The song was also ranked No. 18 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time, 2009.

It was released on 3 July 2006 through Muses Helium-3 imprint and Warner Bros.

Records. It was recorded over four months in New York and southern France, and saw the band take a more active role in production.

The album entered the charts at number one in five countries, including the United Kingdom, and in the top 10 in several other countries.

It was later certified triple platinum in the UK and platinum in the US.

Singles Supermassive Black Hole and Knights of Cydonia were both UK top-10 hits, while Starlight, Map of the Problematique, and Invincible all charted within the top 25.

It opens with string arpeggios inspired by Philip Glass, backed by a Moog synthesizer.

The Map of the Problematique riff was written on keyboard; at Costeys encouragement, Bellamy recreated it on guitar by splitting the guitar into three signals, which were processed with pitch shifters and synthesisers.

Assassin, influenced by the noise rock band Lightning Bolt, began as a long progressive rock song with a huge piano break before Muse trimmed it.

Theres a lot of freedom in being able to laugh at yourself.

Bellamy told Q: Black holes and revelations theyre the two areas of songwriting for me that make up the majority of this album.

Then the black holes are these songs that are from the more.

The central motif came from galloping horses (Knights of Cydonia, Invincible) and from the biblical allusion to horsemen, namely the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, now represented in contemporary mode.

It was also available as a limited edition CDDVD combination, that featured videos and live renditions of Supermassive Black Hole, Knights of Cydonia and Starlight.

In addition, the album was re-released in the US on vinyl LP on 18 August 2009.

The album was certified double platinum in the UK on 22 December 2006 17 and triple platinum on 6 December 2010.

Singles were released in both the UK and the US, though they were released in different orders in each country.

All singles excepting Map of the Problematique were available on vinyl LP, CD, DVD (containing the music video for the single) and as a download.

It reached number four on the UK Singles Chart, making it the highest charting single in the UK for the band to date.

It was followed by Starlight, Knights of Cydonia, Invincible and Map of the Problematique; Knights of Cydonia was the only one to reach the top ten.

The album stayed at number one for two weeks on the UK Albums Chart, producing Muses largest sales up to that point.

Starlight was Muses most popular single in the US at that point, reaching number two on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

The album debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200, making it Muses first top-ten entry in the US.

Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating based on a range of reviews from mainstream critics, aggregated the albums average review score to 75 out of 100, based on 32 reviews.

The album received top ratings from Observer Music Monthly, 31 Q, 28 E Online, 32 and Alternative Press.

The album was named as one of Classic Rock s ten essential progressive rock albums of the decade.

The album also spawned Supermassive Black Hole, Muses most successful single in the UK to date, hitting number four on the charts.

In October 2011, NME placed it at number 74 on its list 150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years.

It was nominated for the Kerrang Award for Best Single.

The album was ranked at 14th in the RadioX UK magazine best albums of 2006.

The album was ranked at number three on NME s list of the albums of the year in 2006.

On 26 January 2008, Knights of Cydonia was announced as the number-one song on Australias 2007 Triple J Hottest 100.

The song was also ranked No.

Free Download Video Muse Starlight