Live photos

Black Holes and storm thorgerson wallpaper Revelations was met with generally positive reviews from critics. Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating based on a range of reviews from mainstream critics, aggregated the album's average review score to 75%, based on 35 reviews.^[20] The album received top ratings from Observer Music Monthly,^[21] Q,^[22] and Alternative Press.^[12] Planet Sound named Black Holes and Revelations their Album of the Year for 2006 and the album was placed third in the NME Albums of the Year list for 2006,^[23] as well as being named Q's second best album of the year.^[24] The album also received a Mercury Prize nomination.

Black Holes and matthew bellamy muse Revelations was said by some reviewers to carry a political message.^[16] The album begins with the track "Take a Bow", which is an "attack on an all but unnamed political leader", and incorporated lyrics such as "Corrupt, you're corrupt / Bring corruption to all that you touch".^[16] These themes are carried through the album in the tracks "Exo-Politics" and "Assassin".^[16] The album often touches on controversial subject matters, such as "The New World Order conspiracy, unjustifiable war, abusive power, conspiratorial manipulation and populist revolt,"^[14] and is influenced by the conspiracy theories that the band are interested in.^[9] Matt Bellamy stated that he finds "the unknown in general a stimulating area for the imagination,"^[14] and this interest is reflected throughout the album, which features alien invasion (in "Exo-Politics")^[8] and rebellious paranoia (particularly during "Assassin").^[16] The album also includes more emotional themes, including regret, ambition,^[16] and love.^[15]

Origin of Symmetry eva green 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 occasion being at Muse's charity gig at the Royal Albert Hall.