''The 2nd Law'' is the sixth studio album by English rock 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 ...

, first released on 28 September 2012 through Warner Bros. Records and the band's own

Helium-3 Helium-3 (3He see also helion) is a light, stable isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron (the most common isotope, helium-4, having two protons and two neutrons in contrast). Other than protium (ordinary hydrogen), helium-3 is the ...

imprint. Recording of the album took place in studios between

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

, beginning in October 2011 and ending in August 2012. ''The 2nd Law'' was Muse's second album to be solely self-produced, following '' The Resistance'' (2009), and features a plethora of additional musicians that performed

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wi ...

, strings, and

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

vocals. ''The 2nd Law'' is a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Some ...

about a deteriorating planet that its inhabitants can no longer live on. Major lyrical themes of the album include

societal collapse Societal collapse (also known as civilizational collapse) is the fall of a complex human society characterized by the loss of cultural identity and of socioeconomic complexity, the downfall of government, and the rise of violence. Possible cause ...

totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regu ...

, and the

second law of thermodynamics The second law of thermodynamics is a physical law based on universal experience concerning heat and energy interconversions. One simple statement of the law is that heat always moves from hotter objects to colder objects (or "downhill"), unle ...

, which the album's title references. Musically, the band chose to experiment significantly and create a sound that was distinct from their past records. The album's sound incorporates

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ...

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...

, and

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electro ...

with Muse's traditional

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 mainstream or commercial ...

style. Acts such as

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

, and

Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ and music producer. Growing up in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he joined the post-hardcore band From First to Last as the lead si ...

also served as key influences on the album. The album's cover art features a map of the human brain's pathways, which was taken from the

Human Connectome Project The Human Connectome Project (HCP) is a five-year project sponsored by sixteen components of the National Institutes of Health, split between two consortia of research institutions. The project was launched in July 2009 as the first of three Grand ...

. The singles "

Survival Survival, or the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things (or, hypotheti ...

", "

Madness Madness or The Madness may refer to: Emotion and mental health * Anger, an intense emotional response to a perceived provocation, hurt or threat * Insanity, a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns * ...

", " Follow Me", " Supremacy", and " Panic Station" were released in promotion. "Survival" had been chosen as the official song for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

, "Madness" became an international hit, most notably topping the ''Billboard''

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart for a record-breaking 19 weeks, and "Supremacy" was performed live to begin the

2013 Brit Awards Brit Awards 2013 was held on 20 February 2013. This was the 33rd edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual Brit Awards. The awards ceremony was held at The O2 Arena in London, and was presented for the third time in three years by J ...

. ''The 2nd Law'' received positive reviews from critics and performed well commercially; it was a top ten-charting album in 31 countries and a number one album in 13 countries. For its sales figures, it was certified platinum in four countries, including the United Kingdom, and triple-platinum in France. At the

55th Annual Grammy Awards The 55th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ...

, the album was nominated for

Best Rock Album The Grammy Award for Best Rock Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the rock music genre. Honors in sev ...

and "Madness" was nominated for

Best Rock Song The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre. Honors in several ...

. "Panic Station" was later nominated for Best Rock Song 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 following year. As of 2018, ''The 2nd Law'' has sold over 2.3 million copies worldwide.

Background and recording

''The 2nd Law'' was primarily recorded at

AIR Studios Associated Independent Recording (AIR) is an independent recording company founded in London in 1965 by record producer Sir George Martin and his business partner John Burgess, after their departure from Parlophone. The studio complex was founded ...

, England and EastWest Studios in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, California, with additional recording taking place at Shangri La Studios in Malibu, California and

Capitol Studios Capitol Studios are recording studios located at the landmark Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood, California. The studios, which opened in 1956, were initially the primary recording studios for the American record label Capitol Records. While ...

in Hollywood. In an interview with ''

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 adverti ...

'' on 18 October 2011, the band's manager Anthony Addis revealed that Muse had begun recording their sixth album in London and that he expected it to be released by October 2012. Muse 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 ...

had stated in an interview with

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance ...

that they had aimed to begin recording ''The 2nd Law'' in either September or October 2011. During the recording of the album, band frontman

Matt 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 ...

jokingly described the album as a "Christian gangsta rap jazz odyssey, with some ambient rebellious dubstep and face-melting metal flamenco cowboy psychedelia" on his Twitter account. In an interview with ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication '' Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a on ...

'' on 14 December 2011, Wolstenholme stated that the next Muse album would be "something radically different" from their prior releases. He also said that it felt as if the band were "drawing a line under a certain period" of their career with their sixth album. In another interview Chris mentioned that the band had experimented with music and sounds in particular. It was revealed via Muse's publicist Tom Kirk on his Twitter account that composer David Campbell was helping the band compose the album. In an interview in the April 2012 issue of '' NME'', Bellamy said that the band were set to include elements of

, with influences coming from acts such as

French house French house, also known as French touch, filter house and tekfunk, is a style of house music originally produced by French musicians in the 1990s. It is a form of Euro disco and a popular strand of the late 1990s and 2000s European dance m ...

duo

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

and UK

dance-punk Dance-punk (also known as disco-punk, punk-funk or techno-punk) is a post-punk subgenre that emerged in the late 1970s, and is closely associated with the disco, post-disco and new wave movements.Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978-198 ...

group Does It Offend You, Yeah?.

Composition

''The 2nd Law'' has been described by ''

The Arts Desk ''The Arts Desk'' (theartsdesk.com) is a British arts journalism website containing reviews, interviews, news, and other content related to music, theatre, television, films, and other art forms written by journalists from a variety of traditio ...

'' as a

with main themes of "chaos, control,

and

". The

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

review of the album similarly described it as a concept album telling the story of "a resource-strapped planet that can no longer support its inhabitants". The music of ''The 2nd Law'' has been described as

, and electronic music. The album's first track, " Supremacy", has been compared to

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...

theme songs Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at som ...

. "

", according to ''NME'', features influences which draw from

's "

I Want to Break Free "I Want to Break Free" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by their bassist John Deacon. It appears on the album '' The Works'' (1984), and was released in three versions: album, single and extended. The track became a staple of ...

" and

's '' Scary Monsters'' album. Instead of using a bass guitar for the song, Wolstenholme opted to use a Misa Kitara, a digital

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and ...

controller, to create the song's main bass riff. " Panic Station", the third track, has been noted as a

funk rock Funk rock is a fusion genre that mixes elements of funk and rock. James Brown and others declared that Little Richard and his mid-1950s road band, The Upsetters, were the first to put the funk in the rock and roll beat, with a biographer stat ...

song and features collaborations from people who had worked on

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...

's "

Superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs ...

". It also includes explicit lyrics, making ''The 2nd Law'' Muse's first album to feature the

Parental Advisory Advisory (abbreviated PAL) is a warning label introduced by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1985 and adopted by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in 2011. It is placed on audio recordings in recognition of profan ...

label. Bellamy stated that

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

producer

was an influence when writing one of the final two tracks on the album – " The 2nd Law: Unsustainable". He also stated that the song "Follow Me" was written about his newborn son, Bingham Bellamy. The song was produced by electronic music trio

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...

. Bassist

wrote two songs for the album about his battle with alcoholism – "Save Me" and "Liquid State" – and provided lead vocals on both tracks, thus marking the first time Wolstenholme sang lead vocals on a Muse song. Bellamy revealed that during the recording of ''The 2nd Law'' he was reading the novel ''

World War Z ''World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War'' is a 2006 zombie apocalyptic horror novel written by American author Max Brooks. The novel is broken into eight chapters: “Warnings”, “Blame”, “The Great Panic”, “Turning the Ti ...

'', which became a major influence on the album, especially the tracks "The 2nd Law: Isolated System" and "

". "The 2nd Law: Isolated System" was featured in the

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

of the novel.

Packaging

The name "The 2nd Law" references the second law of thermodynamics, which is quoted in the track "Unsustainable" as follows:

All natural and technological processes proceed in such a way that the availability of the remaining energy decreases. In all energy exchanges, if no energy enters or leaves an isolated system, the entropy of that system increases. Energy continuously flows from being concentrated, to becoming dispersed, spread out, wasted, and useless. New energy cannot be created and high-grade energy are being destroyed. An economy based on endless growth is unsustainable.

The album's cover art, taken from the

, represents the map of the human brain's pathways, "tracking the circuits in our heads and how we process information with bright, neon colors." The artwork was subsequently used by Muse in a social Connectome Project on 21 September 2012. As more fans joined the online project, the album art was built, representing the network of the neurons within the brain. As the album art branched and more fans joined the network, incremental segments of the album track "The 2nd Law: Isolated System" were released. The album was released as a digital download, CD, CD+DVD (with ''The Making of The 2nd Law'' and bonus feature), and

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

. A deluxe edition box set of ''The 2nd Law'' included a CD, DVD, double vinyl and three posters.

Promotion

On 6 June 2012, Muse released a trailer for ''The 2nd Law'' with a countdown on the band's website suggesting a 17 September release date. The trailer, which included

elements, was met with mixed reactions from fans. "

" was released as the album's first single on 27 June 2012 and premiered on

's Zane Lowe show, along with the song's counterpart intro, "Prelude". The song served as the official song of the

London 2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and peaked at number 22 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. It was revealed by the band in an interview with '' NME'' magazine that "

" would be released as the second single. Released on 20 August, it was announced that the song would make its world premiere on BBC Radio 1 at 19:30 BST, but the track was leaked online beforehand, due to an unintentional early release in South Korea. The official music video for the song was uploaded on 5 September to the band's YouTube channel. The song had significant chart performance by peaking in the top 40 in several countries. It has peaked at number 25 in the UK, as well as number 45 in the ''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, making "Madness" the band's second-highest charting song in the US, behind "

Uprising Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

". The song was also notable for topping the ''Billboard''

chart for a cumulative amount of nineteen weeks, making it the longest-running number-one song on the chart. The previous record was eighteen weeks, held by the

Foo Fighters Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) ...

with their song " The Pretender". The song has been certified platinum by the FIMI in Italy and the MC in Canada. The song has also been certified double-platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

in the US for 2,000,000 copies of the song sold. " Follow Me" was revealed as the third single when several promo CD's allegedly sent to radio stations appeared on eBay. The official lyric video was released on 1 November and the official music video was released on 11 December, both on the band's official YouTube channel. The song failed to chart in the UK, but it ended up charting in Belgium, France, Italy, and Japan. " Supremacy" was released as the fourth single from the album on 25 February 2013. The song gained popularity when it was performed at the beginning of the

. Due to this performance, the song charted and peaked at number 58 on the UK singles chart. The band conducted a competition to produce a music video for "

Animals Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...

". The winning video was created by Inês Freitas and Miguel Mendes (Oneness Team) from Portugal. The winning entry was released on 20 March 2013. " Panic Station" was released as the fifth single on 31 May 2013, accompanied by a music video shot during the Japanese dates of The 2nd Law Tour. The music video was released on 22 April 2013 at 10:00 AM PDT on the official Muse YouTube channel. An interactive lyric video for the song was released, as well. The band had previously performed this track, as well as "Madness", on the 6 October 2012 episode of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...

''. The song failed to chart in the UK, but it peaked at number two on the ''Billboard'' Alternative Songs chart. Furthermore, "Big Freeze" was released in April 2013, but only for French radios and without a commercial release.

Tour

On 7 June 2012, Muse announced a European Arena tour; the first leg of

The 2nd Law World Tour The 2nd Law World Tour was a worldwide concert tour by English alternative rock band Muse. It was the band's eighth concert tour, which supported their sixth studio album ''The 2nd Law''. Muse announced the tour via their official website and ...

. The leg included dates in France, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Finland and the United Kingdom as well as other countries. They had also added North American dates to the tour. Furthermore, the tour has an official live release on CD/ DVD/

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

Live at Rome Olympic Stadium ''Live at Rome Olympic Stadium'' is a live album and video by English rock band Muse, which was released on 29 November 2013 in CD/DVD formats. On 5 November 2013, the film received theatrical screenings in 20 cities worldwide, and the next day ...

, with the Italian date which was held on 6 July 2013 at the

Stadio Olimpico The Stadio Olimpico (English: ''Olympic Stadium'') is the largest sports facility in Rome, Italy, seating over 70,000 spectators. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex, north of the city. The structure is owned by the Italian N ...

in Rome, in front of a crowd of 60,963 people. A show in Tokyo described by drummer Dom as 'the funniest ever' was also filmed. However, a release date for this recording has yet to be confirmed, with only one song from the concert being released as a Muse website members 'Christmas present.' At the conclusion of 2013, the tour was placed on Pollstar's annual "Year End Top 20 Worldwide Tours", and appeared 13th worldwide, earning over $103 million with 79 shows in 2013.

Reception

Critical

''The 2nd Law'' received generally positive reviews upon release. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 70 based on 30 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". BBC music critic Ian Winwood also gave the album a positive review, highlighting "Supremacy", "Liquid State" and "The 2nd Law: Isolated System", saying that Muse "present themselves in any guise they please". ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

''s Helen Brown rated the album four out of five stars, noting the album's eclectic influences and reserving praise for "Madness" in particular. ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

''s

Kitty Empire Kitty Empire is the pen name of a British writer and music critic, currently writing for ''The Observer''. Early life Empire says that she was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1970 and brought up in Canada, Italy and Egypt before arriving in Britain ...

also alluded to Muse's bombastic tendencies, saying "Bellamy is not blind to the contradictions of his band's attempts continually to ramp the ludicrousness up to 11; endless growth is, of course, unsustainable. But for now they remain pretty comfortable with the idea of obscene over-inflation. So should we."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

rated the album three out of five stars, noting "their excursions into dubstep and dance music on tracks like "Madness" and "Follow Me" feel more like remixes than original songs. Songs like these definitely have the spine of Muse tracks, but the production that's built up around them feels almost alien." Kyle Anderson of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...

'' gave the album a grade of C+, claiming that "the band goes overboard with Queen-isms" and expressing disappointment at the lack of electronic music elements compared to the band's expectations that the album would be a departure from previous releases. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

''s

Alexis Petridis Alexis Petridis ( el, Αλέξης Πετρίδης; born 13 September 1971) is a British journalist, head rock and pop critic for the UK newspaper ''The Guardian'', as well as a regular contributor to the magazine '' GQ''. In addition to his mus ...

rated the album four out of five stars, complimenting the band's ambition but finding fault with the album's bombastic tendencies which were also present on their previous albums, stating "no one goes to see a blockbuster for its profundity and deep characterisation. They go for the stunts and the special effects, both of which ''The 2nd Law'' delivers."

Accolades

The album was a nominee for

at the

2013 Grammy Awards The 55th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET ...

. The song "Madness" was also nominated for

. The album listed at number 46 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

''s list of the top 50 albums of 2012, saying "In an era of diminished expectations, Muse make stadium-crushing songs that mix the legacies of

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ...

and

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass ...

while making almost every other current band seem tiny."

Commercial

''The 2nd Law'' had a very positive commercial performance, selling around 475,000 copies worldwide on its release. It debuted at number 2 on the ''Billboard'' 200 with 102,000 copies sold in its first week, giving Muse the highest charting debut of their career in the US, although it sold fewer copies than the debut of their previous album '' The Resistance'', which debuted at number three with 128,000 copies. It has sold 485,000 copies in the US . It also debuted at number 2 in Australia, Germany, Ireland, Korea and Spain. The album gave Muse their fourth number 1 debut in the UK with first week sales of 108,536 copies, while also debuting at number 1 in 13 other countries. It has sold 255,000 copies in the UK in 2012 alone.

Track listing

Personnel

Personnel adapted from album liner notes. Muse *

– lead vocals (tracks 1–3, 5–9, 12), guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, orchestral arrangements, production, additional mixing (track 6) *

– bass guitar (tracks 1, 3–12), Misa Kitara (track 2), synthesizers, backing vocals, lead vocals (tracks 10–11), production * Dominic Howard – drums, electronic percussion, synthesizers, production Additional musicians * David Campbell – conductor and additional orchestral arrangements *Alyssa Park – first violinist *Gerardo Hilera, Josefin Vergara, Kevin Connolly, Mario Deleon, Michele Richards, Ruth Bruegger, Sara Parkins, Sara Thornblade, Serena McKinny, Songa Lee, Tamara Hatwan – violins *Andrew Duckles – principal viola *Alma Fernandez, David Walther, Matthew Funes – violas *Steve Richards – principal cello *Erika Duke-Kirkpatrick, George Kim Scholes, Suzie Katayama – cellos *Dave Stone, Oscar Hidalgo – basses *Rodrigo D'Erasmo – additional violin on "Prelude" and "Explorers" *Daniela Savoldi – additional cello on "Prelude" and "Explorers" *Wayne Bergeron – trumpet solo on "Supremacy" *Joseph Meyer, Nathan Campbell – French horns *Alan Kaplan, Charles Morillas, Craig Gosnell, Nick Lane – trombones *Charles Findlay, Steven Madaio – trumpets on "Panic Station" *Tom Saviano – tenor saxophone *Donald Markese – baritone saxophone *

Katie Razzall Katherine Mary Razzall (born 31 October 1970) is a British journalist and television newsreader. Early life and education Razzall was born in Wandsworth, London, daughter of the British Liberal Democrat politician and parliamentarian Lord Raz ...

– spoken words on "The 2nd Law – Unsustainable" and "The 2nd Law – Isolated System" *Tom Kirk – additional chanting on "Survival" *Bingham Bellamy – Additional sound effects on "Follow Me" *Aaron Page, Antonio Sol, Baraka Williams, Beth Anderson, Bobbi Page, Christian Ebner, Chyla Anderson, Clydene Jackson, Edie Lehmann Boddicker, Francesca Proponis, Gabriel Mann, Gerald White, Gregory Jasperse, Gregory Whipple, Guy Maeda, Joannna Bushnell, John Kimberling, Karen Harper, Karen Whipple Schnurr, Kathryn Reid, Kimberley Lingo Hinze, Michael Geiger, Oren Waters, Raven Kane, Reid Bruton, Robert Joyce, Scottie Haskell, Susie Stevens Logan, Teri Koide, Walter Harrah – choir Production *Tommaso Colliva – additional production,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

, mixing (tracks 4, 6) *Adrian Bushby – additional production, engineering *Paul Reeve – additional vocal production (tracks 10–11) *Nero – additional production and mixing (track 6) *

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic compression for molding mixes that play wel ...

– mixing (tracks 1, 5, 7, 9, 12) *

Mark Stent Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fin ...

– mixing (tracks 2, 8, 10) *

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 commu ...

– mixing (tracks 3, 11, 13) *

Alessandro Cortini Alessandro Cortini (born 24 May 1976) is an Italian musician best known for being the keyboard, guitar, and bass player in the industrial band Nine Inch Nails. Cortini is also the frontman for the Los Angeles-based electronic-alternative band ...

– additional synthesizer engineering *Brendan Dekora – engineering assistance *Olga Fitzroy – engineering assistance *Sean Oakley – engineering assistance *Tom Bailey – engineering assistance *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography T ...

– mastering Additional personnel *Gavin Bond – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Notes and references

Notes References

External links

A Dip In The Muse Kitchen Sink
nbsp;– Article on the making of ''The 2nd Law'' {{DEFAULTSORT:2nd Law, The 2012 albums Muse (band) albums Warner Records albums Albums recorded at Shangri-La (recording studio) Concept albums Albums recorded at AIR Studios Albums recorded at EastWest Studios