Muse 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 produced by Rich Costey over four months in New York City, London, Milan and southern France.
The album saw a change in style for Muse, with influences including Depeche Mode, Millionaire, Lightning Bolt, Sly and the Family Stone, and music from southern Italy. Like their previous albums, it features political and dystopian undertones, with lyrics covering topics such as political corruption, alien invasion, revolution and New World Order conspiracies, as well as more conventional love songs.
Black Holes and Revelations received positive reviews and appeared on many year-end lists. It received a Mercury Prize nomination and appeared in the 2007 version of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
The album entered the charts at number one in five countries, including the United Kingdom, and in the top 10 in several other countries. It was later certified quadruple platinum in the UK and platinum in the US. The singles "Supermassive Black Hole" and "Knights of Cydonia" were both UK top-10 hits, while "Starlight", "Map of the Problematique", and "Invincible" charted within the top 25. As of 2018, Black Holes and Revelations had sold more than 4.5 million copies worldwide.
Muse's third album, Absolution (2003), brought them mainstream exposure in the United States. Muse began writing and rehearsing for their next album at Studio Miraval, an old château in southern France. The producer Rich Costey, who had also worked on Absolution, joined them two weeks later. The album was the last to be recorded at Miraval before its temporary closure in 2006.
The singer, Matt Bellamy, said Muse wanted to be free from distractions so that they could "concentrate, spend time and be surrounded by different musical influences". However, progress was slow and they had difficulty deciding which songs to work on. More work was completed in New York City at Avatar and Electric Lady Studios, and at a studio in Italy.
The bassist, Chris Wolstenholme, said writing and recording was more relaxed than previous albums, as the band had no deadline. Costey wanted to capture Bellamy's "personality" as a guitarist, recording the sound of his fingers and plectrum on the strings. Muse took a more active role in using studio technology, having previously left its use to engineers.
With "Take a Bow", Muse wanted to blend classical, electronic and rock music. It opens with string arpeggios inspired by Philip Glass, backed by a Moog synthesiser. The "Map of the Problematique" riff was written on keyboard; at Costey's encouragement, Bellamy recreated it on guitar by splitting the guitar signal into three audio signals, which were processed with pitch shifters and synthesisers. "Assassin", influenced by the noise rock band Lightning Bolt, began as a long progressive rock song with a "huge" piano break before Muse trimmed it.
"Soldier's Poem" was "unlike anything [Muse had] ever done before". It was written for Absolution, but rewritten for Black Holes with new lyrics and an arrangement inspired by "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Elvis Presley. The drummer, Dominic Howard, said the band had planned to record it with a "massive, epic" approach, but decided to use a small studio with vintage equipment and few microphones. Howard described it as a "real highlight", with "some of the most amazing vocals I've ever heard Matt do".
"Knights of Cydonia" was inspired by surf rock and the 1962 single "Telstar" by the Tornados, which featured Bellamy's father George Bellamy. Bellamy said that the song title "acknowledged that this is a bit funny, particularly when we are pushing the epic side of the band to almost comical levels ... There's a lot of freedom in being able to laugh at yourself."
Black Holes and Revelations has been described as featuring progressive rock space rock, and pop rock and was said by some reviewers to carry a political message. The album begins with the track "Take a Bow", which is an "attack on an all but unnamed political leader", incorporating lyrics such as "Corrupt, you corrupt and bring corruption to all that you touch". These themes are carried through the album in the tracks "Exo-Politics" and "Assassin".
The album touches on controversial subject matters, such as the "New World Order conspiracy, unjustifiable war, abusive power, conspiratorial manipulation and populist revolt", and is influenced by the conspiracy theories that the band are interested in. Bellamy said he finds "the unknown in general a stimulating area for the imagination", and this interest is reflected throughout the album, which features rebellious paranoia (particularly during "Assassin"). The album also includes more emotional themes, including regret, ambition, and love.
The title is taken from lyrics in "Starlight". Bellamy told Q: "Black holes and revelations – they're the two areas of songwriting for me that make up the majority of this album. A revelation about yourself, something personal, something genuine of an everyday nature that maybe people can relate to. Then the black holes are these songs that are from the more ... unknown regions of the imagination."

Features:

• 180g LP
• Black Vinyl

Selections:

Side A
1. Take A Bow
2. Starlight
3. Supermassive Black Hole
4. Map Of The Problematique
5. Soldier's Poem
6. Invincible
Side B
1. Assassin
2. Exo-Politics
3. City Of Delusion
4. Hoodoo
5. Knights Of Cydonia