt Bellamy’s vocal similarity to Thom Yorke, and were hasty to write them off as Radiohead-wannabes (a perception underlined by the fact it was helmed by The Bends producer, John Leckie).Ĭritical uncertainty aside, Showbiz sold moderately well and, for many of those who listened, the debut’s grounding in small-town malaise and hormonal obsession was relatable while others recognised the precocious talent of the 21-year-old Bellamy as both inventive guitarist and virtuoso pianist. Muse’s gargantuan ambitions were first clearly revealed on 2001’s Origin of Symmetry, their second record following the muted and somewhat confused reception that met their debut. READ MORE: The Genius Of… Achtung Baby by U2.Though many of Muse’s more ostentatious recent records have been divisive, the band’s international fame and ever-swelling fanbase attest to a formula that works. Dip anywhere into the band’s seven successive records and you’ll typically find yourself immersed in nightmarish dystopian visions, state mind-control, the second law of thermodynamics or virtual reality, usually married to effect-saturated, idiosyncratic arrangements. In the 22 years since their uncertain, angst-ridden debut, Showbiz (1999), Muse’s concerns have widened considerably. The breathtaking spectacle of Muse’s 2019 Simulation Theory tour, replete with two stage wings, catwalks, huge LED screens, dancers, and even a towering inflatable puppet is indicative of the scale of the Devon-hailing trio’s success.
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