Song · Muse
“Muscle Museum” by Muse
From the EP Muscle Museum EP (1999)
“Muscle Museum” by Muse appears on 11 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 1999 and 2023. It was first released in 1999 on the EP Muscle Museum EP. Its best result is #78 on The End Top 107 Songs of 1999. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #334 alternative song of 1999 and #2,820 alternative song of all time.
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Video from YouTube (Muse). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"Muscle Museum" first surfaced as the title track of a 1999 EP and then became the third single from Showbiz, Muse's debut album the same year. Matt Bellamy wrote it, the band produced it with Paul Reeve, and John Cornfield mixed. The title probably comes from the two words that flank "muse" in some dictionaries, about as neat an in-joke as a band could ask for.
It's a wiry, wounded thing, Bellamy's voice leaping from a whimper to a wail over guitars that jab and lurch, with a band already reaching for grandeur. It reached 25 on the UK chart. Joseph Kahn's video, a bleak tour of a suburb where everyone is quietly coming apart while Muse play a high school after the party, is one he counts among his best, though he suspects most people, the band included, can't stand it.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 78 | 107.7 The End Seattle, WA | The End Top 107 Songs of 1999 | 107 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 1056 | 107.7 The End | The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1077 |
| 2005 | 923 | 99X | 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) | 1000 |
| 2007 | 1269 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) | 2008 |
| 2008 | 1313 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) | 2009 |
| 2009 | 1307 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) | 2010 |
| 2010 | 1347 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) | 2011 |
| 2011 | 1307 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) | 2011 |
| 2013 | 1277 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) | 2012 |
| 2014 | 1254 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) | 2013 |
| 2023 | 815 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
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