Black Holes & Revelations

From WikiMuse

Black Holes & Revelations
Release date(s)	: June 28th, 2006 : June 30th, 2006 : June 30th, 2006 : July 3rd, 2006 : July 3rd, 2006 :July 5th, 2006 :July 7th, 2006 :July 11th, 2006
Recording details	2005 – 2006 at Miraval, Avatar, and Electric Lady Studios
No. of tracks	CD: 11 CD: 12 DVD: 6
Length	CD: 45:28 CD: 50:06 DVD:
Publisher(s)	: Warner Music Japan : Warner Music Benelux : Warner Music Germany : Warner Bros. Records : Helium-3 : Warner Music France : Warner Bros. Records : Warner Music Australia : Warner Bros. Records
Producer(s)	Rich Costey and Muse
WikiMuse top 3	"Knights of Cydonia" "Map of the Problematique" "Supermassive Black Hole"

Black Holes & Revelations is Muse's fourth studio album, released in Britain on July 3rd, 2006. The album contains 11 tracks and a bonus track, "Glorious", on the Japanese edition. Muse released five songs from Black Holes as singles: "Supermassive Black Hole", "Starlight", "Knights of Cydonia", "Invincible", and "Map of the Problematique".

[edit] Overview

The album adopts a much less heavy, apocalyptic theme than its predecessor, Absolution, while still retaining the classic Muse feel, with plenty of arpeggios, falsetto and piano breaks. Black Holes has spawned the band's most successful single, "Supermassive Black Hole", and hit #1 in the charts in four countries, including Britain and Australia.

[edit] "Take a Bow"

"Take a Bow" is a classic synth-backed track which evolves into an almost orchestral "apocalyptic rock" epic, which also sounds a bit like the Star Wars theme tune, in places. The song is about corrupt world leaders and how they should take responsibility for their actions. The original title was "Hex".

[edit] "Starlight"

"Starlight" is an upbeat, romantic composition featuring a beautifully arpeggiated chorus and a rolling bassline. It is basically a love song, which Matt has, on occasions, dedicated to his girlfriend Gaia Polloni.

[edit] "Supermassive Black Hole"

"Supermassive Black Hole" is an evidently disco/funk-orientated song, and the band have described it as "electronica" and "inspired by Franz Ferdinand". "Supermassive" is the only song which features vocals from Dom when played live, and throughout the track, Bellamy is in falsetto mode.

[edit] "Map of the Problematique"

"Map of the Problematique" is one of the darker "Black Holes" tracks, and features a heavily distorted driving riff in addition to the perfectly complimentary synth loop. "MotP" describes challenges which the world may be forced to face in the future, and it also has references to space, apparently.

[edit] "Soldier's Poem"

"Soldier's Poem", one of Chris' favourite tracks on the album, has a mellow feel and a political theme, detailing how "there's no justice in the world and there never was", simply.

[edit] "Invincible"

"Invincible" features a beautifully composed slide guitar riff and a space rock solo in the interlude. "A romantic melody built around a marching beat"^[1], "Invincible" remains a crowd favourite and is the "heart of [the album]", according to Bellamy.

[edit] "Assassin"

"Assassin" features a stabby, System of a Down-esque riff which is accompanied by continuous thrash drumming and a heavy bass line, complimented by Bellamy's longing vocals. "Assassin" is said to just be an angry song which is used to relieve tension.

[edit] "Exo-Politics"

"Exo-Politics" features a very simple, out-there riff with a awesome bassline and simple hard rock vocals about a possible "orchestrated alien invasion" which is said to be a feasible event.

[edit] "City of Delusion"

"City of Delusion" is a very Mexican sounding song, featuring accompanying strings and a trumpet solo for good measure, all on top of changing styles of guitar melodies. "City" is about how some people are prepared to commit brutal acts in order to express their opinions to corrupt leaders.

[edit] "Hoodoo"

"Hoodoo" begins a quiet song, with an eeries guitar intro which quickly evolves into a quiet, romantic song. This is then followed by a driving piano melody featuring louder accompaniment. "Hoodoo" appears to be about longing for a future which is now impossible to acquire.

[edit] "Knights of Cydonia"

"Knights of Cydonia" is arguably one of the band's most driving, perfectly composed songs, featuring a long instrumental opening followed by a synthesized break and finally, the heavy protest of an outro. "Knights" is reminiscent of a spacey wild west-type movie from the future, featuring trumpets, laser beams, horses and synth-like guitars. The song is about lazy and corrupt leaders who need to be overthrown, a common theme of the album.

[edit] "Glorious"

"Glorious"...

[edit] Tracklisting

All songs were written by Matthew Bellamy, Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard, except where noted.

1. "Take a Bow" – 4:35
2. "Starlight" – 3:59
3. "Supermassive Black Hole" – 3:29
4. "Map of the Problematique" – 4:18
5. "Soldier's Poem" – 2:03
6. "Invincible" – 5:00
7. "Assassin" – 3:31
8. "Exo-Politics" – 3:53
9. "City of Delusion" – 4:48
10. "Hoodoo" (Bellamy, Wolstenholme) – 3:34
11. "Knights of Cydonia" – 6:06
12. "Glorious" (Japan and iTunes bonus track) – 4:38

[edit] Tour Edition bonus DVD

1. "Supermassive Black Hole" (Video) – 3:29
2. "Starlight" (Video) – 3:59
3. "Knights of Cydonia" (Video) – 6:06
4. "Supermassive Black Hole" (Live from Paris) –
5. "Starlight" (Live from Copenhagen @ MTV Awards) –
6. "Knights of Cydonia" (Live from London) –

[edit] Personnel

• Matthew Bellamy
  • lead vocals on all tracks
  • guitars on all tracks
  • synthesizers on "Take a Bow", "Starlight", "Map of the Problematique", "Hoodoo" and "Knights of Cydonia"
  • piano on "Starlight" and "Hoodoo"
  • production of the album

• Christopher Wolstenholme
  • bass guitar on all tracks
  • backing vocals on all tracks
  • synthesizers on "Map of the Problematique" and "Hoodoo"
  • production of the album

• Dominic Howard
  • drums on all tracks
  • backing vocals on "Supermassive Black Hole"
  • brief drum machine on "Map of the Problematique"
  • production of the album

• Daniel Newell
  • trumpet on "City of Delusion" and "Knights of Cydonia"

• Rich Costey
  • production of the album

[edit] Chart performance

Black Holes was released in 17 countries, two more than its predecessor, Absolution. It entered the top of the charts in four countries and peaked at number 1 in one more. The album stayed in the UK Albums Chart Top 75 for 48 weeks - less than Absolution managed - and the World Albums Chart Top 40 for 13 weeks. The country in which Black Holes charted the longest was France, where it stayed in the Top 150 for 65 weeks. The country in which Black Holes stayed at number 1 for the longest was Switzerland, where it stayed for 4 weeks.

Country	Entry	Peak	Chart weeks
Australia	1	1	22
Austria	4	4	18
Belgium	10	1	30
Denmark	5	5	11
Finland	3	3	9
France	2	2	65
Germany	4	4	6
Ireland	1	1	33
Italy	2	2	14
Netherlands	2	2	42
New Zealand	6	6	24
Norway	6	6	15
Portugal	17	17	3
Sweden	15	15	10
Switzerland	1	1	59
United Kingdom	1	1	48
United States	9	9	6
World	1	1	13
TOTAL	1	1	428

[edit] Prices

[edit] CD

• Amazon: $12.99
• Amazon UK: £4.98
• CD Wow!: £7.99
• HMV: £5.99
• Play.com: £4.99
• Virgin Megastores: $14.99
• Wal-Mart: $14.88
• Zavvi: £6.99

[edit] CD & DVD

• Amazon UK: £11.98
• CD Wow!: £9.99
• HMV: £11.99
• Play.com: £11.99
• Wal-Mart: $17.88
• Zavvi: £14.00