Muse Songs

There’s no way that you won’t know just one track from all of the popular Muse songs out there. Muse formed in 1994 in Teignmouth, Devon with members Matthew Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard. Their music is categorized as progressive rock ,but looking back at how they started, they can only be described as “heavy neoclassical metalcore-punk hyper-rock” with their unorthodoxed, extravagant and energetic performances. The band has won various awards from MTV, NME, BRIT, Kerrang! and the American Music Awards, as well as the recent Ivor Novello Award in May 2011.

1. “New Born” was first recorded in 2001 as part of the “Origin of Symmetry” album. Bellamy defines it as a song about a future where the physical body of people is no longer important and is “born” into a Matrix-esque reality. “New Born” is a fairly fast Muse song on the E minor and features broken piano chords and fuzzy guitar sequences.
2. “Stockholm Syndrome” was released under the “Absolution” album in 2003. It was a guitar-oriented Muse song that featured Bellamy’s signature falsetto and synthesizer and piano sequences. It was considered as a defining song for the band and is best remembered for its pre-chorus that started low but eventually moves into a cymbal-swelled chorus.
3. “Butterflies and Hurricanes” was also part of the “Absolution” album which was released in 2003. It is described as a “full blown opera rock piece,” which is pretty much a homage to Queen. The title was not actually mentioned in the lyrics, but this Muse song urges listeners to do their best to change the world just like how the eponymous butterfly wings caused hurricanes on the other side of the world.
4. “Starlight” helped propel the “Black Holes and Revelations” album into the charts when it was first released in May 2006. This Muse song was written with other people who are not generally rock music fans in mind. As expected with Muse, this song featured major chords and piano sequences and showcased the band’s musical breadth.
5. ‘Knights of Cydonia” is also part of the “Black Holes and Revelations” in 2006. Fans described this Muse song as the “apocalypse gone rock” with sounds that seem to evoke the end of the universe. Although there is a myriad of sounds such as laser beams, explosions, sirens and unearthly wails, “Knights of Cydonia” meshes them all into a magnificent yet eccentric record.