Origin of Symmetry

Origin of Symmetry is the second studio album by the English rock band Muse, released on 18 June 2001 through Taste Media. It was produced by John Leckie, who produced Muse's debut album Showbiz (1999), and David Bottrill.

Origin of Symmetry
Each physical release of the album includes its respective catalog number inside the white box; this cover art is for the digital release.
Studio album by
Muse
Released18 June 2001 (2001-06-18)
RecordedSeptember 2000 – February 2001
Studio
Genre
Length51:41
LabelTaste[lower-alpha 2]
Producer
  • David Bottrill
  • John Leckie
  • Muse
Muse chronology
Random 1–8
(2000)		 Origin of Symmetry
(2001)		 Hullabaloo Soundtrack
(2002)
XX Anniversary RemiXX cover
Singles from Origin of Symmetry
  1. "Plug In Baby"
    Released: 5 March 2001
  2. "New Born"
    Released: 4 June 2001
  3. "Bliss"
    Released: 20 August 2001
  4. "Hyper Music" / "Feeling Good"
    Released: 19 November 2001

Origin of Symmetry reached number three on the UK Albums Chart[1] and was certified platinum.[2] Four singles were released: "Plug In Baby", "New Born", "Bliss", and "Hyper Music" / "Feeling Good". For the album's 20th anniversary in 2021, Muse released a remixed and remastered version, Origin of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX. As of 2018, Origin of Symmetry had sold more than two million copies worldwide.

Writing

Muse developed Origin of Symmetry during their tour for their debut album Showbiz. "Feeling Good", a cover, was written for Broadway by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse in 1964, and first recorded by Nina Simone for her 1965 album I Put a Spell on You.[3]

The title derives from the 1994 book Hyperspace by the theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, which suggests the title The Origin of Symmetry for a future book about the discovery of supersymmetry, a reference to On the Origin of Species. According to the songwriter Matt Bellamy: "Everyone's been writing about the origin of life so now they'll start looking at the origin of symmetry; there's a certain amount of stability in the universe and to find out where it originates from would be to find out if God exists."[4]

Recording

After completing the Showbiz tour, Muse recorded "Plug In Baby", "Bliss", "New Born" and "Darkshines" with the producer David Bottrill, forming the "backbone" of Origin of Symmetry. To capture their live energy, Muse recorded together as a band, with some overdubs.[5]

After Bottrill departed to work on the Tool album Lateralus, Muse enlisted John Leckie, who had produced Showbiz.[5] They recorded in Sawmills in Fowey, Cornwall; Ridge Farm Studio in Surrey; Real World Studios in Box, Wiltshire; and David Gilmour's Astoria houseboat studio on the Thames.[5] While they were working in Real World Studios, they went to a church in Bath to record a church organ for "Megalomania".[5]

Having mainly recorded Showbiz with a Gibson Les Paul guitar, Bellamy recorded Origin of Symmetry using a custom Manson guitar equipped with a built-in Fuzz Factory, a fuzz distortion effect.[5] It was the first in a series of collaborations between Bellamy and Manson, which he purchased a majority share of in 2019.[5] Bellamy used the Fuzz Factory effect on many of the riffs on the album.[5]

Origin of Symmetry has been described as alternative rock,[6] progressive rock,[7] hard rock,[8] and space rock.[9] It saw the band experimenting with new instruments and dynamics. Dominic Howard expanded the standard rock drum kit with items including a balaphone and animal bones on "Screenager". Whereas the Showbiz lyrics had "wallowed in heartbroken angst", Bellamy's lyrics moved to "sci-fi surrealism".[5]

Release

Origin of Symmetry was released on 18 June 2001.[10] It was originally scheduled for release in the United States through Maverick Records, who had also released Showbiz. However, Muse left Maverick when Maverick demanded Bellamy rerecord the album with less falsetto. The album was not released in the US until 2005.[11]

Origin of Symmetry was remastered and reissued as part of the Origin of Muse boxset, alongside Showbiz, demos, live performances and other material. The box set was released on 6 December 2019.[12]

The Japanese edition of the album features the bonus track "Futurism" which is placed before "Megalomania". This track is also tagged onto the end of the tracklisting on digital editions. [13][14]

Origin of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX

On 18 June 2021, the album's 20th anniversary, Muse released a remixed and remastered version, Origin of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX.[15] A collaboration with the producer Rich Costey, who worked on several later Muse albums, it features a "more open, dynamic and less crushed sound".[16] The new mixes also restores elements that were originally muted or obscured, such as string sections on "Space Dementia", "Citizen Erased" and "Megalomania", and a harpsichord on "Micro Cuts". The album features new cover artwork by Sujin Kim.[15] The Pitchfork critic Jazz Monroe described the reissue as "definitive ... even more colossal and timeless".[17] Japanese bonus track "Futurism" appears as the eleventh track on all editions of the album.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[18]
Drowned in Sound10/10[19]
Hot Press8/12[20]
The Independent[21]
The List4/5[22]
NME9/10[23]
Pitchfork8.3/10[17]
Q[24]
Stylus MagazineC[25]
Sunday Herald[26]

Origin of Symmetry received mainly positive reviews. Roy Wilkinson of Q praised it as an "astonishing record... where extra-terrestrial fascinations meet the classical world's more unhinged impulses", adding that "comparisons with Radiohead that dogged Muse's early career now seem all but obsolete".[24] Roger Morton of NME called the album a "reinvention of grunge as a neo-classical, high gothic future rock, full of flambéed pianolas and white-knuckle electric camp ... It's apparent that Muse can handle their brutal arias."[23] Q named Origin of Symmetry one of the best 50 albums of 2001,[27] while Kerrang! named it the ninth-best.[28]

The Guardian's Betty Clarke panned Origin of Symmetry as "unbelievably overblown, self-important and horrible".[29] The Stylus critic Tyler Martin felt that Muse were "very good at their craft", but that "the constant overplaying of everything waters it all down immensely".[25]

Legacy

Origin of Symmetry has made appearances on lists of the greatest rock albums of the 2000s, both poll-based and on publication lists. In 2006, Q named it the 74th-greatest album of all time,[30] and in 2008 Q readers voted it the 28th-best British album. Kerrang! named it the 20th Best British rock album and the 13th best album of the 21st century.[31] According to the review aggregator website Acclaimed Music, Origin of Symmetry is the 1,247th-best-reviewed album of all time.[32]

In a retrospective review, Natalie Shaw of BBC Music wrote that Origin of Symmetry "shows a band with the drive and unfettered ambition to create a standalone marvel which not only awakens the ghosts and clichés from prog's pompous past, but entirely adds its own voice". He said that many elements of the band's later albums, such as Black Holes and Revelations (2006), could be traced back to the album.[33] The author Amy Britton argued that on Origin of Symmetry Bellamy "progressed [his band]'s sound so much that he earned a new title – this generation's guitar hero," highlighting "Plug In Baby" and "New Born".[34] In a retrospective review in 2021, the Pitchfork critic Jazz Monroe wrote: "Muse were playing melodrama as teenage realism, an extremely, ridiculously honest noise ... By combining goth vulnerability with sci-fi scale and hard-rock drama, [Origin of Symmetry] captures a paradox of young romance: on one hand, Bellamy sounds wracked with despair, but he proclaims his heartbreak with the glee of an ecstatic preacher."[17]

On 26 and 28 August 2011, Muse performed a special set at the Reading and Leeds Festivals, which consisted of the band playing Origin of Symmetry from start to finish, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the album.[35]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Matthew Bellamy, except "Feeling Good" by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley.

Original release
No.TitleLength
1."New Born"6:03
2."Bliss"4:11
3."Space Dementia"6:20
4."Hyper Music"3:21
5."Plug In Baby"3:38
6."Citizen Erased"7:21
7."Micro Cuts"3:38
8."Screenager"4:20
9."Darkshines"4:46
10."Feeling Good"3:18
11."Megalomania"4:39
Total length:51:35
  • Most streaming services place “Feeling Good” as the eighth track, between “Micro Cuts” and “Screenager”, and include "Futurism" as the 12th track. The Japanese edition features “Futurism” as the 11th track and “Megalomania” as the 12th.

Personnel

Guest musicians

  • Jacqueline Norrie – violin
  • Sara Herbert – violin
  • Clare Finnimore – viola
  • Caroline Lavelle – cello

Additional personnel

  • David Bottrill – production and engineering on "New Born", "Bliss", "Plug In Baby" and "Darkshines"
  • John Leckie – production and engineering on tracks "Space Dementia", "Hyper Music", "Citizen Erased", "Micro Cuts", "Screenager", "Feeling Good" and "Megalomania"
  • Ric Peet – engineering on tracks "Space Dementia", "Hyper Music", "Citizen Erased", "Micro Cuts", "Screenager", "Feeling Good" and "Megalomania"
  • Steve Cooper – additional engineering on "New Born", "Bliss", "Plug In Baby" and "Darkshines"
  • Chris Brown – additional engineering and programming on tracks "Space Dementia", "Hyper Music", "Citizen Erased", "Micro Cuts", "Screenager", "Feeling Good" and "Megalomania"
  • Mark Thomas – assistant engineering on tracks "Bliss", "Hyper Music", "Plug In Baby" and "Micro Cuts"
  • Claire Lewis – assistant engineering on tracks "Space Dementia", "Hyper Music", "Citizen Erased", "Micro Cuts", "Screenager", "Feeling Good" and "Megalomania"
  • Damon Iddins – assistant engineering
  • Mirek Styles – assistant engineering
  • John Cornfield – mixing
  • Ray Staff – mastering
  • William Eagar – artwork

Charts and certifications

Notes and references

Notes

  1. Additional recording at Astoria in Richmond, Abbey Road in London, Sawmills in Fowey, and St. Mary's Church in Bathwick.
  2. Also released through Mushroom Records in the United Kingdom, PIAS Recordings in Benelux, Motor Music in Germany, Naïve Records in France, Festival Mushroom Records in Oceania, Cutting Edge/maximum10 in Japan, and Warner Bros. Records in the United States.

References

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