That’s Amuseing

This week I’ll be talking about the “new progressive” band, Muse.

The band hails from the English county of Devon. The members are Matthew Bellamy, Dominic Howard, and Chris Wolstenholme. Chris is the bassist for the group and Matt is more than proficient as the lead guitarist. However, both of them grace the band with unrivaled vocals set to inspiring lyrics. Dominic Howard completes the band with an unprecedented affinity for the drums.

The band was formed in 1994 under the title of Rocket Baby Dolls. One evening the band preformed at a local battle of the bands and, in a form of protest, destroyed their equipment during the performance. What happened next, shocked the members of Rocket Baby Dolls more than anyone. They won the battle of the bands. Astounded that the crowd actually liked their gig, the members of the band decided to adopt a more serious attitude towards managing their music. This new leaf involved each of the band members quiting school and/or work and changing the band’s name to “Muse.”

Muse’s music incorporates alternative and hard rock with classical and electronic sounds to create a genre that some call, “new prog.” Some other bands who are considered to be in this genre are Coheed and Cambria and Mystery Jets. So if you like either of those bands, I would definitely suggest checking out Muse.

Muse’s second album, Origins of Symmetry, which was released in 2001, was a chance for the band to experiment with some instruments such as church organs or an expanded drum set. Some tracks from the album are, New Born, Plug in Baby and Bliss.

Muse’s most recent album, Black Holes and Revelations was hailed as one of the greatest albums of the year when it was released in July of 2006. Some of the songs from that album are Starlight, Knights of Cydonia, and Supermassive Black Hole.