Muse are an
alternative rock band from
Devon, England. Since their inception, the band has been composed of
Matthew Bellamy (lead vocals, guitar, piano),
Christopher Wolstenholme (bass, backing vocals), and
Dominic Howard (drums and percussion). Muse are known for their energetic and extravagant live performances
[1][2][3] and their fusion of many
music genres, including
progressive rock,
classical music,
hard rock and
electronica.
Muse have released five studio albums –
Showbiz (1999);
Origin of Symmetry (2001);
Absolution (2003);
Black Holes and Revelations (2006); and
The Resistance (2009) – one live album,
HAARP (2008), and a compilation,
Hullabaloo Soundtrack (2002).
Black Holes and Revelations earned the band a
Mercury Prize nomination and a third place finish in the
NME Albums of the Year list for 2006. Muse have won
many other music awards throughout their career, including five
MTV Europe Music Awards, five
Q Awards, eight
NME Awards, two
BRIT awards and four
Kerrang! Awards. Many Muse songs are recognizable by lead vocalist
Matthew Bellamy's often
falsetto voice and use of
vibrato. As a guitarist, Bellamy often utilizes
arpeggio and pitch-shift effects to create a more "electric" sound, citing
Jimi Hendrix and
Tom Morello as influences for this method.Muse's album
Black Holes and Revelations was influenced by various styles of European and Asian music. "I've been listening to quite a lot of music from the south of Italy on this album", Bellamy admits. "I've been living in Italy for a while, and I discovered this music from
Naples, which sounds like a mix of music from Africa,
Croatia,
Turkey, and Italy. It kind of gives it a mystical sound, so I think that's one thing that influenced the album. I like being influenced by things that have a mixed style". Muse have cited
Queen as an influence. Queen guitarist
Brian May has praised Muse's work, calling the band "extraordinary musicians" who "let their madness show through, always a good thing in an artist." In particular, Dominic Howard noted the influence of Queen on "United States of Eurasia.