"Panic Station" is a song by English rock band Muse, released as the fifth single from their sixth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

'' The 2nd Law'' on 31 May 2013. The song was written by Matthew Bellamy. It is featured as the third track on the album.

Music video

The music video for "Panic Station" was filmed in January 2013 in Japan, during when the band was appearing in the country's The 2nd Law World Tour. It was released on 22 April 2013. The video is set in Tokyo. The original video featured the

Rising Sun Flag The is a Japanese flag that consists of a red disc and sixteen red rays emanating from the disc. Like the Japanese national flag, the Rising Sun Flag symbolizes the sun. The flag was originally used by feudal warlords in Japan during the Ed ...

in the intro. This drew the ire of many East Asian listeners, who felt that the flag represented Japanese militarism from World War II. The controversy led the band to apologise through Twitter and re-upload a new version of the video, which replaced the Rising Sun Flag with the Japanese flag.

Reception

Most reviewers compared "Panic Station" to other songs. In a review of the album, the BBC's Ian Winwood wrote that the song "borrows from both Queen's "

Another One Bites the Dust "Another One Bites the Dust" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Written by bassist John Deacon, the song was featured on the group's eighth studio album '' The Game'' (1980). It was a worldwide hit, charting number one on the US ''Billb ...

" and Michael Jackson's "

Thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

", without ever attaining the majesty of either tune." '' The A.V. Club'' called it the album's "catchiest song" and thought "it’s not hard to imagine Bellamy strutting around the stage like Michael Hutchence, oozing sex with his stunning falsetto backing metal-pop riffs." The reviewer, however, concluded that it "would be a real triumph if it didn’t sound so much like another band." Helen Brown of '' The Daily Telegraph'' opined that the single had a "disco feel," with "nods at

INXS INXS (a word play, phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian Rock music, rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboar ...

's "

Suicide Blonde "Suicide Blonde" is the lead single from Australian rock band INXS's seventh studio album, '' X'' (1990). It was released on 22 August 1990 in the United States and on 3 September 1990 in the United Kingdom. The song reached number two in Austra ...

", Queen’s "Another One Bites the Dust", David Bowie's " Fame" and Prince's " Kiss" – ends up sounding a bit like a Scissor Sisters number." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' noted that the song is "aggressive until it serves up a 70s-sounding falsetto chorus with audacious horns. It's all incredibly self-indulgent in an impressively restrained amount of time, with every Muse hallmark included and every riff a champion." At the

56th Annual Grammy Awards The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid comp ...

, the song received a nomination for Best Rock Song.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control Songs written by Matt Bellamy Muse (band) songs 2013 singles 2012 songs Warner Records singles Funk rock songs