| Absolution | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Muse | ||||||||||
| Released | 29 September 2003 | |||||||||
| Recorded | September 2002 – June 2003 at Grouse Lodge, County Westmeath, Ireland; AIR Studios, London; Cello Studios, Hollywood, California; Livingston Studios, London; Sawmills Studio, Fowey, Cornwall | |||||||||
| Genre | Alternative rock, new prog, progressive metal, symphonic rock | |||||||||
| Length | 52:19 | |||||||||
| Label | A&E Mushroom Taste East West |
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| Producer | Rich Costey, John Cornfield, Muse, Paul Reeve | |||||||||
| Muse chronology | ||||||||||
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Absolution is the third studio album by English alternative rock band Muse. It was released on 21 September 2003 in the United Kingdom on Mushroom Records and A&E Records and on 23 March 2004 in the United States by East West Records and Taste Media. The album followed its predecessor's tendency, increasing its heaviness and intensity alongside its ambitious thematics, this time trended to apocalyptical concepts. In 2009, it was voted by Kerrang! as the second-best album of the 21st century thus far. (Muse's previous album, Origin of Symmetry, and their subsequent release, Black Holes and Revelations, also appeared in the top fifty).[1]
Contents |
The band spent much of 2002 recording Absolution with producer Rich Costey.[2] The album was recorded in studios in both Los Angeles and London.[2] Bellamy said that the band made a "conscious decision" to "get together in a room and make music", setting aside time to record the album, as previous albums' recording sessions were 'hastily arranged' and rushed.[2]
The album incorporates themes of fear, mistrust, personal achievement and joy.[2] Bellamy said that the beginning of the Iraq War had an effect on their songwriting.[2]
The track "Blackout" featured an 18-piece orchestra.[3]
Absolution was released on 23 September 2003 on CD and double vinyl.[4] It was their first album released on the A&E Records label.[4] There were six singles, of which the first, "Stockholm Syndrome", was download only.[4] Because of contractual obligations, the band could not allow the song to be downloaded for free, so the fee was set at $0.99 and it was downloaded more than 20,000 times.[2]
The album and each of the singles except "Stockholm Syndrome" were distributed as promotional CDs housed in Anti-Static Bags.
Absolution was Muse's first album to chart in the US, and is credited with establishing the band a fan base there.[2] The album reached #1 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart and #107 on the Billboard 200.[5] Absolution was certified gold by the RIAA in March 2007, becoming the group's first album to be certified in the US.[6] The album featured the band's first American hits – "Time Is Running Out" and "Hysteria", the former becoming their first UK Top 10 single and eventually went Gold in the US.[7]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | (72/100) [8] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Q | [9] |
| Entertainment.ie | [10] |
| Drowned in Sound | (10/10) [11] |
| BBC | (Favourable) [12] |
| Allmusic | [13] |
| NME | (9/10) [14] |
| The Guardian | [15] |
| Sputnikmusic | (4.5/5) [16] |
| Rolling Stone | [17] |
| Tiny Mix Tapes | [18] |
The album was met with positive reviews from critics, holding an average critic score of 72 out of 100 on Metacritic.[19] With Alternative Press giving it a perfect score and stating: "Absolution's chaotic choruses feel like the triumphant culmination of some earth-shattering undertaking."[20] Drowned In Sound simply called it "A truly elemental opus" and gave it a perfect score too.[21] Sputnik Music and NME gave it 4.5 stars to the album with Sputnik Music's Critic Tyler Fisher saying: "This is their most cohesive album, it expands on newer sounds and improves on others. However, some songs are just obvious flaws and fail to keep it from becoming a classic."[22] Both Q and The Guardian gave it four out of five stars with the last stating: "Like Coldplay on A Rush of Blood to the Head, Muse sound like a band who are at the top of their game. Their confidence carries you through the album's excesses."[23] A less enthusiastic review came from Rolling Stone, which gave it three out of five stars saying, "It's too bad that vocalist Matt Bellamy doesn't bring as much ingenuity to his singing."[20] In 2006 the album was voted the 21st best British album ever. The album was placed in at #23 after a public vote for Q in February 2008 for the Best British Albums of All Time.[24]
All lyrics written by Matthew Bellamy, all music composed by Muse.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Intro" | 0:22 |
| 2. | "Apocalypse Please" | 4:12 |
| 3. | "Time Is Running Out" | 3:56 |
| 4. | "Sing for Absolution" | 4:54 |
| 5. | "Stockholm Syndrome" | 4:58 |
| 6. | "Falling Away with You" | 4:40 |
| 7. | "Interlude" | 0:37 |
| 8. | "Hysteria" | 3:47 |
| 9. | "Blackout" | 4:22 |
| 10. | "Butterflies and Hurricanes" | 5:01 |
| 11. | "The Small Print" | 3:28 |
| 12. | "Endlessly" | 3:49 |
| 13. | "Thoughts of a Dying Atheist" | 3:11 |
| 14. | "Ruled by Secrecy" | 4:54 |
Very early initial copies of the CD featured inlay errors, where the songs "Interlude" and "Hysteria" switched places on the track listing. Cover art by Storm Thorgerson and Dan Abbott.
This bonus CD is entirely composed of live versions, recorded at the Big Day Out in Sydney, 23 January 2004 for Australian radio station Triple J and broadcast in the radio show "Live at the Wireless".
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| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | UK Albums Chart | 1 |
| 2003 | Billboard Top Heatseekers | 1 |
| 2003 | U.S. Billboard 200 | 107 |
| 2003 | France Albums Top 150 | 1 |
| 2003 | Dutch Albums Top 100 | 2 |
| 2003 | Ireland Top 75 | 3 |
| 2003 | Swiss Albums Top 100 | 3 |
| 2003 | Austria Top 75 | 3 |
| 2003 | Italy Top 50 | 4 |
| 2003 | Norway Top 40 | 5 |
| 2003 | Belgium Top 70 | 7 |
| 2003 | Finnish Top 40 | 12 |
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | "Stockholm Syndrome" | UK Downloads Chart | 31 |
| 2003 | "Time Is Running Out" | UK Singles Chart | 8 |
| 2003 | "Hysteria" | UK Singles Chart | 17 |
| 2004 | "Sing For Absolution" | UK Singles Chart | 16 |
| 2004 | "Apocalypse Please" | UK Downloads Chart | 10 |
| 2004 | "Butterflies and Hurricanes" | UK Singles Chart | 14 |
| 2004 | "Time Is Running Out" | U.S. Modern Rock Tracks | 9 |
| 2005 | "Hysteria" | U.S. Modern Rock Tracks | 9 |
| 2005 | "Stockholm Syndrome" | U.S. Modern Rock Tracks | 31 |
The song "Endlessly" was covered by the operatic soprano Renée Fleming on her 2010 album Dark Hope.
| Preceded by Permission to Land by The Darkness |
UK number one album 4–10 October 2003 |
Succeeded by Life for Rent by Dido |
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