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Cover of The 2nd Law by Muse
Cover: The 2nd Law

Song · Muse

“Madness” by Muse

From the album The 2nd Law (2012)

“Madness” by Muse appears on 49 radio countdowns from 31 stations between 2012 and 2026. It was first released in 2012 on the album The 2nd Law. Its best result is #2 on the WTTS Top 50 Songs of 2013. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #2 alternative song of 2012, #1,640 alternative song of all time and #16 of the '10s.

49countdowns
31stations
#2best position
0#1 finishes
13top 10 finishes
2012–2026years charted

Watch

Muse - Madness

Video from YouTube (Muse). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Madness" is where Muse traded the bombast for a slow burn, the second single from their sixth album The 2nd Law, released as a download in August 2012. Matt Bellamy wrote it after a row with his girlfriend Kate Hudson: she went off to her mother's house, and he was left to realize she'd had a point.

That sheepishness is the sound of it, a mix of electronic rock, synth-pop, soft rock and R&B, with Bellamy crooning low over a throbbing pulse before the song swells to its peak. NME heard Queen's "I Want to Break Free" and George Michael's "Faith" in its bones. The band produced it, with Spike Stent mixing, and it sat on top of Billboard's Alternative Songs chart for 19 weeks and picked up a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Song.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2012 6 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 50 Songs of 2012 50
2012 7 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2012 91
2012 35 CD101 Columbus, OH CD101 Top 102.5 Songs of 2012 103
2012 5 CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON 102.1 The Edge Top 50 New Rock Songs of 2012 50
2012 13 The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2012 99
2012 46 Lightning 100 Nashville, TN Lightning 100 Top 100.1 Songs of 2012 101
2012 26 Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 2012 40
2012 25 92.3 WTTS Indianapolis-Bloomington, IN WTTS Top 50 Songs of 2012 50
2012 15 KFOG San Francisco Bay Area, CA KFOG Foghead Favorites 2012 40
2012 9 The Current Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN The Current Top 89 Songs of 2012 89
2012 9 96.5 The Buzz Kansas City, MO-KS 96.5 The Buzz Top 96 Songs of 2012 96
2012 22 107.1 The Peak Westchester County, NY WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2012 107
2012 15 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2012 103
2012 14 (tie) WBER Rochester, NY WBER Listener Countdown 2012 131
2012 83 WXPN Philadelphia, PA WXPN Year in Review: Top 200 Songs of 2012 200
2012 28 99 Rock Lebanon-Hanover-White River Junction, NH-VT 99Rock WFRD Top 99 of 2012 99
2012 10 ALT 104.5 Philadelphia, PA Radio 104.5 Top 50.5 Songs of 2012 51
2012 3 88.3 The Sting Cleveland, OH 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2012 88
2012 10 X96 Salt Lake City, UT X96 Top 50 Songs of 2012 50
2012 5 97X Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL 97X Top 97 Songs of 2012 97
2012 75 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 2012 100
2013 25 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 50 Songs of 2013 50
2013 8 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 2013 91
2013 11 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top Songs of 2013 20
2013 7 97X Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL 97X Top 97 of 2013 97
2013 32 Lightning 100 Nashville, TN Lightning 100 Top 100.1 Songs of 2013 101
2013 2 92.3 WTTS Indianapolis-Bloomington, IN WTTS Top 50 Songs of 2013 50
2013 31 ALT 104.5 Philadelphia, PA Radio 104.5 Top 50.5 Songs of 2013 51
2013 13 94.5 The Buzz Houston, TX 94.5 The Buzz Top 94 of 2013 94

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2013 1909 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2013 551 WXPN WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) 885
2014 996 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 206 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) 500
2015 146 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) 500
2019 19 ALT 98.7 ALT 98.7 Top 98 ALT Songs of the Decade 98
2019 38 103.3 The Edge 103.3 The Edge Top 103.3 Songs of the Decade 103
2019 38 93X 93X Top 93 Songs of the Decade (2010s) 93
2019 190 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2019) 500
2020 37 107.7 The End The End Top 107 Songs of Last Decade (2010s) 107
2020 53 CFNY 102.1 The Edge 102.1 The Edge Top 102 of the 2010s 102
2020 17 The Buzz The Buzz Top 99 Songs of the Decade 99
2020 19 X96 X96's Top 100 Songs of the Last Decade 100
2020 244 DC101 The DC101 Top 500 500
2022 14 101X 101X 500 (2022) 498
2022 452 X96 X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time 500
2023 151 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) 500
2025 522 The Current 893 Essential Songs of The Current: 2005 to Now 893
2025 566 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century 909
2026 6 101X 101X 500 (2026) 500

Charting alongside it in 2012

Best songs of 2012 →
  1. 1I Will WaitMumford & Sons
  2. 2Little TalksOf Monsters And Men
  3. 3Ho HeyLumineers
  4. 5Somebody That I Used To KnowGotye
  5. 6Gold On The CeilingThe Black Keys
  6. 7Take A WalkPassion Pit

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