Black Holes and Revelations

Recording

Muse's third album, Absolution (2003), brought them mainstream exposure in the United States. Muse spent about two weeks 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 group wanted to create a more personal album than Absolution. Costey wanted to capture Bellamy's "personality" as a guitarist, recording the sound of his fingers and plectrum on the strings.

The bassist, Chris Wolstenholme, said writing and recording was more relaxed than previous albums, as the band had no deadline. Muse took a more active role in using studio technology, having previously left its use to engineers. Hoping to change their working style, they purchased old synthesisers including a Buchla 200e and set aside time to learn to use them.

The songwriter, 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. The group moved to New York City, where Bellamy spent time in clubs and learnt to DJ, influencing the dance elements of "Supermassive Black Hole" and "Map of the Problematique". The bulk of recording was completed at Avatar and Electric Lady Studios in New York City. The album was finished at a studio in Italy, where Bellamy spent several weeks recording vocals. Costey estimated that the album took about four months to record, including mixing at Townhouse Studios, London.

Music

On "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. "Supermassive Black Hole", a mixture of dance beats and guitar, was influenced by Bellamy's visits to clubs in New York City and the Belgian band Millionaire. Critics likened it to Prince.

Muse recorded the "Starlight" melody using two pianos at different octaves and layered samples of prepared piano. "Soldier's Poem" was written for Absolution, but rewritten with new lyrics and an arrangement inspired by "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Elvis Presley. The drummer, Dominic Howard, said Muse had planned to record it with a "massive, epic" approach, but decided to use a small studio with vintage equipment and few microphones. He described it as a "real highlight", with "some of the most amazing vocals I've ever heard Matt do".

"Knights of Cydonia" features mariachi trumpet and a "galloping" drumbeat and ends with a guitar solo. It was inspired by surf rock and the 1962 single "Telstar" by the Tornados, which featured Bellamy's father, George Bellamy. Bellamy said that the 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." "City of Delusion" and "Knights of Cydonia" were influenced by Bellamy's interest in flamenco guitar.

Themes

"Take a Bow" is an "attack on an all but unnamed political leader", incorporating lyrics such as "you corrupt / and bring corruption to all that you touch". These themes are carried in the tracks "Exo-Politics" and "Assassin". Bellamy said "Exo-Politics" describes an “orchestrated alien invasion for the purpose of increasing military budgets and building space weapons”, while "Soldier's Poem" is sung from the perspective of someone realising they are being used.

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 the "Starlight" lyrics. 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."

Artwork

The album artwork was photographed in Bardenas, Spain, and designed by Storm Thorgerson. The motif was inspired by the "galloping" of "Knights of Cydonia" and "Invincible", an allusion to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Release

On May 13, Muse performed at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Dundee, Scotland, and performed "Supermassive Black Hole", "Starlight" and "Knights of Cydonia". "Supermassive Black Hole" was released as the lead single on June 19, 2006, and reached number four on the UK singles chart. It was followed by "Starlight", "Knights of Cydonia", "Invincible" and "Map of the Problematique". The album stayed at number one for two weeks on the UK Albums Chart, producing Muse's largest sales up to that point.

The first US single was "Knights of Cydonia", on 13 June 2006, which reached number 10 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. It was followed by "Starlight" and "Supermassive Black Hole". "Starlight" was Muse's most popular single in the US at that point, reaching number two on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The album debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200, making it Muse's first top-ten entry in the US.

Black Holes and Revelations was released on 3 July 2006 in the UK, followed by releases in the US, Australia, Taiwan and Japan. It was also available as a limited edition CD/DVD combination, that featured videos and live renditions of "Supermassive Black Hole", "Knights of Cydonia" and "Starlight". In addition, the album was re-released in the US on vinyl LP on 18 August 2009. The album was certified quadruple platinum in the UK on 22 March 2024.

Black Holes and Revelations sold 115,144 copies in its first week in the UK. It was certified quadruple platinum by the BPI, and had sold more than one million copies in the UK as of 2018. Black Holes and Revelations popularised Muse in the US.

Tour

In July 2006, Muse announced they would embark on their "biggest ever tour" in support of the album. The first shows included the Leeds and Reading Carling Weekend festivals, followed by a tour that visited most of the world's major continents. The tour saw them travelling around most of the world, and its shows became noted for their increasing usage of special effects. Some dates that were booked to play in support of My Chemical Romance in the US were cancelled after members of both bands were affected by food poisoning. The US stretch of the tour included dates at Madison Square Garden and a headlining slot at Lollapalooza.

Between the European arena and festival/stadium tours, the band embarked on a tour to Australia and Asia. The band were second on the bill at the 2007 Big Day Out Festival, behind headliners Tool. They also played sideshows in Sydney and Melbourne before embarking on concerts in South East Asia. That tour led to the band's biggest tour of Japan and a debut show in South Korea. The band then moved to America, playing their biggest North American headline concerts at the time at the Inglewood Forum and the Palacio de los Deportes arena in Mexico City.

The biggest concert of the tour was the two nights at the new Wembley Stadium, London, on 16 and 17 June 2007, which incorporated more extensive special effects than other concerts. The Wembley show was released as the live album HAARP.

The tour continued with many European festival shows, including headline appearances at Rock Werchter and the Benicàssim Festival. The tour then progressed to Muse's biggest North American tour at that point, including appearances at New York City's Madison Square Garden, Morrison's Red Rocks Amphitheatre and a headline appearance at Lollapalooza 2007. The band toured Eastern Europe in October before heading for an arena tour of Australia in November, finally ending at the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas. The following year saw Muse have a much more relaxed schedule, but still saw them play their first gigs in Dubai and South Africa at festivals, before making their gig debuts in South America on a three-week arena tour.

Reception

Critical

On Metacritic, which aggregates scores from mainstream critics, Black Holes and Revelations has an average score of 75 based on 32 reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews". It received top ratings from Observer Music Monthly, Q, E! Online, AllMusic and Alternative Press.

Several critics commented on the album's scale and bombast. Rolling Stone's Christian Hoard wrote that it was "one of the year's most overblown records ... If you manage to suspend your disbelief a little, Black Holes and Revelations will push your pleasure buttons." In Entertainment Weekly, Will Hermes described it as "corny and bombastic ... also ambitious, impeccably built, and apt to induce fits of uncontrolled fist pumping. If prog is indeed the new punk, these guys are its Green Day." In Observer Music Monthly, Andrew Perry wrote: "Entertaining and rabble-rousing, daft and deadly serious, it's a fantastic record, with almost limitless appeal." In Stylus Magazine, Barry Schwartz gave Black Holes and Revelations a grade of B and wrote that Muse "bring loud, excessive, and proggy sometimes to the point of caricature, but they also do these things really, really well ... It's enough to suggest Muse are heading somewhere; they're just not quite there yet."

E! Online wrote that it was "an album that strives to be nothing less than epic", and that "not since the Darkness's debut has anyone attempted to make hard rock this elaborate and blatantly gaudy". In NME, Anthony Thorton wrote that "Muse have made a ridiculous, overblown, ambitious and utterly brilliant album, with more thrills than their previous three put together". He argued they descended from acclaimed rock acts such as Queen, Roxy Music and David Bowie, but their "power and ambition" was unfairly dismissed by critics seeking "authenticity". He asked: "Why does music have to be so serious, so authentic? Rock is the only artform where authenticity is held supreme – more important than moving or provoking you. It's as if the whole rock canon has been assembled by a committee of sociologists rather than hedonists, madmen and geniuses."

The Guardian wrote that the electronic elements "shouldn't work, but Bellamy's mania is so convincingly realised that even the most avowed Muse refusenik may have to finally concede defeat". However, The Los Angeles Times found the combination of sounds "jarring" and "slightly half-baked". The A.V. Club's Noel Murray gave Black Holes and Revelations a grade of D+, writing: "Give Muse credit for remaking itself over the years into a full-blown theatrical experience, and not just another echoing rock band. But that experience is, frankly, kind of shitty." In Spin, Brian Raferty wrote that Black Holes and Revelations was "admirable and terrible" and that Muse now "sound like a Muse knockoff". He praised "Starlight" and "Map of the Problematique", but criticised the lyrics as "mumbo jumbo about persecution". Pitchfork wrote that it was "the band's most autopiloted effort yet, a hacked-up last-gen rehash of said space jams, only now with greater emphasis on glitz and glam. Somehow Muse, always loveably lame, have managed to take a turn for the lamer." Spin, Stylus Magazine and Observer Music Monthly wrote that Muse had transcended the comparisons to Radiohead that had dogged their earlier albums.

Accolades

Black Holes and Revelations was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Prize, and listed in the updated 2008 edition of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. It was named the year's second-best album by Q and third-best by NME. Classic Rock named it one of the ten essential progressive rock albums of the decade, and voted the 34th-best album of all time by readers of Q in 2006.

In 2011, NME named "Supermassive Black Hole" the 74th-best song of the preceding 15 years and "Knights of Cydonia" the 44th-best. On 26 January 2008, "Knights of Cydonia" was announced as the number-one song on Australia's 2007 Triple J Hottest 100. The song was also ranked No. 18 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time, 2009. It was also ranked No. 53 on Rhapsody's list of the Top 100 Tracks of the Decade.

Personnel

Muse

Matt Bellamy – lead vocals, guitars, piano, synthesisers, sampling, production

Chris Wolstenholme – bass guitar, backing vocals, production, additional synthesisers (tracks 4 and 10), guitar solo (track 3), double bass (track 5)

Dominic Howard – drums, production

Additional personnel