Absolution (album)

''Absolution'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Muse, released on 22 September 2003 through Taste Media. It was produced by Muse and Rich Costey, with additional production by John Cornfield and Paul Reeve.

''Absolution'' incorporates classical influences, with orchestra on tracks such as "Butterflies and Hurricanes" and "Blackout", and apocalyptic lyrical themes. Muse used effects, synthesisers and software to process many tracks. Most of the album was recorded at Grouse Lodge in County Westmeath, Ireland, with additional sessions at AIR Studios and Livingston Recording Studios in London and Cello Studios in Los Angeles. Costey aimed to give Muse a bigger, more aggressive sound.

''Absolution'' reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. It also produced Muse's first top-ten single, " Time Is Running Out", which reached number 8 on the UK singles chart. As of 2018, ''Absolution'' had sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide. A 20th-anniversary version was released in 2023, with remastered audio, unreleased demos and live versions.

Background

Muse set aside time to develop their third album, as their previous recording sessions had been rushed. In early 2002, they rented a country house outside Brighton for six months to write material. During this period, they were dropped by their American record label, Maverick. The System of a Down singer, Serj Tankian, attempted to sign Muse to his label, Serjical Strike, but Maverick asked for half a million dollars to release them from their contract and his attempts to have Sony provide the money failed.

Muse decided to focus on Europe, and embarked on the final leg of their tour for their previous album, '' Origin of Symmetry'', playing the future ''Absolution'' songs "Hysteria" and "The Small Print". After the tour, Muse resumed writing and recording demos in an unused commercial loft in Hackney, London. The singer and songwriter, Matt Bellamy, wrote most of the songs on piano, including guitar-based songs such as "Stockholm Syndrome".

Recording

Muse began recording in late 2002 with the producers John Cornfield and Paul Reed at Air Studios, London, where they recorded "Butterflies and Hurricanes". Bellamy sought to create a heavy rock song using classical piano instead of guitar, with a "mechanical paradiddle thing all the way through". He was inspired by the "intensive, repetitive" piano compositions of Terry Riley, such as "In C". "Blackout", another song recorded at the Air sessions, uses mandolin and orchestra.

Muse were joined later by the American producer Rich Costey, who produced the rest of the album. Costey had worked with acts Muse admired, including Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, and wanted to give them a bigger, more aggressive sound. According to Costey, Muse wanted to sound like a "colossal, dynamic, epic and powerful rock band".

Muse and Costey returned to Air in late 2002 to work on songs including "Hysteria" and "Stockholm Syndrome". Bellamy restructured "Hysteria" after feedback from Costey. For "Stockholm Syndrome", Costey vocodered Bellamy's guitar with a Nord modular synthesiser. Muse and Costey regrouped in early 2003 for 10 days at Livingston Recording Studios, London, completing the recordings they had made at Air.

Muse moved to Grouse Lodge, a residential recording studio in County Westmeath, Ireland, where most of the album was recorded. The sessions were marred by Muse's strained relationship with their record company and a lawsuit with their production company. When Muse's co-manager arrived to review their progress, they found him disruptive and threw him out of the studio. Bellamy said later that "there was a genuine sense of impending doom for the band". The bassist, Chris Wolstenholme, struggled with alcoholism during the sessions.

To create basic tracks, Muse recorded together live, then focused on overdubs. Costey minimised editing to preserve the "human touch" and avoid an artificial result. He added little reverb, preferring to use the natural ambience recorded by the microphones.

Bellamy used custom Manson guitars and Marshall and Diezel amps. Wolstenholme split his signal into three Marshall amps, one clean and two distorted, and blended the results. For "Fury", Bellamy used a DigiTech Whammy pedal to rhythmically pitch-shift the guitar riff. Muse and Costey used the sound design system Kyma to process tracks including " Time Is Running Out", "Hysteria" and "Apocalypse Please". Bellamy said Kyma added an "outrageously hi-fi and bright and futuristic sound"; Costey described it as "the sound of the record".

The group experimented with drum sounds, using a number of microphones. For the introduction to "Apocalypse Please", they recorded two kick drums in the Grouse Lodge swimming pool. They also recorded Wolstenholme diving into the pool, which was used in the bridge of "Thoughts of a Dying Atheist". For "Ruled by Secrecy", they recorded a drum take in the courtyard outdoors, hoping to capture an unusual ambience, but discarded the results. On "Falling Away with You", Costey captured the sound of Bellamy's fingers on the guitar strings to create an intimate feeling.

For " Sing for Absolution", Muse used prepared piano, laying metal objects such as nails and guitar strings on the piano strings. They also processed the piano with a pitch-shifting DigiTech Whammy pedal and an Echloplex delay effect. For "Ruled by Secrecy", they blended piano and a Yamaha CP-80 electric piano. Costey recorded Bellamy's left and right-hand parts separately, and ran them through guitar amps and an Echoplex. "Time Is Running Out" was the most difficult song to record; Muse spent hours working on the bass sound for the introduction, processing Wolstenholme's bass with multiple effects. Eventually, they used a Roland synthesiser played through a Marshall amp.

"Endlessly" was the last song completed. Muse struggled to improve on the simplicity of Bellamy's demo, recorded with a piano and a four-to-the-floor drum machine rhythm. Eventually, they used lighter, jazzier drumming and an old Hammond organ. Later in 2003, Muse and Costey spent three weeks in Cello Studios, Los Angeles. They recorded more overdubs, including the marching sounds that open the album, and the final version of "Endlessly", and mixed the album. They also attracted interest from American labels and signed a contract with Warner Bros. Records.

Music and lyrics

''Absolution'' contains elements of alternative rock, progressive rock, hard rock, and art rock. It features a more polished and direct sound than Muse's previous albums. In 2020, Wolstenholme described it as a continuation of their second album, '' Origin of Symmetry'' (2001): "We knew what we wanted to do, and we'd found our feet a little bit, and we felt comfortable with what we did."

Initially, Bellamy planned ''Absolution'' as a concept album about insanity; Reeve said "Butterflies & Hurricanes" was a remnant of this idea. The direction changed following the beginning of the Iraq War. Bellamy said that the lyrics for "Apocalypse Please" followed naturally from the "epic and in-your-face" chord progression. The end of Muse's relationship with their American label, Maverick, also influenced the lyrics. Bellamy became interested in conspiracy theories connected to subjects involving the September 11 attacks, which he described as "good subject matter" for songwriting. He later disavowed conspiracy theories as dangerous.

The lyrics incorporate themes of fear, mistrust, personal achievement and joy, and a general theme of "things coming to an end". Bellamy said that absolution was "not necessarily a religious word; it has meanings of purity, but it's not necessarily talking from a Christian or any particular religious point of view. I think it's just suggesting that the act of making music is a way of understanding things."

Artwork

The ''Absolution'' cover was created by Storm Thorgerson, and depicts the shadows of figures either leaving or descending to Earth. Rather than use software such as Photoshop, Thorgerson's team cut shapes from hardboard, fixed them to poles and photographed them in a chalk pit to create strong shadows. The ''Reader's Digest'' writer Kris Griffiths likened the image to the René Magritte painting ''Golconda''.

Release and promotion

''Absolution'' was presented to the press with a star show at the London Planetarium, followed by a party at Madame Tussauds. It was released on 22 September 2003 on CD and double vinyl. The first single, "Stockholm Syndrome", was released as a download and was downloaded more than 20,000 times. Because of contractual obligations, Muse could not allow it to be downloaded free, so the fee was set at $0.99 in the US. On tour for ''Absolution'', Muse performed in arenas for the first time and headlined Glastonbury Festival in 2004. The tour ended with two sold-out nights at Earls Court, London. Muse also toured the United States, playing in small clubs.

Critical reception

On Metacritic, ''Absolution'' has a score of 72 of 100 based on 16 reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews". ''Alternative Press'' wrote that its "chaotic choruses feel like the triumphant culmination of some earth-shattering undertaking", while Andrew Future of '' Drowned in Sound'' called it "a truly elemental opus". Tyler Fisher of ''Sputnikmusic'' felt that ''Absolution'' was Muse's most consistent album to date and that it perfected their sound, writing that it "expands on newer sounds and improves on others". Alexis Petridis of ''The Guardian'' wrote: "Muse sound like a band who are at the top of their game. Their confidence carries you through the album's excesses." Rob Kemp of ''Rolling Stone'' was less enthusiastic, drawing Radiohead comparisons and concluding that Bellamy "doesn't bring as much ingenuity to his singing".

''Absolution'' was Muse's first album to chart in the US, and is credited with establishing their fan base there. It was the second Muse album released in the US, after a dispute with Maverick Records had canceled the release of ''Origin of Symmetry'' there. ''Absolution'' reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Top Heatseekers chart and No. 107 on the ''Billboard'' 200. It was certified gold in March 2007, becoming Muse's first album to be certified in the US. " Time Is Running Out" became Muse's first top-10 single on the UK singles chart and was certified gold in the US.

Legacy

In 2005, ''Absolution'' was ranked number 345 in the '' Rock Hard'' book ''The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time''. In 2009, '' Q'' readers voted it the 23rd-best British album, and in 2009, ''Kerrang!'' readers voted it the second-best album of the century so far. A remastered 20th-anniversary reissue, ''Absolution XX Anniversary'', featuring bonus tracks, live recordings and demos, was released on 17 November 2023. '' Clash'' wrote that the reissue was not as "neatly constructed or unique" as the 2021 ''Origin of Symmetry'' reissue, with "largely dispensable" bonus material, but praised the "punchier, cleaner" remaster.

Track listing

Personnel

Personnel adapted from ''Absolution'' liner notes

Muse
*Matthew Bellamy – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, programming, string arrangements, production
* Chris Wolstenholme  – bass, backing vocals, production
* Dominic Howard – drums, programming, percussion, production

Production
*Dennis Smith, Safta Jaffery – executive production
* Rich Costey – production, mixing, engineering, additional production on "Blackout" and "Butterflies and Hurricanes"
* Wally Gagel – engineering, digital engineering, additional production on "Butterflies and Hurricanes"
*Paul Reeve – production and backing vocals on "Blackout" and "Butterflies and Hurricanes", vocal samples on "Intro"
*John Cornfield – production and engineering on "Blackout" and "Butterflies and Hurricanes"
*Roger Lian – digital editing
*Howie Weinberg – mastering

Additional personnel
* Audrey Riley – string arrangements
*Spectrasonic's Symphony of Voices – vocal samples on "Stockholm Syndrome" and "Endlessly"
*Storm Thorgerson, Dan Abbott – graphic design
*Rupert Truman, Sean Winstanley – photography
* Perou – band photography
*Lee Baker – layout design
*Sam Winston – typography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

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{{Authority control

2003 albums
Albums produced by John Cornfield
Albums with cover art by Storm Thorgerson
East West Records albums
Muse (band) albums
Warner Records albums
Albums recorded at AIR Studios
Albums produced by Rich Costey