British rockers Muse have released their fifth album, The Resistance, and it’s being hailed as their best offering yet. Here’s more about the band.
The band: Matthew Bellamy (vocalist and guitar and pianist), Christopher Wolstenholme (bassist and backing vocalist) and Dominic Howard (drummer)
The Resistance is the first album the band has self-produced. It was recorded in Italy and mixed by Mark “Spike” Stent, who has done work for bands such as Massive Attack, U2 and Oasis.
Sales for their latest album have surpassed that of their previous one, Black Holes and Revelations. In its debut week in the UK The Resistance sold about 150 000 copies.
Since the release of their debut album a decade ago Muse have sold more than eight million albums worldwide, scooped five MTV Europe Music Awards and headlined concerts around the globe - 95 000 tickets for their most recent UK tour sold out in minutes.
The band formed in 1994 and their original name was Rocket Baby Dolls. Their first gig was a local battle of the bands competition. “After that we started taking ourselves seriously,” Matt says. They left university, quit their jobs and changed their name to Muse.
Between recording and touring they don’t have much down time. “We get so little time at home,” Chris says. “When we do we just of enjoy simple things such as going to the supermarket or taking a walk in the park.”
Adam Lambert recently covered their hit Starlight on his American Idol tour but the band didn’t mind one bit. “I saw a clip of it on YouTube and I thought it was a nice compliment, really. It’s one of the ultimate compliments as a writer and a band, that someone else would want to adopt one of your songs. It was an interesting version,” Matt says.
WIN!
Ten readers will each win a copy of Muse’s latest album, The Resistance, courtesy of Warner Music Gallo Africa. SMS the word RESISTANCE and your name and address to 34923 by 5pm on 10 December. Each SMS costs R2.
