Origin Muse

Beautiful box set with remastered Showbiz and Origin of Symmetry plus an abundance of rarities spread out over 4 vinyl LPs and 9 CDs. The CD's are all tucked away in an extensive hardcover book chronicling the early days of Muse. Listen to the music while exploring the book. Great concept. A must for any Muse fan.

Muse are set to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Origin Of Symmetry by releasing a new remixed version of the album. Origin Of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX features remixed and remastered audio plus re-imagined artwork of the band's 2001 album, which includes their hits Plug In Baby and Feeling Good. The album, which sees the band come together with GRAMMY-winning producer Rich Costey, will be released on digital formats on 18 June before two vinyl packages follow on 9 July.

If you're going to pillage someone else's ideas, then go for broke. Because even if you find yourself crammed between the barriers of creative space, utterly at a loss for ideas, expression, or thought, you'd still have a self-respect buzzing in your ear like a mad angelic insect, putting down the newspaper and taking out a cigar to remind you that, hell, if want to sound like Radiohead when even Thom Yorke doesn't want to sound like Radiohead, you might as well take it to preposterous, bombastic, over-the-top levels…

If you're going to pillage someone else's ideas, then go for broke. Because even if you find yourself crammed between the barriers of creative space, utterly at a loss for ideas, expression, or thought, you'd still have a self-respect buzzing in your ear like a mad angelic insect, putting down the newspaper and taking out a cigar to remind you that, hell, if want to sound like Radiohead when even Thom Yorke doesn't want to sound like Radiohead, you might as well take it to preposterous, bombastic, over-the-top levels. Add church organs, mental electronics, riffs bouncing off each other like the monolithic screams in 2001: A Space Odyssey, and you'll finally be in position to crack skulls like coconuts and make the world's speakers ooze gooey blood.

Throughout their career, it's always been clear that Muse aren't satisfied to just do the same thing over and over again, as they have evolved from their early days when they were (perhaps unfairly) pigeonholed as a Radiohead imitator into purveyors of some of the most epic symphonic rock since Queen graced the stage. On their sixth album, The 2nd Law, they continue to shake things up, diving deeper into the electronic rabbit hole as they experiment with a sound that's less reliant on Matthew Bellamy's guitar heroics, resulting in an album that's a bit of a mixed bag. Incorporating some of the slickest production the band has ever had with a more synth-heavy sound, the album certainly succeeds in feeling different from Muse's previous work…

Muse have stormed into the public eye in recent years with albums offering an onslaught of guitars, keys and drum riffs that hark back to the days of 1970s prog-rock. Hullaballo shows them at their best, within an energetic live performance of the kind that first drew them to the public and media's attention. Filmed towards the end of their intense 2001 tour at Le Zenith, Paris, this gig is full of high-powered chords and dramatic instrument torture as the lads pump through songs from their three albums including tracks from the B-side album Hullaballo, released to coincide with the DVD.