Muscle Museum is the second EP by English rock band Muse . Recorded in 1998 at Sawmills Studios with producer Paul Reeve, it was released on 11 January 1999 by Dangerous Records, limited to 999 hand-numbered copies. The EP features six tracks, five of which were released again later – "Instant Messenger" (as "Pink Ego Box") was featured as the B-side to the band's third single " Muscle Museum ", while four were re-recorded for the group's debut full-length album Showbiz .
16-510: As with their self-titled debut EP , Muse recorded Muscle Museum at Dennis Smith's Sawmills Studios with producer Paul Reeve, with the sessions taking place in 1998. Reeve also performed additional backing vocals " Unintended " and "Instant Messenger". Muscle Museum was released in the same way as the Muse EP, on Smith's Dangerous Records limited to 999 numbered copies, on 11 January 1999. Some additional copies were pressed on CD-R not including
32-528: A little bit of blow. My dad wouldn't have cared, he didn't give a shit. It went down pretty well, and I'm still alive. Amid the media uproar that followed, Richards' manager claimed the remark had been made in jest, but Beaumont told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that he believed Richards had been telling the truth, adding that "He did seem to be quite honest about it. There were too many details for him to be making it up". He later told Uncut magazine that
48-405: A time when it might be politically advantageous to conflate the nightmares of communism with the potentials of socialism". Beaumont wrote a band biography for the liner notes of the band Mansun 's 2004 posthumous album Kleptomania , and in 2008, he released a biography of the band Muse entitled Out Of This World . In September 2012 his latest artist biography, Jay-Z : The King Of America ,
64-491: Is an English music journalist. A contributor to such titles as The Times , Shortlist , The Guardian and Uncut , Beaumont's writings have predominantly appeared in the NME where he has written numerous reviews and interviews since 1995 and has also functioned as the magazine's letters and singles page editor. Considered by NME editor Conor McNicholas one of the title's "star" writers, Beaumont has frequently been assigned
80-531: Is the self-titled debut EP by English rock band Muse . Recorded in 1997 at Sawmills Studios with producer Paul Reeve, it was released on 11 May 1998 by Dangerous Records, limited to 999 hand-numbered copies. The EP features four tracks, all of which were released again later – "Coma" was featured as the B-side to the band's second single " Cave ", while the other three were re-recorded for the group's debut full-length album Showbiz . The self-titled debut EP by Muse
96-718: The Muscle Museum author Ben Myers , early reviews of the release were not particularly positive: fanzine Robots and Electric Brains , for example, sarcastically likened the band's sound to that of Radiohead , with whom they were compared often. A number of tracks from the EP were played on Steve Lamacq 's show on BBC Radio 1 a few weeks after its release. All tracks are written by Matt Bellamy Muse Additional personnel Touring members: Morgan Nicholls (2004, 2006–2022), Daniel Newell (2006–2008), Alessandro Cortini (2009), Dan Lancaster (2022–present) Muse (EP) Muse
112-496: The band; Muse: Inside the Muscle Museum author Ben Myers commented that it was met with "relative indifference". Writing in Out of This World: The Story of Muse , Beaumont claimed that "While the vitality and verve of 'The Muse EP' was enough to win over the casual listener, in retrospect it sounds like a band awkwardly finding their way around the recording studio and its techniques". Beaumont also criticised Bellamy's lyrical content on
128-510: The media being reviewed. In 2021, when reviewing Russian disaster film Chernobyl: Abyss , Beaumont described the United Kingdom as "a country that has overseen over 120,000 largely unnecessary deaths during a national crisis due to the incompetence, lies, contempt for its citizens and rampant cover-ups and cronyism of its extremist government". In the same article he further describes the 2019 HBO Chernobyl miniseries as being "very handy at
144-597: The release, describing "Overdue" as "crude" and "Escape" as "rambling". Upon the EP's release, Exeter 's tdb magazine reported that the songs on Muse were "nothing short of awesome and unlike anything you've ever heard from a Westcountry band". All tracks are written by Matt Bellamy Personnel adapted from Muse liner notes Muse Additional personnel Touring members: Morgan Nicholls (2004, 2006–2022), Daniel Newell (2006–2008), Alessandro Cortini (2009), Dan Lancaster (2022–present) Mark Beaumont (journalist) Mark Beaumont (born 2 June 1972)
160-538: The second version of "Muscle Museum", while media contacts were sent non-numbered copies. Journalist Mark Beaumont has described the EP's release as "low-key", calling it a "stop-gap" release. The Muscle Museum EP gained Muse national exposure, thanks in part to the NME who featured Muse following its release. The EP entered the NME Indie Singles Chart at number 3, behind major label acts Mercury Rev and Fatboy Slim . However, according to Muse: Inside
176-450: The task of reviewing latest releases and gigs from high-profile artists ( Arctic Monkeys , Black Rebel Motorcycle Club , Coldplay ) and Muse . In his writings, Beaumont has often favoured a caustic, confrontational and at times humorous prose style, especially when writing on artists or records that he does not hold in particularly high regard. He has also been noted for caustic left-wing political opinions, often entirely unrelated to
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#1733104466033192-473: Was created by the band's drummer Dominic Howard , who arranged three photocopied sections of his face into a "wonky visage". For promotional purposes, another copy of the EP was pressed with the title Sawmills Promo , featuring the same track listing (except for "Escape", which featured its original title of "Escape Your Meaningless"). According to journalist Mark Beaumont , the Muse EP "sold slowly at first, creeping out of shops as word gradually spread" of
208-488: Was currently working with Supergrass , and partly because Reeve and Muse frontman Matt Bellamy had "similar singing styles". The band recorded a total of ten songs during the sessions, later settling on "Overdue", " Cave ", "Coma" and "Escape" for inclusion on the EP. "Cave" and "Coma" were also mixed by Reeve, while Cornfield mixed "Overdue" and "Escape". Muse was released on Dennis Smith's own independent record label Dangerous Records on 11 May 1998. The retail version
224-666: Was limited to 999 hand-numbered copies, while an additional 251 non-numbered promotional copies were produced for distribution to media contacts. Smith commented about the release that "I wasn't interested in making money selling records. That release was a pure statement of intent to the music industry, a way of raising [Muse's] profile". It was sold in a number of local independent record shops in Devon (such as KMA in Torquay and Solo in Exeter ), as well as made available by mail order . The EP's artwork
240-467: Was recorded over a period of five days "in the autumn of 1997" at Sawmills Studios in Golant , Cornwall , with studio owner and Dangerous Records founder Dennis Smith agreeing to fund and arrange the sessions in return for payment if the band were later signed as a result of the release. Paul Reeve was tasked by Smith with leading production of the EP, partly due to the fact that senior engineer John Cornfield
256-451: Was released by Omnibus Press . In June 2014, his biography of the band The Killers was released. In April 2007, Beaumont found himself at the centre of a media storm when NME magazine published his now-infamous interview with Keith Richards . Beaumont had asked Richards what the strangest thing he had ever snorted was, and quoted him as replying: My father. I snorted my father. He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with
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