Showbiz (Muse album)

Showbiz is the debut studio album by English rock band Muse. It was first released on 7 September 1999 in France, on 28 September 1999 in the United States by Maverick Records,[1] and on 4 October 1999 in the United Kingdom by Mushroom Records and Taste Media.[1] Recorded between April and May 1999 at RAK Studios and Sawmills Studio, respectively,[2] the album was produced by John Leckie and Paul Reeve in conjunction with the band. Showbiz was a moderate commercial success, reaching number 29 on the UK Albums Chart.[3]

Showbiz
Studio album by
Muse
Released7 September 1999 (1999-09-07)
RecordedApril and May 1999
Studio
GenreAlternative rock
Length49:36
Label
Producer
Muse chronology
Muscle Museum
(1999)		 Showbiz
(1999)		 Random 1–8
(2000)
Singles from Showbiz
  1. "Uno"
    Released: 14 June 1999
  2. "Cave"
    Released: 6 September 1999
  3. "Muscle Museum"
    Released: 22 November 1999
  4. "Sunburn"
    Released: 21 February 2000
  5. "Unintended"
    Released: 5 June 2000

Showbiz was released in various regions around the world through the band's different regional labels: Naïve in France, Motor in Germany, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, Maverick in the United States, Play It Again Sam (PIAS) in Benelux, and Avex Trax in Japan.[1]

Background and recording

Showbiz was recorded between April 1999 and May 1999. However, the album included some older songs in Muse's repertoire, many of which can date as far back as 1996. Most of the songs on Showbiz had already been written at least by 1997. The songs featured on the album were among the "fifty or so" that Matt Bellamy had written before entering the studio. The band selected the songs which they deemed to be the more conventional and "straight-forward" to make up Showbiz. While the songs contain an eclectic and diverse sound featuring subtle classical, jazz, blues, Latin, and world music influences, they have a distinct and cohesive alternative rock aesthetic. The more experimental material was left out of the album to be included as B-sides in the single releases. A few of those songs were later featured on the compilation album Hullabaloo Soundtrack.

John Leckie, the producer of the album, started attending Muse's concerts in the latter half of 1998. Leckie was based at Sawmills recording studio, where the owner Dennis Smith had given the band free recording time the previous year, from which the Muse EP had resulted in 1998. He built up a relationship with the band during this time, coming to say that he'd "want to work with the band if ever they could afford him". Leckie had not worked with many bands for quite some time prior to doing so with Muse. The recording was finished by 15 May 1999.

Sleeve artwork

The sleeve design was criticised by Muse biographer Ben Myers, who wrote that it was "just plain strange. Ill-advised. Tacky, even" and "recalled the sort of artwork that Eighties prog-rock revivalists like Marillion used or, worse still, the doodlings of a sci-fi obsessed A-Level art student" instead of "the work of an exciting, new, distinctly modern band."[4]

Critical reception and legacy
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
NME6/10[6]
Pitchfork6.7/10[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
Sputnikmusic[9]
USA Today[10]

Upon its release, the album received positive to mixed reviews from music critics, who saw the young band's potential, but were also quick to dismiss the album as promising yet derivative of other alternative rock bands of the 90s. Several critics drew comparisons to Radiohead, due to the fact that Showbiz was produced by John Leckie, who also worked on the aforementioned band's album The Bends. Neva Chonin of Rolling Stone gave the album 3 out of 5 stars, saying Showbiz "matches Thom Yorke's penchant for majestic agony — screams and the word self-destruction pepper the title track — but with an edge that's quirkier and decidedly more ragged than their elders".[8] Brent DiCrescenzo of Pitchfork said in his review of the album that "Muse expertly boil down Radiohead into punkish radio nuggets", but went on to question that "despite this promise, where can they go from here?", which resulted in a rating of 6.7 of a possible 10.[7] In a less favourable review, NME said that "Showbiz is not as clever as they think it is ... "Unintended" and the title track are overwrought, prone to excruciatingly bad pseudo poetry", which ended in a 6 out of 10 score from the publication.[6] On the other hand, a more positive review came from Edna Gundersen of USA Today, who gave the album 3 out of 4 stars, saying that the album "offers smart, seductive rock that's sophisticated but not stuffy, fun but not frilly", and that the songs "get a boost from the handsome voice of Matthew Bellamy, who builds tension by vocally snowballing from a hushed intensity to full-throttle wails."[11]

The album has drawn a noticeably greater appreciation and following since its release however, as of 2009 the album was ranked in the top 20 British albums of the last 20 years by the UK edition of MSN. As well as this, several songs from the album appear to have had lasting appeal among fans, such as the title track, which was one of the band's most requested songs during The Resistance Tour in 2010, when the band staged a fan vote for songs to be played during that tour's stadium leg.[12] The song was not played; however, "Unintended" and "Cave" were played several times throughout the tour, with "Sunburn" being introduced during later performances of the tour. "Falling Down" was also played during The 2nd Law World Tour in 2012. Once again, songs from Showbiz such as "Sunburn", "Uno", "Showbiz" and "Muscle Museum" were reintroduced to their concerts in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Of these, "Showbiz" continued to make occasional appearances in 2018 and 2019.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Matt Bellamy.

Showbiz – Standard edition
No.TitleLength
1."Sunburn"3:54
2."Muscle Museum"4:23
3."Fillip"4:01
4."Falling Down"4:33
5."Cave"4:46
6."Showbiz"5:16
7."Unintended"3:57
8."Uno"3:37
9."Sober"4:04
10."Escape"3:31
11."Overdue"2:26
12."Hate This and I'll Love You"5:09
Total length:49:36
Showbiz – Digital download edition[13][14]
No.TitleLength
13."Spiral Static"4:44
Showbiz – Japanese edition
No.TitleLength
10."Spiral Static"4:44
11."Escape"3:31
12."Overdue"2:26
13."Hate This and I'll Love You"5:09
Total length:54:20
Showbiz – Benelux edition (Disc 2)
No.TitleLength
1."Host"4:17
2."Coma"3:35
3."Pink Ego Box"3:32
4."Forced In"5:10
5."Agitated"2:23
6."Yes Please"3:05
7."Fillip" (Live)3:46
8."Do We Need This?" (Live)4:12

Charts and certifications

Release history
Region Date Label Format Catalog
France 7 September 1999 Naïve CD NV 3211-1
Germany 20 September 1999 Motor CD 547 979-4
Russia
Turkey
Ukraine
United States 28 September 1999 Maverick CD 0 9362-47382-2 0
United Kingdom 4 October 1999 Taste/Mushroom CD MUSH59CD
LP MUSH59LP
CS MUSH59MC
MD MUSH59MD
Benelux 4 October 1999 PIAS CD 481.2001.20
Japan 4 October 1999 Avex Trax CD AVCM-65057

Personnel
gollark: No.
gollark: I run rolling release linux distributions on everything because I have vast amounts of time to administrate everything.
gollark: That would probably cause a one party system.
gollark: Or launch lasers.
gollark: Why have planes when you *could* have suborbital rockets?

References
  • Beaumont, Mark (2008). Out of This World: The Story of Muse. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-84772-377-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Notes
  1. Beaumont 2008, p. 81
  2. Beaumont 2008, p. 61
  3. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  4. Ben Myers (2007). Muse: Inside the Muscle Museum. Independent Music Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-0955282256.
  5. Demalon, Tom. Muse: Showbiz at AllMusic. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  6. "Showbiz". NME. United Kingdom: IPC Media. 1 October 1999. ISSN 0028-6362. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  7. DiCrescenzo, Brent (28 September 1999). "Muse: Showbiz". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  8. Chonin, Neva (14 October 1999). "Muse: Showbiz". Rolling Stone. New York: Straight Arrow. ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  9. Andrew H (14 January 2005). "Muse - Showbiz". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  10. Gundersen, Edna (26 October 1999). "Muse, Showbiz". USA Today. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  11. "Master P judges next generation; Parton picks bluegrass". USA TODAY. 26 October 1999.
  12. "Choose the Setlists". muse.mu. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  13. "Showbiz: Muse". iTunes Store. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  14. "Showbiz". Muse. Archived from the original on 29 August 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
  15. "Australiancharts.com – Muse – Showbiz". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  16. "Ultratop.be – Muse – Showbiz" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  17. "Ultratop.be – Muse – Showbiz" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  18. "Dutchcharts.nl – Muse – Showbiz" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  19. "Muse: Showbiz" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  20. "Lescharts.com – Muse – Showbiz". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  21. "Discography Muse". irish-charts.com. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
  22. "Italiancharts.com – Muse – Showbiz". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  23. "ミューズのCDアルバムランキング、ミューズのプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  24. "Norwegiancharts.com – Muse – Showbiz". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  25. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  26. "Accreditations – 2008 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
  27. "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 2002". Ultratop. Hung Medien.
  28. "Dutch album certifications – Muse – Showbiz" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter Showbiz in the "Artiest of titel" box.
  29. "British album certifications – Muse – Showbiz". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Showbiz in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  30. "Muse's biggest singles and albums on the Official Chart". www.officialcharts.com.
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