Muse: Absolution (2LP) [HELIUM/WARNER]

Why you'll love it

This 2LP set comes in a gatefold jacket with the lyrics printed inside. Absolution debuted at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart, and "Time Is Running Out" became Muse's first UK top ten single.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Gatefold jacket
• Lyrics printed inside the gatefold
• Pressed in the EU
• Stereo mix

About the album

After two albums made in a hurry, Muse gave themselves time on the third. They rented a country house outside Brighton for six months to write, demoed in an empty loft in Hackney, played early versions of "Hysteria" and "The Small Print" on tour, then recorded most of Absolution at Grouse Lodge in County Westmeath, Ireland, with extra sessions at AIR Studios in London, in Los Angeles and in Cornwall.

Producer Rich Costey's brief was to make the band sound bigger and more aggressive, and he did. "Apocalypse Please" opens with thundering piano, "Hysteria" rides one of the great bass lines of the decade, "Stockholm Syndrome" is a full-throttle riff monster, and "Butterflies & Hurricanes" and "Blackout" bring in an orchestra and Matt Bellamy's most dramatic piano. "Sing for Absolution" and "Endlessly" offer a little breathing room before "Ruled by Secrecy" closes the album.

A 20th anniversary edition followed in 2023, and these songs still anchor the band's stadium shows. Apocalyptic themes, a full orchestra and falsetto on top, all of it made by three lads from Teignmouth, who clearly never got the memo about doing things by halves.

Also at Kops: more Muse on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Listen

On Helium 3 / Warner, a reissue of the 2003 album.