Muse this afternoon – in concert at Route du Rock in St. Malo in 2001 and preserved by Radio France International.
The members of Muse played in separate school bands during their time at Teignmouth Community College in the early 1990s. Guitarist Matt Bellamy successfully auditioned for drummer Dominic Howard‘s band, Carnage Mayhem, becoming its singer and songwriter. They renamed the band Gothic Plague. They asked Chris Wolstenholme – at that time the drummer for Fixed Penalty – to join as bassist; he agreed and took up bass lessons. The band was renamed Rocket Baby Dolls and adopted a goth–glam image. Around this time, they received a £150 grant from the Prince’s Trust for equipment.
In 1994, Rocket Baby Dolls won a local battle of the bands, smashing their equipment in the process. Bellamy said, “It was supposed to be a protest, a statement, so, when we actually won, it was a real shock, a massive shock. After that, we started taking ourselves seriously.” The band quit their jobs, changed their name to Muse, and moved away from Teignmouth. The band liked that the new name was short and thought that it looked good on a poster. According to journalist Mark Beaumont, the band wanted the name to reflect “the sense Matt had that he had somehow ‘summoned up’ this band, the way mediums could summon up inspirational spirits at times of emotional need”.
Described as a band that fuse alternative rock, progressive rock, space rock, hard rock,art rock, electronic rock, progressive metal, indie rock and pop, Muse also mix sounds from genres such as electronica and R&B, with forms such as classical music and rock opera. In 2002, Bellamy described Muse as a “trashy three-piece”. He said supporting the Red Hot Chili Peppers on their 1999 Californication tour inspired Muse to become less reserved and “up their game” in their performances. Bellamy said Lady Gaga was an influence on Muse’s showmanship and stage costumes, “crossing that line between what is fantasy and what is reality”.
Early in their career, Muse were often likened to Radiohead. Spin wrote that Bellamy’s voice “often slips into high, mournful tones” similar to the Radiohead singer, Thom Yorke. John Leckie, who produced Muse’s first two albums and also produced Radiohead’s second album, The Bends (1995), dismissed the comparisons, saying: “In the late 90s, any British band that sang passionately and played guitar was going to get compared to Radiohead.” He said he chose to produce Muse after The Bends because he “intentionally looked for something different”. Asked in 2009, Bellamy said he did not hear the similarity, saying Muse were “past [the comparisons] in most places”.
In 2006, Pitchfork described Muse’s music as “firmly ol’ skool at heart: proggy hard rock that forgoes any pretensions to restraint … their songs use full-stacked guitars and thunderous drums to evoke God’s footsteps”. AllMusic described their sound as a “fusion of progressive rock, glam, electronica, and Radiohead-influenced experimentation”. On Muse’s association with progressive rock, Howard said: “I associate [progressive rock] with 10-minute guitar solos, but I guess we kind of come into the category. A lot of bands are quite ambitious with their music, mixing lots of different styles – and when I see that I think it’s great. I’ve noticed that kind of thing becoming a bit more mainstream.” The Guardian described Muse as “fearlessly flamboyant” Howard said he loved the “excess” of their music and that he liked “pushing it as far as we can”, citing the choir of “Survival” as an example. Wolstenholme said: “You can go on writing traditional pop-rock songs and get stale or try something new. There are risks either way.” The Queen guitarist, Brian May, praised Muse in 2009, calling them “extraordinary musicians” who “let their madness show through, always a good thing in an artist”.
Big thanks to Wikipedia for supplying the bio/background information – always comes in handy in a pinch.
Dive in.
