25. Dead Star
A rare example of Muse at full on metal mode, Dead Star's driving riff and polished chorus make for one of the band's heaviest and most unhinged songs.
Find it: Dead Star Single (2002)
24. Map of Your Head
Similar in many ways to the brilliant Unintended, Matt Bellamy takes the style of The Smiths in the song's dark lyrics sung over an infectious, sugar sweet acoustic melody.
Find it: Hullabaloo Soundtrack (2002)
23. Supremacy
The Bond theme that never was, Supremacy's explosive, pompous stomp and ludicrously high vocals are doubtless the highlight of The 2nd Law.
Find it: The 2nd Law (2012)
22. Time is Running Out
Perhaps the finest pop nugget from an impressive arsenal of classics, Time is Running Out's polished, progressive chorus helped push the band into mega-stardom on their third album proper Absolution.
Find it: Absolution (2004)
21. Falling Down
Before their lyrical themes turned interstellar, Muse wrote this wonderful anthem for the disaffected youth in which Bellamy paints a bizarre picture of destroying the small town the group grew up in.
Find it: Showbiz (1999)
20. Sing For Absolution
And on the album where the lyrics did hit the stars, this floating, piano led classic stands out as the band's greatest ballad. "Sing for absolution, I will be singing".
Find it: Absolution (2004)
19. Sunburn
"Come waste your millions here" begins the first song on debut album Showbiz, a track which hinted of the band's prog influences in its recurring piano ostinato moving dreamily into a heavier guitar based chorus and solo.
Find it: Showbiz (1999)
18. Invincible
Another superb, progressive ballad, Invincible is a hidden gem as one of the more understated tracks on the epic Black Holes and Revelations.
Find it: Black Holes and Revelations (2006)
17. Blackout
Much has been made of the similarities between Muse and Radiohead over the years, and while Blackout could have been a standout on any post-OK Computer record, it comes with a stunning identity of its own as an early example of the orchestral influences which would eventually bring the band to write the phenomenal Exogenesis Symphony.
Find it: Absolution (2004)
16. Muscle Museum
Of all the songs Muse have cut from their live setlists over their career, Muscle Museum could well be the most unfortunate loss; it's a stellar track perhaps overshadowed by its legendary "guitar solo" which is actually sung.
Find it: Showbiz (1999)
15. Resistance
Find it: The Resistance (2009)
14. Unintended
The stunningly rare occasions of genuine love songs in Muse's career rarely mark the band's finest hours, but this simple acoustic anthem from their first album remains a fan favourite to this day and is a shining example of a band retaining their power while stripped of distortion and hundred-watt amps.
Find it: Showbiz (1999)
13. Hysteria
Aside from Plug In Baby, Hysteria is perhaps the song most synonymous with Muse's sound. As the lead single on classic third album Absolution, Hysteria sees the band managing brilliantly to write a guitar song for bass, resulting in an iconic riff and the ever catchy chorus of "I want it all, give me your heart and your soul".
Find it: Absolution (2004)
12. Bliss
Cited by Matt Bellamy as his favourite of the band's songs, Bliss's soft keyboard arpeggios smash into a headbanging guitar riff in a track summed up perfectly by the NME as "perhaps the catchiest song ever written about wanting to electronically download someone else's happiness into your own brain".
Find it: Origin of Symmetry (2001)
11. Thoughts of a Dying Atheist
A brilliantly meditative piece dissecting the confusion and fear of death inevitably present due to a lack of faith in an afterlife, Thoughts of a Dying Atheist is an example of superb observational lyricism supported by a great guitar melody and possibly the best solo in Bellamy's huge arsenal.
Find it: Absolution (2004)
perhaps the catchiest song ever written about wanting to electronically download someone else’s happiness into your own brain.
Read more at http://www.nme.com/blogs/the-big-picture/20-best-muse-songs-as-voted-by-you#hI7ax6HkmJdLZoYu.99
Read more at http://www.nme.com/blogs/the-big-picture/20-best-muse-songs-as-voted-by-you#hI7ax6HkmJdLZoYu.99
perhaps the catchiest song ever written about wanting to electronically download someone else’s happiness into your own brain.
Read more at http://www.nme.com/blogs/the-big-picture/20-best-muse-songs-as-voted-by-you#hI7ax6HkmJdLZoYu.99
Read more at http://www.nme.com/blogs/the-big-picture/20-best-muse-songs-as-voted-by-you#hI7ax6HkmJdLZoYu.99
perhaps the catchiest song ever written about wanting to electronically download someone else’s happiness into your own brain.
Read more at http://www.nme.com/blogs/the-big-picture/20-best-muse-songs-as-voted-by-you#hI7ax6HkmJdLZoYu.99
10. Ruled by Secrecy Read more at http://www.nme.com/blogs/the-big-picture/20-best-muse-songs-as-voted-by-you#hI7ax6HkmJdLZoYu.99
Muse are at their best when flirting with brilliant prog insanity, and Ruled by Secrecy is doubtless one of the greatest examples of this rule. The song somehow finds a way for its simple drum beat and bass line to become an explosive wall of grand-piano dominated sound before fading into the sound of a beating heart in a short few minutes of music. Described by Bellamy as being about "this man who's come back from work and he's just shot everyone and killed everyone, and he's come back to his wife with a load of blood all over his hands going 'I've just blown it ... I lost it ... I lost the plot", it's clear that despite it's rich and textured music the song remains one of the band's darkest moments.
Find it: Absolution (2004)
9. New Born
As the opener to second album Origin of Symmetry, it seemed clear from the first few seconds of tinkley grand piano that the band had simply produced a carbon copy of debut album Showbiz. But moments later, New Born introduces a new era in a hail of distorted riffology and that screamed chorus "destroy the spineless."
Find it: Origin of Symmetry (2001)
8. Falling Away With You
The softest, most tentative song on this list, Falling Away With You is the band's most intimate moment, with Matt Bellamy whispering his vocals over a snail's pace acoustic movement. It's completed by some of their finest lyrics too, "staying awake to chase a dream, tasting the air you're breathing in" and "all of the love we left behind, watching the flashbacks intertwine, memories I will never find" being particularly thoughtful highlights. One of just three tracks Muse have never played live, we can only hope for a concert debut in the near future. Find it: Absolution (2004)
7. Exogenesis: Symphony
Exogenesis is Muse at their preposterous, absurd best; a twelve minute piece divided into three movements played by a 40-piece orchestra telling the story of humanity leaving earth to populate another planet. It's easy to dismiss as ludicrously bloated just by its name, but its excessive nature actually presents the band's most meticulous and complex composition influenced by artists as widespread as Chopin, Rachmaninov and Pink Floyd. A true spine tingle.
Find it: The Resistance (2009)
6. Butterflies and Hurricanes
The centrepiece of the classic Absolution, Butterflies and Hurricanes rifles through sections as varied as a massive rock chorus and a romantic piano interlude in a song often cited as among the band's greatest works. Butterflies and Hurricanes is in some ways a spiritual successor to the greater still Citizen Erased; phenomenally beautiful and complex in its musical movements and yet still catchy and exciting.
Find it: Absolution (2004)
5. Space Dementia
We enter the top five with a song of suitably epic proportions; with a title referring to a mental condition caused by long spells spent in outer space, Space Dementia never aimed to be anything less than gigantic. With hammered piano the band would later adapt for Ruled by Secrecy and twisting, distorted guitar melodies, Space Dementia is one of the finest examples of modern prog and is a true experience to hear for the first time.
Find it: Origin of Symmetry (2001)
4. Knights of Cydonia
A song as complex and instrumental as Space Dementia or Butterflies and Hurricanes, Knights of Cydonia was a change in direction for Muse's epics in that's it's composed almost entirely around distorted guitar riffs. Taking elements from Queen's I Want To Break Free, early use of synthesisers and even the Doctor Who theme tune, Knights... has become one of the band's signature songs; the brilliant acapella call of "no one's gonna take me alive, the time has come to make things right, you and I must fight for our rights, you and I must fight to survive" seemingly designed for stadiums while the headbanging riff that follows it is perhaps the group's most memorable.
Find it: Black Holes and Revelations (2006)
3. Plug in Baby
Our big three begins with one of THE greatest riffs of all time; Plug in Baby's shrieking guitar opening is surely the most iconic musical moment in Muse history. It's not a one trick pony either, it's a brilliantly tight and well crafted rock song, which is even more impressive when you consider that it was apparently recorded while the whole band were on hallucinogenic mushrooms. The band's most successful song when it was released as the lead single for Origin of Symmetry, the track has remained a true fan favourite and has been played at almost every Muse concert since.
Find it: Origin of Symmetry (2001)
2. Citizen Erased
The Muse-Radiohead comparisons are at their strongest by far on this legendary Origin of Symmetry cut, because Citizen Erased is, without a doubt, Muse's Paranoid Android. And while the similarities between the two are there to be seen; multiple movements, contrasting sections of phenomenal volume and slow, chordal progressions, Citizen Erased is very much a song of its own. Opening with an explosion of funk metal, the piece builds into a colossal synth-chorus followed by electric arpeggios, a pounding guitar solo and a tantalizing acoustic chord progression. Fitting so many musical elements into 7 minutes is no mean feat, but the real success of Citizen Erased is in managing to turn so many distinct sections into one complete, perfect piece. It's at the very least a true equal to Radiohead's classic OK Computer opus.
Find it: Origin of Symmetry (2001)
1. Stockholm Syndrome
With an opening riff that sounds like a terrifying cross-breed between The Prodigy and System of a Down, Stockholm Syndrome is a heavy metal explosion which instantly sets itself far apart from most of the band's songs. As its tectonic riff reaches its climax, there's a sudden transition into one of the band's most striking choruses, as the violent guitar is overshadowed by a soft, beautiful keyboard melody before the band rev the engines and kick into the riff once again. Stockholm Syndrome is a shot of pure adrenaline, a burst of energy which remains fixed in the memory long after it's five minutes of total power come to an end. And it's completed by the most monstrous and original breakdown of the group's career to close a song which can, truly, be called Muse's best. And of course, when you play the chorus backwards you'll hear Matt singing "please save the night wind and high above, I lost to love". It wouldn't be Muse without the occasional hidden message, would it?Find it: Absolution (2004)
I put some time and thought into this, but I'm sure you all completely disagree. Shocked by the lack of Supermassive Black Hole, Uprising or Neutron Star Collision (just kidding)? Insulted by Plug in Baby not being top? Leave a comment here.
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