This UK rock trio, not to be confused with the Florida-based US band of the same name, grew up in the sleepy small-town backwater of Teignmouth, Devon. School friends Matthew Bellamy (b. 9 June 1978, Cambridge, England; guitar/vocals, the son of George Bellamy of the Tornados), Chris Wolstenhome (b. Christopher Tony Wolstenholme, 2 December 1978, Rotherham, Yorkshire, England; bass) and Dominic Howard (b. 12 July 1977, Stockport, England; drums) first formed a band as teenagers, struggling on the local pub circuit as Gothic Plague, Fixed Penalty and Rocket Baby Dolls. They eventually settled on Muse, a name far more in sync with a rapidly developing style clearly influenced by Radiohead, Nirvana and the late Jeff Buckley (notably Bellamy’s vocals). A well-received appearance at 1998’s In The City showcase failed to land the trio a recording contract. Two independent releases on Dangerous Records, the four-track Muse (May 1998) and six-track Muscle Museum (January 1999), garnered strong praise for the band’s grandiose art-rock. In the meantime, an appearance at CMJ in New York led to a high profile recording contract with Madonna’s Maverick Records. Shortly afterwards, the band were snapped up by Mushroom Records in the UK. A strong set at 1999’s Glastonbury Festival failed to push their debut single ‘Uno’ higher than number 73 in the UK charts, but the band were consoled by positive reviews for their John Leckie-produced debut, Showbiz. The explosive atmosphere of tracks such as ‘Sunburn’, ‘Cave’ and ‘Sober’ stood out on a record that failed to rise above the sum of its influences.
The follow-up, 2001’s Origin Of Symmetry, was an equally bombastic but far superior collection that helped propel the band to new commercial and critical heights. The album reached the UK Top 5 but was denied an initial US release when the band refused to re-record some of the tracks at the request of their record company. Following the release of a third album, Absolution, the trio began to make inroads into the American market. The album included ‘Stockholm Syndrome’, which had previously been made available as a download single. The trio then excelled themselves on 2006’s Black Holes & Revelations, a superbly executed concept album complete with suitably 70s styled art work courtesy of Storm Thorgerson.
