"Map of the Problematique" is a song by English

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

, released as the fifth single from their fourth studio album ''

Black Holes and Revelations ''Black Holes and Revelations'' is the fourth studio album by English rock band Muse, first released on 3 July 2006 through Warner Bros. Records and Muse's Helium-3 imprint. It was recorded over four months with producer Rich Costey in New Yor ...

'' on 18 June 2007 as a

download In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote s ...

. The release date followed the two concerts Muse performed at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

on 16 and 17 June.

Composition

"Map of the Problematique" is an

electronic rock Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s, when rock bands began incorporating electronic instrume ...

song featuring heavy use of

synthesizers A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

distortion In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signal ...

flanging Flanging is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, one signal delayed by a small and (usually) gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a swept comb filter effect: peaks and not ...

and

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

shifting. Written in the key of

C minor C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major. The C natural minor scale is: : Cha ...

, it moves in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

at a moderately fast tempo of 125 bpm. Lead singer

Matthew Bellamy Matthew James Bellamy (born 9 June 1978) is an English singer, musician, producer, and songwriter. He is primarily known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and primary songwriter for English rock band Muse. He is recognised for his eccen ...

's displayed vocal range spans from B♭3 to C5. His vocals in the song are

overdubbed Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...

to create an

echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the list ...

effect. The main riff does not feature any dominant chords, which gives it a more modal sound. The chords being played are C minor, E♭ major, A♭ major, and F minor. The song has drawn frequent comparisons to "

Enjoy the Silence "Enjoy the Silence" is a song by English electronic music band Depeche Mode. Recorded in 1989, it was released as the second single from their seventh studio album, ''Violator (album), Violator'' (1990), on 5 February 1990. The single is certif ...

" by

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

due to their similar chord progression and arrangement. Bellamy has also cited

as inspiration for the song in interviews. The title is a reference to the book ''

The Limits to Growth ''The Limits to Growth'' (''LTG'') is a 1972 report that discussed the possibility of exponential economic and population growth with finite supply of resources, studied by computer simulation. The study used the World3 computer model to simula ...

'' (1972) and the

Club of Rome The Club of Rome is a nonprofit, informal organization of intellectuals and business leaders whose goal is a critical discussion of pressing global issues. The Club of Rome was founded in 1968 at Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, Italy. It consists ...

think-tank who would create a "map of the problematique" detailing the "global problematique" - a set of likely challenges the world might face in the near future.

Recording

Originating from rehearsals before the recording of ''

'', "Map of the Problematique" was one of the later songs the band started work on. It was originally played on

synthesiser A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

s before being transferred to guitar, giving it a darker sound, although initially the intention was to keep it as keyboard-orientated as possible. The rhythm section was recorded after the guitar tracks. This was different from anything the band had done before, according to bassist

Chris Wolstenholme Christopher Tony Wolstenholme (born 2 December 1978) is an English musician. He is the bassist and backing vocalist for the rock band Muse. Early life Chris Wolstenholme grew up in the English town of Rotherham before moving to Teignmouth, D ...

, "because the whole theme of the song was based more on the sound and creation of this sound". The riff was written on keyboard; at producer

Rich Costey Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling ** Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated commun ...

's encouragement, Bellamy recreated it on guitar by splitting the guitar into three signals, which were processed with pitch shifters and synthesisers.

Live

"Map of the Problematique" is one of Muse's most frequently performed songs in concert, being played at almost every show on the

Black Holes and Revelations Tour Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have of ...

, the majority of concerts on

The Resistance Tour The Resistance Tour was a worldwide concert tour by English alternative rock band Muse in support of their fifth studio album '' The Resistance''. The opening European leg began on 22 October 2009 and ended on 4 December 2009, comprising 30 show ...

, being performed fairly often on

The 2nd Law Tour The 2nd Law World Tour was a worldwide concert tour by English alternative rock band Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of lit ...

and

Drones World Tour The Drones World Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the English Rock music, rock band Muse (band), Muse. Staged in support of the band's 2015 album ''Drones (Muse album), Drones'', the tour visited arenas and festivals throughout 2015 and is ...

. A live version was released on the ''HAARP'' album and DVD.

Track listing

Chart performance

The song reached number 18 in the UK singles chart in its first week of release, and was more successful than "

Invincible Invincible may refer to: Film and television * ''Invincible'' (2001 drama film), a drama by Werner Herzog about Jewish cabaret during the rise of Nazism * ''Invincible'' (2001 TV film), a fantasy / martial arts TV movie starring Billy Zane ...

", the previous single.

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Map Of The Problematique Muse (band) songs 2006 songs 2007 singles Songs written by Matt Bellamy Song recordings produced by Rich Costey Warner Records singles Rock ballads 2000s ballads