Origin of Symmetry

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Template:Album infobox Origin of Symmetry is British rock band Muse's second album, released in the summer of 2001 on Mushroom Records in the UK. "Plug in Baby" and "New Born" (both singles) are considered to be the standout tracks. Maverick, who released Showbiz in the USA, requested that the falsetto vocals of the vocal be removed, as they believed they would hamper the song’s radio-playability. Muse's subsequent refusal to compromise their artistic integrity (or ruin the song) saw them part ways with the label. For this reason, the CD was not released in the U.S. until recently.

"Feeling Good" is a cover of the Nina Simone song. Nestlé tried to use it in a coffee commercial, but did not seek the permission of the band before doing so. They were forced to remove it and pay the band £500,000 in damages (which the band donated to Oxfam), however Nestlé then replaced the Muse version with a sound alike version.

The band experimented with new or interesting instruments throughout the album, Dominic Howard (drums) augmented the standard rock drum kit with various other items of his own and Matthew Bellamy's use of a church organ on "Megalomania" works well juxtaposed to the anti-religious sentiment of the song. 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 as in a more traditional song. This effect was created with distortion and other effects on the bass resulting in a more thick sound. This allowed the overblown guitar of Bellamy to carry itself away from the tune and extend into the higher frequencies. Overall the album sounds as if it were being played by a four piece rather than a three piece.

1 Track listing
2 Personnel
3 Singles from Origin of Symmetry
4 Music videos

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Track listing

All songs by Matthew Bellamy, except track 10, by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley.

"New Born" – 6:01
"Bliss" – 4:12
"Space Dementia" – 6:20
"Hyper Music" – 3:20
"Plug in Baby" – 3:40
"Citizen Erased" – 7:19
"Micro Cuts" – 3:38
"Screenager" – 4:20
"Darkshines" – 4:47
"Feeling Good" – 3:19
"Megalomania" – 4:38

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Personnel

Matthew Bellamy - guitar, keyboards, vocals
Dominic Howard - drums
Chris Wolstenholme - bass guitar

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Singles from Origin of Symmetry

Title	Date Released	Format/s	Cat. #	UK Singles Chart	US Modern Rock chart	Cover
"Plug in Baby"	5 March 2001	CD/Vinyl 7"	MUSH 89 CDS	11	-*	Image:Muse pluginbaby.jpg
"New Born"	5 June 2001	CD/Vinyl 7"	MUSH 92 CDS	12	-*	Image:Muse newborn.jpg
"Bliss"	20 August 2001	CD/Vinyl 7"	MUSH 96 CDS	22	-*	Image:Muse bliss.jpg
"Hyper Music/Feeling Good"	24 November 2001	CD/Vinyl 7"	MUSH 97 CDS	24	-*	Image:Muse hypermusic.jpg