Absolution is the third studio album by the English rock band Muse, released on 22 September 2003 through Taste Media. It was produced by Muse and Rich Costey, with additional production by John Cornfield and Paul Reeve.
Absolution incorporates classical influences, with orchestra on tracks such as "Butterflies and Hurricanes" and "Blackout", and apocalyptic lyrical themes. Muse used effects, synthesisers and software to process many tracks. Most of the album was recorded at Grouse Lodge in County Westmeath, Ireland, with additional sessions at AIR Studios and Livingston Recording Studios in London, Cello Studios in Los Angeles, and Sawmills Studios in Cornwall. Costey aimed to give Muse a bigger, more aggressive sound.
Absolution reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. It also produced Muse's first top-ten single, "Time Is Running Out", which reached number 8 on the UK singles chart. As of 2018, Absolution had sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide. A 20th-anniversary version was released in 2023, with remastered audio, unreleased demos and live versions.
Background
Muse set aside time to develop their third album, as their previous recording sessions had been rushed. In early 2002, they rented a country house outside Brighton for six months to write material. During this period, they were dropped by their American record label, Maverick.
Muse decided to focus on Europe, and embarked on the final leg of their tour for their previous album, Origin of Symmetry (2001), playing the future Absolution songs "Hysteria" and "The Small Print".
Recording
thumb|Air Studios, London, where Muse recorded "Butterflies and Hurricanes" and "Blackout"
Muse began recording in late 2002 with the producers John Cornfield and Paul Reed at Air Studios, London, where they recorded "Butterflies and Hurricanes" and "Blackout". They were joined later by the American producer Rich Costey, who produced the rest of the album. Costey had worked with acts Muse admired, including Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, and wanted to give them a bigger, more aggressive sound. According to Costey, Muse wanted to sound like a "colossal, dynamic, epic and powerful rock band". Muse and Costey used the sound design system Kyma to process tracks including "Time Is Running Out", "Hysteria" and "Apocalypse Please". Bellamy said Kyma added an "outrageously hi-fi and bright and futuristic sound"; Costey described it as "the sound of the record". hard rock, and art rock. Its sound is more polished and direct than Muse's previous albums. In 2020, Wolstenholme described it as a continuation of Origin of Symmetry: "We knew what we wanted to do, and we'd found our feet a little bit, and we felt comfortable with what we did."
Initially, Bellamy planned Absolution as a concept album about insanity; "Butterflies & Hurricanes" was a remnant of this idea. The direction changed following the beginning of the Iraq War.
Artwork
The Absolution cover was created by Storm Thorgerson, and depicts the shadows of figures either leaving or descending to Earth. Rather than use software such as Photoshop, Thorgerson's team cut shapes from hardboard, fixed them to poles and photographed them in a chalk pit to create strong shadows. The first single, "Stockholm Syndrome", was released as a download and was downloaded more than 20,000 times.
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On Metacritic, Absolution has a score of 72 of 100 based on 16 reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews". Tyler Fisher of Sputnikmusic felt that Absolution was Muse's most consistent album yet and that it perfected their sound, writing that it "expands on newer sounds and improves on others". Alexis Petridis of The Guardian wrote: "Muse sound like a band who are at the top of their game. Their confidence carries you through the album's excesses." It was the second Muse album released in the US, after a dispute with Maverick Records had canceled the release of Origin of Symmetry there. Absolution reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart and No. 107 on the Billboard 200. It was certified gold in the US in March 2007. "Time Is Running Out" became Muse's first top-10 single on the UK singles chart and was certified gold in the US.
Legacy
In 2005, Absolution was ranked number 345 in the Rock Hard book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time. In 2009, Q readers voted it the 23rd-best British album, and in 2009, Kerrang! readers voted it the second-best album of the century so far.
A remastered 20th-anniversary reissue, Absolution XX Anniversary, featuring bonus tracks, live recordings and demos, was released on 17 November 2023.
Track listing
Personnel
Personnel adapted from Absolution liner notes, programming, string arrangements, production
- Chris Wolstenholme – bass, backing vocals, production
- Dominic Howard – drums, percussion, programming, production
Production
- Rich Costey – production, mixing, engineering, additional production on "Blackout" and "Butterflies and Hurricanes"
- Paul Reeve – production and backing vocals on "Blackout" and "Butterflies and Hurricanes", vocal samples on "Intro"
- John Cornfield – production and engineering on "Blackout" and "Butterflies and Hurricanes"
- Wally Gagel – engineering, digital engineering, additional production on "Butterflies and Hurricanes"
- Howie Weinberg – mastering
- Roger Lian – digital editing
- Ciaran Bradshaw – assistant engineer (Grouse Lodge)
- Adam Noble – assistant engineer (AIR)
- Darren Mora – assistant engineer (Cello)
- Jason Gossman – assistant engineer (Cello)
- Donald Clark – assistant engineer (Livingston)
- Tom Joyce – assistant engineer (Sawmills)
- Dennis Smith, Safta Jaffery – executive production
Additional personnel
- Audrey Riley – string arrangements
- Spectrasonics Symphony of Voices – vocal samples on "Stockholm Syndrome" and "Endlessly"
- Storm Thorgerson, Dan Abbott – graphic design
- Rupert Truman, Sean Winstanley – photography
- Perou – band photography
- Lee Baker – layout design
- Sam Winston – typography
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
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! scope="col"| Chart (2003–2004)
! scope="col"| Peak<br/>position
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|-
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)
| 74
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Irish Albums (IRMA)
| 3
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| 22
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Spanish Albums (AFYVE)
|align="center"|14
|-
|-
|-
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2003)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)
| 83
|-
! scope="row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)
| 25
|-
! scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
| 73
|-
! scope="row"| French Albums (SNEP)
| 62
|-
! scope="row"| Italian Albums (FIMI)
| 55
|-
! scope="row"| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)
| 38
|-
! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)
| 70
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2004)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| French Albums (SNEP)
| 124
|-
! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)
| 82
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2005)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)
| 171
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2006)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)
| 197
|}
Certifications
Notes and references
Notes
References