Black Holes & Revelations

Black Holes and Revelations is the fourth studio album by English alternative rock band Muse, released on 3 July 2006. The album sold 115,144 copies in its first week in the UK, which was more than the first week sales of Muse's previous album, Absolution. The album is also a BPI double platinum album, and was nominated for a Mercury Prize. Five singles were released in the UK, of which three were released in the US.

The album was generally well-received, and was widely regarded by critics to be different in style from Muse's previous albums. Reviewers commented on the albums political and sci-fi undertones. The band cited varied influences for the album's creation that included Queen, Millionaire, Sly and the Family Stone, Depeche Mode, Franz Ferdinand and music from southern Italy. A world tour followed the release of the album that included dates in the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia and most of Europe and Asia.

Background and recording

Muse's previous album, Absolution was released in 2003 to critical acclaim. Absolution had brought the band mainstream exposure in the United States for the first time.

The band retired to an old château in France to write for a new album. Lead singer Matthew Bellamy said that this was because the band wanted to be free from distractions so that they could "concentrate, spend time and be surrounded by different musical influences". The album was partially recorded in the same studio in France as Pink Floyd's album The Wall, which Wolstenhome said was a "great feeling to know that something big had been done [there]". However, the band found recording there very slow, and they found it hard to make decisions on which songs to include, so they decided to make a change in atmosphere and go to New York to finish the recording.

Bassist Chris Wolstenholme considered writing and recording for Black Holes and Revelations more relaxed than it had been for previous albums, as the band did not have a deadline to work to. It was the first time they had learned about the technology in the studio, having previously left the use of it to the sound engineers. Bellamy said that this was the first time Muse made an album without being concerned about how they would play it live.

"Soldier's Poem", stood out as being "quite unlike anything [they'd] ever done before". Drummer Dominic Howard said they were originally going to record it with a "massive, epic" approach, but then decided to strip it down and record it in a small studio with vintage equipment and a few microphones. Muse were pleased with the result and Howard described it as a "real highlight", describing the vocals as "some of the most amazing vocals I've ever heard Matt do".

Musical style

Black Holes and Revelations marks a significant departure from the styles of previous albums, and features a wide variety of alternative musical themes. The album begins with a pulsating electric tone and a low bass note that rises with Bellamy's voice into a crescendo that triggers staggered drumming from Howard and "jagged" guitar riffs from Bellamy. The next track, "Starlight", follow a more mainstream album-oriented rock sound, incorporating a synth chord with the bassline that gives it a "very new wave feel". "Supermassive Black Hole" marked a completely new sound for Muse, as Bellamy's voice becomes a falsetto against post-disco, funk and glam rock instrumentals. The dance themes in "Supermassive Black Hole" were influenced by Bellamy's attempts at DJing whilst the band were in New York. "Map of the Problematique" went in an industrial direction that was more in line with the progressive rock sound evident in previous albums and critics compared it to Depeche Mode. "Soldier's Poem" went in a completely different direction again, as a short acoustic ballad that incorporated group vocals "reminiscent of Queen", and was compared to the ballads of Rufus Wainwright. "Invincible" was an "epic" that featured a military-style drum beat.

"Knights of Cydonia" combines elements of surf rock and progressive rock to create a song which Bellamy describes as "pushing the epic side of the band to almost comical levels". Bellamy went on to say that the album was "part dance, part rock, something we haven’t done before".

Some reviewers commented on the more "exotic" influences on the album, which included Latin trumpets, Spanish-oriented acoustic guitar, and Middle Eastern strings. Bellamy cited his move to Italy and his discovery of music from Naples which sounds "like a mix of Africa, Croatia, Turkey and Italy" as the source of this. Another European influence was Belgian band Millionaire, whose funk rock beats Bellamy said influenced "Supermassive Black Hole".

Lyrical content

Black Holes and Revelations was said by some reviewers to carry a political message. The album begins with the track "Take a Bow", which is an "attack on an all but unnamed political leader", incorporating lyrics such as "Corrupt, you're corrupt / Bring corruption to all that you touch". These themes are carried through the album in the tracks "Exo-Politics" and "Assassin". The album often touches on controversial subject matters, such as "The New World Order conspiracy, unjustifiable war, abusive power, conspiratorial manipulation and populist revolt," and is influenced by the conspiracy theories that the band are interested in. Matt Bellamy stated that he finds "the unknown in general a stimulating area for the imagination," and this interest is reflected throughout the album, which features alien invasion (in "Exo-Politics") and rebellious paranoia (particularly during "Assassin"). The album also includes more emotional themes, including regret, ambition, and love.

The title "Black Holes and Revelations", taken from lyrics in "Starlight", is explained by Matthew Bellamy in his September 2006 interview for Q Magazine: "Black holes and revelations -- they're the two areas of songwriting for me that make up the majority of this album. A revelation about yourself, something personal, something genuine of an everyday nature that maybe people can relate to. Then the black holes are these songs that are from the more... unknown regions of the imagination."

Release

The album was released on 3 July, 2006 in the UK and across the next few days it was released in the USA, Australia, Taiwan and Japan. The album was also available as a limited edition CD/DVD combination, that featured videos and live renditions of the band playing "Supermassive Black Hole", "Knights of Cydonia" and "Starlight". The album received double platinum certification in the UK on 22 December, 2006. Singles were released in both the UK and the US, though they were released in different orders in each country. All singles excepting "Map of the Problematique" were available on vinyl, CD, DVD (containing the music video for the single) and as a digital download.

In the UK, the first single from the album was "Supermassive Black Hole" and it was released prior to the album, on 19 June, 2006. The single reached #4 in the UK Singles Chart, making it the highest charting single in the UK for the band to date. The single was followed by "Starlight", "Knights of Cydonia", "Invincible" and "Map of the Problematique", the only one of which to reach the top 10 was "Starlight", which peaked at #10.

The first single released in the US was "Knights of Cydonia", on 13 June, 2006, which peaked at #10 Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. It was followed by "Starlight" and "Supermassive Black Hole". "Starlight" was their most popular single in the US to date, reaching #2 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Critical reception

Black Holes and Revelations was met with generally positive reviews from critics. Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating based on a range of reviews from mainstream critics, aggregated the album's average review score to 75%, based on 35 reviews. The album received top ratings from Observer Music Monthly, Q, and Alternative Press. Planet Sound named Black Holes and Revelations their Album of the Year for 2006 and the album was placed third in the NME Albums of the Year list for 2006, as well as being named Q's second best album of the year. The album also received a Mercury Prize nomination.

Pitchfork's Sam Ubl was amongst the most critical reviewers and gave the album a 4.2 rating, saying that Muse, "always loveably lame...managed to take a turn for the lamer." Several critics called the album "overblown", including Radio Telefís Éireann's Bill Lehane, NME's Anthony Thornton, and Rolling Stone's Chris Hoard. Hoard went on to describe "Knights of Cydonia" and "City of Delusion" "ridiculous", but concluded that although it was "surprising", the album worked. The A.V. Club, on the other hand, gave the band credit for reworking themselves, but called the album a "nightmare".

Some critics commented that the band had made a complete departure from the Radiohead similarities that they had been criticised for in their earlier albums. The Sydney Morning Herald noted it charted ahead of Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke's solo album, The Eraser, when it topped the ARIA Albums Chart in its first week. The Radiohead comparisons still persisted amongst other reviewers however, as Garrett Kamps of The Village Voice described the band's sound as being "like someone put a gun to Radiohead's, er, head and forced Thom and co. to rock—no dystopian arty shit, just rock—for 72 hours straight". Kamps was highly critical of the album, commenting that "the universe has an infinite capacity for stupid, stupid shit".

Tour

In July 2006 the band announced that they would be going on their "biggest ever tour" in support of the album. The first shows included the Leeds and Reading Carling Weekend festivals, followed by a tour that visited most of the world's major continents. The tour saw them travelling over most of the world, including countries such as the UK, most of Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, China and Korea. Some dates they were booked to play in support of My Chemical Romance in the USA were cancelled after members of their entourage were affected by food poisoning. The USA stretch of the tour included dates at Madison Square Garden and a headlining slot at Lollapalooza.

The biggest concert of the tour was two nights that they played in the new Wembley Stadium on 16 and 17 June 2007. They were the first band to play at the newly built stadium, and it was the biggest gig that band had ever played as on their first night tickets sold out. The show incorporated extensive special effects that included huge satellite dishes, "futuristic" antennas, giant white balls and thousands of lights. The encore included two acrobats that floated high above the crowd suspended on floating white balloons. Songs from the two nights were recorded and released later as a live album called H.A.A.R.P.

Track listing

All lyrics and music written by Matthew Bellamy.

1. "Take a Bow" – 4:35
2. "Starlight(Black Holes and Revelations)" – 3:59
3. "Supermassive Black Hole" – 3:29
4. "Map of the Problematique" – 4:18
5. "Soldier's Poem" – 2:03
6. "Invincible" – 5:00
7. "Assassin" – 3:31
8. "Exo-Politics" – 3:53
9. "City of Delusion" – 4:48
10. "Hoodoo" – 3:43
11. "Knights of Cydonia" – 6:06
12. "Glorious" [Bonus Track] – 4:38
    • Originally released only on the Japanese version, and later added to the digital release of Black Holes and Revelations on iTunes. The song was also released in the UK as the B-side to the 7" version of the "Invincible" single.

Tracks featured on limited edition DVDs

• "Supermassive Black Hole" (video)
• "Starlight" (video)
• "Knights of Cydonia" (video)
• "Supermassive Black Hole" (Live from Paris)
• "Starlight" (Live from Copenhagen @ MTV Awards)
• "Knights of Cydonia" (Live from London)

Personnel

• Matthew Bellamy - lead vocals, guitars, piano, synthesizers, production
• Chris Wolstenholme - backing vocals, bass guitar, some synthesizers on "Map of the Problematique" and "Hoodoo", production
• Dominic Howard - drums, percussion, brief vocals on "Supermassive Black Hole", brief drum machine on "Take A Bow", production
• Rich Costey - production
• Marco Brioschi - Trumpet
• Edoardo de Angelis - Violin
• Mauro Pagani - String Arrangements, String Conductor
• Audrey Riley - String Arrangements, String Conductor
• Storm Thorgerson - Cover Photo
• Rupert Truman - Cover Photo
• Derrick Santini - Photography
• Howie Weinberg - Mastering
• Vlado Meller - Mastering
• Roger Lian - Mastering Assistant
• Tommaso Colliva - Engineer
• Myriam Correge - Assistant Engineer
• Ryan Simms - Assistant Engineer
• Ross Peterson - Assistant Engineer
• Max Dingle - Mixing Assistant
• Mark Rinaldi - Mixing Assistant

Single releases

Title	Release date	Format(s)	UK Singles Chart	Billboard Modern Rock Tracks
"Supermassive Black Hole"	June 19, 2006 (UK) 7" CD DVD Digital Download	#4	#6
"Starlight"	September 4, 2006 (UK)	7" CD DVD Digital Download	#13	#2
"Knights of Cydonia"	June 13, 2006 (U.S.)	Radio/CD-R (U.S.) 7" CD DVD Digital Download	#10	#10
"Invincible"	April 9, 2007 (UK)	7" CD DVD Digital Download	#21
"Map of the Problematique"	June 18, 2007 (UK)	Digital Download	#18

Charts

Chart (2006)	Peak position	Certification
Australia Album Chart	21	Gold
Austria Album Chart	5
Belgium Album Chart	2
Billboard 200 (U.S.)	9	Gold
France Album Chart	1	Platinum
Italian Album Chart	2	Platinum
Finland Album Chart	12
Netherlands Album Chart	2
New Zealand Albums Chart	17	Platinum
Norway Album Chart	5
Portugal Album Chart	7
UK Album Chart	1	2x Platinum

External links

• Muse.mu - official website
• Black Holes and Revelations at Metacritic.