Origin of Symmetry
Studio album by Muse
Released	17 June 2001
Recorded	2001 at Ridge Farm Studios, Surrey; Real World Studio, Wiltshire; Astoria Studios, Richmond Studios and Abbey Road Studios, London; Sawmills Studio, Cornwall; St. Mary's Church, Bathwick
Genre	Alternative rock, new prog, space rock
Length	51:42
Label	Mushroom
Producer	David Bottrill, John Leckie, Muse
Professional reviews
Allmusic link DPRP link Drowned in Sound link Flak link NME link PopMatters link Q (2002)
Muse chronology
Showbiz (1999) Origin of Symmetry (2001) Hullabaloo Soundtrack (2002)
Singles from Origin of Symmetry
"Plug In Baby" Released: 5 March 2001 "New Born" Released: 5 June 2001 "Bliss" Released: 20 August 2001 "Hyper Music/Feeling Good" Released: 19 November 2001

Origin of Symmetry is the second studio album by English alternative rock band Muse, released on 17 June 2001 by Mushroom Records.^[1] Recording took place at Ridge Farm Studios in Surrey and Real World Studio in Wiltshire, and additional recordings were made at Astoria Studios, Richmond Studios and Abbey Road Studios in London and Sawmills Studio in Fowey, Cornwall. The album was mixed at Sawmills and mastered at Sony Music Studios in London. Origin of Symmetry was produced by David Bottrill, John Leckie (who previously worked on the band's first album, Showbiz) and the band themselves. In the UK it reached #3^[2] and was certified platinum.^[3] The title for the album comes from a concept put forward by Michio Kaku in his book Hyperspace.^[4]

The album was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews and in 2006 earned the spot of 74 on Q Magazine's 100 Greatest Albums of all Time.^[5] Later in February 2008 a Public Vote for Q Magazine placed the album in #28 of the Best British Albums of all time.

Origin of Symmetry is seen as a departure from the alternative rock sound of Showbiz, as the band experimented instrumentally throughout the album. Dominic Howard (drums) augmented the standard rock drum kit with various other items of his own, and Matthew Bellamy uses a pipe organ at St Mary the Virgin's Church, Bathwick on "Megalomania". Due to the requirement of a pipe organ, this song is rarely played live by Muse, perhaps the most notable occasions being at Muse's charity gig at the Royal Albert Hall and during the Hullabaloo concert in Paris.

Throughout the album, the bass line is used as the driving force, often with the guitar providing only an extra layer to the song rather than carrying the melody. The bass has distortion and other effects applied to it to achieve a greater weight, allowing the guitar to digress from the main chord progression and play higher notes.

Controversy

Maverick Records, who previously released Showbiz in the United States, asked the band to remove the falsetto vocals for the album's release, claiming that their presence would discourage radio play. Muse's refusal saw them part ways with the label, meaning that the album was not released in the US until 2005.^{[citation needed]}

Nestlé tried to use the song "Feeling Good" in a coffee commercial, though the band refused to give the company permission to do so^[6]. After using the song anyway, the band successfully sued Nestlé for £500,000, which the band donated to the charity Oxfam.^[7]

Popular culture

"Feeling Good" is a cover of a song written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse originally for the 1965 musical The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd. Bellamy decided to include it in the album because Nina Simone's version of the song is a favourite of his mothers. Later the song was used to advertise "Eden", the brand new channel launched on 26 January 2009, that was previously known as UKTV Documentary, as well as being used in the 2008 movie Seven Pounds, starring Will Smith.

American Idol 2009 Finalist Adam Lambert has covered "Feeling Good" and made the arrangement very similar to the Muse version.

Additionally, the song "Space Dementia" has been used for the advertisement of the fragrance Midnight Poison by Christian Dior, released on 2007. The advertisement features Eva Green in a blue dress, directed by Wong Kar Wai.

Fragments of the song "New Born" have been used in an advertisement for Oxfam designed by Tim Burton. The advertisement uses part of the piano intro and the first driving guitar riff.

A fragment of the song "Micro Cuts" has been used for the Italian version of the advertisement of Roberto Cavalli Profumo in 2003, featuring Spanish top model Nuria de la Fuente.

The song "New Born" has been used in the film Haute Tension (also known as Switchblade Romance in the UK and High Tension in the US) and a remix by Paul Oakenfold was used in Dominic Sena's film Swordfish.

"Plug In Baby" is a playable track in Guitar Hero 5, with Matthew Bellamy having provided motion capture on the song and appearing as a guest musician whenever it is played in Career mode.

Track listing

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

Personnel

References

External links

• Muse official site
• Origin of Symmetry on MuseWiki