MUSE

In the quiet coastal town of Teignmouth, Matthew Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme, and Dominic Howard grew into a band that aimed to make everything bigger. Muse bridged the gap between alternative rock and classical music, electronica, metal, and science fiction—and turned that collision into one of the most impressive live shows of its generation.

From the story to the turntable: check out Muse's The Wow! Signal on vinyl.

TEIGNMOUTH WAS TOO SMALL.

Teignmouth in Devon was hardly a logical birthplace for a band with world domination in mind. Bellamy initially played in Howard’s band. Wolstenholme was persuaded to trade his drums for a bass guitar, and the trio began under various names, including Gothic Plague and Rocket Baby Dolls. They were teenagers who primarily wanted to escape the predictability of their surroundings.

In 1994, Rocket Baby Dolls entered a local Battle of the Bands. Because they barely expected to win, they chose total surrender: playing louder, destroying their instruments, and blowing the judges away. They won. Afterward, the name Muse was chosen—short, striking, and suitable for posters. More importantly, they decided to take the band seriously.

The roles were clear from the start. Bellamy brought the high-pitched vocals, piano, guitar, and a head full of classical harmonies and apocalyptic ideas. Howard’s drums gave the music momentum and precision. Wolstenholme’s bass was not a background instrument, but a distorted engine that would later make riffs like Hysteria and Time Is Running Out instantly recognizable.

SHOWBIZ: THE PRESSURE BENEATH THE SURFACE.

Their debut, Showbiz, was released in 1999. Comparisons to Radiohead were obvious due to Bellamy’s falsetto and the dramatic guitar music, but songs like Sunburn, Muscle Museum, and Unintended already displayed their own temperament. Where other alternative bands looked inward, Muse sounded as if every personal crisis could have cosmic consequences.

The real breakthrough came with Origin of Symmetry in 2001. The guitars became heavier, the bass more aggressive, and the classical influence clearer. Plug In Baby opened with a riff that instantly became part of the Muse DNA. New Born began behind a piano and then exploded; Citizen Erased dared to build tension for over seven minutes. The band had found its scale.

The record also showed that for Muse, technique was never just decoration. Bellamy used effects pedals and touch-sensitive guitar controllers as if instruments were components in a laboratory. Wolstenholme piled distortion upon distortion, while Howard made complex time-signature changes feel as if they were natural.

Muse sounds most convincing when a personal feeling is inflated to the fate of all humanity.

ABSOLUTION: THE END OF THE WORLD.

With 2003’s Absolution, the threat grew larger and the songwriting more direct. War, faith, time, and the end of the world provided the backdrop for songs that were simultaneously intimate and monumental. Time Is Running Out, Hysteria, and Stockholm Syndrome brought the band to a wider audience without losing their edge.

Live, especially, it became clear how much space the music could occupy. Muse didn’t treat a concert as a reproduction of the album, but as an event. Lighting, video screens, moving stages, and later complete storylines became part of the experience. The three musicians remained visibly playing; the spectacle was added on top of the musicianship, not in its place.

BLACK HOLES AND A STADIUM.

2006’s Black Holes and Revelations opened the doors even wider. Supermassive Black Hole combined Prince-like funk with distorted rock, Starlight became a massive singalong moment, and Knights of Cydonia sounded like a spaghetti western shot into space. Genres became not boundaries, but stage props.

In 2007, Muse played two nights at the renovated Wembley Stadium. Those concerts, captured on HAARP, marked the transition from a successful rock band to a stadium phenomenon. It was the perfect environment for their music: large enough for fire, satellite imagery, and giant screens, yet still carried by three people playing together.

Ambition reached a new level on 2009’s The Resistance. Uprising became a global protest anthem, United States of Eurasia openly referenced Queen, and the three-part Exogenesis: Symphony brought together orchestra, piano, and science fiction. For Muse, “too much” was not a warning, but a direction.

FROM DUBSTEP TO DRONES.

On 2012’s The 2nd Law, the band invited electronic dance music and dubstep into their universe. Madness was remarkably sparse and controlled, while Supremacy and the official Olympic song Survival offered maximum bombast. The record divided listeners, but proved that Muse preferred to take a huge risk rather than copy their own past.

2015’s Drones emphatically brought back the guitar. Producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange helped the trio build a tight concept album about technology, control, and the human being turned into a weapon. Dead Inside, Psycho, and Reapers connected political anxiety to riffs made for a stage. The album reached number one in the United States as well.

THE FUTURE IN NEON.

For 2018’s Simulation Theory, Muse swapped the military world of Drones for neon, virtual reality, and the visual language of 1980s sci-fi films. Synthesizers were front and center, but beneath the shiny surface, the same band remained audible. Pressure, The Dark Side, and Algorithm revolved once again around control, identity, and the question of whether reality can be trusted.

2022’s Will of the People worked almost as a self-selected overview of everything Muse can be. There was metal in Won’t Stand Down, electronica in Compliance, theatrical pop in You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween, and shameless arena energy in the title track. It became their seventh consecutive number-one album in the UK.

A SIGNAL FROM SPACE.

In 2026, their tenth studio album, The Wow! Signal, was released. The title refers to the mysterious radio signal detected in 1977 that briefly fueled fantasies about extraterrestrial life. That subject fits Muse almost too perfectly: science, cosmic loneliness, and the hope that an answer exists somewhere beyond the known.

With tracks including Unravelling, Be with You, and Cryogen, the record links space imagery to human insecurity. After more than thirty years, Muse still sounds like the same three friends from Teignmouth, only with an ever-expanding arsenal of instruments. The technology changes; the impulse to inspire awe remains.

Discover the musical context in ALTERNATIVE ROCK..

Looking to listen further to a band that uses contrasts between melody and guitar outbursts? Explore Biffy Clyro on Infinity Land.

Want to get to know one record up close? Read the album story of SHOWBIZ.

Explore at SJELF Muse – The Wow! Signal (1LP, Coloured Vinyl), MUSE – Will of the People (1LP Vinyl), MUSE – Origin of Symmetry: Remixx (2LP Vinyl), MUSE – Simulation Theory (1LP Vinyl), MUSE – Absolution (2LP Vinyl), MUSE – Black Holes and Revelations (1LP Vinyl), MUSE – Drones (1LP Vinyl), MUSE – Origin of Symmetry (2LP Vinyl), MUSE – Showbiz (1LP Vinyl), MUSE – The Resistance (2LP Vinyl), MUSE – The 2nd Law (2LP Vinyl). The product pages show the vinyl editions and LP format.