Maybe it’s just me, but I genuinely believe Muse are one of the best bands of all time. Not only have they created some fantastic songs and albums, they have experimented with their sound like no other. Find me another band that goes from the dubstep sounds on “The 2nd Law” to Hard Rock on “Drones” back to experimental synthetic sounds on “Simulation Theory” – all within 6 years!
I’ll be applying the same format to this list (and every list I do) as I used on my “Beatles Albums Ranked” list. Feel free to read that one as well if you want:
Now, on with the list:
Meh
9 – Showbiz
Well, you have to start somewhere right?
Muse’s first effort isn’t bad at all, it just lacks the finesse that their later albums would have. There are still some standouts – “Sunburn” and “Muscle Museum” are instant classics, but “Showbiz” is the track that has impressed me the most after multiple listens. Still, there are plenty of boring tracks that bring the album down, such as “Hate This And I’ll Love You” (If I hate it, does Matt Bellamy love me? Please?).
- Best Song – Showbiz
- Worst Song – Hate This And I’ll Love You
- Underrated Gem – Cave
8 – Hullabaloo Soundtrack
I wasn’t sure whether to count this as an album, but in the end it’s just a dumb list so why not.
This album probably has more “bad” songs then Showbiz, but songs like “Hyper Chondriac Music”, “Recess” and “Yes Please” elevate this for me. It doesn’t hurt that the second half of the album has one of Muse’s best live set-lists.
I Almost put this album in “OK” or even “Good” because of that live set, but as its not the proper part of the album I’ll only count the first half.
- Best Song – Hyper Chondriac Music
- Worst Song – Forced In
- Underrated Gem – Hyper Chondriac Music
Good
7 – The 2nd Law
Call me crazy but I actually quite like this album.
The 2nd Law was critically panned on release, and most Muse fans aren’t too fond of it either. I can completely understand that – the mad dubstep sounds on a few of the tracks won’t be for everyone.
There are just too many good songs on this album for it to be “bad” – “Madness” will always be a favourite of mine, and tracks like “Animals” and “Explorers” are criminally underrated.
- Best Song – Madness
- Worst Song – Save Me
- Underrated Gems – Animals / Explorers
6 – Simulation Theory
Muse’s latest release is definitely an odd one. Some might say this is Muse’s equivalent of jumping the shark, but I see this as a natural progression of the ideas in their previous records.
“The Dark Side” and “Pressure” are instant favourites, and songs like “Propaganda” and “Break It To Me” are weird in the best way possible. The best aspect of the album (in my humble opinion) has to be the dramatic opening number “Algorithm”, as well as the haunting final track “The Void”. This band shows no signs of slowing down, and I’m fine with that as long as they keep pushing themselves to make exciting and innovative music.
- Best Song – The Dark Side
- Worst Song – Get Up And Fight
- Underrated Gem – Break It To Me
Great
5 – Drones
Muse seem to fluctuate from Experimental albums to Rock, so in between “The 2nd Law” and “Simulation Theory” you get this gem.
Drones is just a really solid Rock album. Tracks like “Reapers” and “The Handler” are just amazing displays of Rock talent, but tunes like “Mercy” and “Aftermath” show a softer side. One of the band’s crowning achievements has to be the Rock epic “The Globalist” – a 10 minute roller coaster of sounds. The final song “Drones” is a bit dead, so I’ll just pretend “The Globalist” is the album closer.
- Best Song – Reapers
- Worst Song – Drones
- Underrated Gem – The Globalist
Amazing
4 – The Resistance
We’ve now hit the selection of ’00s albums that make Muse one of the all-time greats. Kicking it off we have their final album of the decade – The Resistance.
This is just one of those Muse albums that is epic in scale, especially the 3 part finale “Exogenesis Symphony”, which shows Matt Bellamy‘s songwriting skills at its best. The Queen inspired “United States of Eurasia” is just a fun romp, “Undisclosed Desires” has a slap bass part that just exudes cool, and “Uprising” is a protest song for a generation. Even the worst track “Guiding Light” isn’t that bad.
- Best Song – Undisclosed Desires
- Worst Song – Guiding Light
- Underrated Gem – I Belong To You
3 – Absolution
This was my favourite Muse album for the longest time, especially since it has their best-ever track “Hysteria”. This album is just Rock banger after Rock banger, songs like “Time Is Running Out”, “Stockholm Syndrome” and “Butterflies and Hurricanes” have stood the test of time.
The great thing about this album is the little things – tracks like “Endlessly” and “The Small Print” are just undeniably great songs. Similarly to Simulation Theory, the album ends on a hauntingly beautiful note – “Ruled By Secrecy”. There are a couple of songs that hold this back from being an all-time great, but Absolution is still a staple of British Rock to this day.
Shoutout to Chris Wolstenholme for being one of the best bassists ever.
- Best Song – Hysteria
- Worst Song – Falling Away With You
- Underrated Gem – The Small Print
All-Time Great
2 – Origin Of Symmetry
I can’t believe this isn’t Muse’s best album, but here it is taking the silver medal.
Every song on here is sensational, I couldn’t really pick one as being the “worst” on the record. Some naysayers complain that Muse sound too similar to Radiohead (which might be slightly true for Showbiz) but this album completely redefined the Muse sound into what we know and love.
I don’t know what else to say really, this is one of the best albums of all time.
- Best Song – Bliss
- “Worst” Song – Feeling Good
- Underrated Gem – Citizen Erased
1 – Black Holes And Revelations
I have no idea why Muse suddenly decided after Absolution to do an experimental Space Rock album, but I’m so glad they did.
This album has arguably the best opening run of 4 songs ever, from the dramatic escalation within “Take A Bow” to the anthemic “Starlight” and “Supermassive Blackhole” and finally the Depeche Mode-esque “Map Of The Problematique”. The album slows down a bit with “Soldier’s Poem” and “Invincible”, but that only sets up the incredible finale.
“Knights Of Cydonia” has to be one of the greatest closing songs ever, if there was ever going to be a spiritual successor to Bohemian Rhapsody it would be this. I just think this is the best structured album ever, with a big opening set of songs, a soothing lul in the middle and an escalation at the end that climaxes in the best way possible. Absolutely outstanding.
- Best Song – Knights Of Cydonia
- Worst Song – Hoodoo
- Underrated Gem – Map Of The Problematique
And that’s it. Is my list wrong? Probably. Check out my other ranking albums list I did for The Beatles here:
Matt Has An Opinion 