Muse Might Hold Off On An Album Persay

Muse have revealed they might ditch the album format and only release new material as singles from now on.

Although the band are currently in an Italian studio working on new material, the Teignmouth trio have admitted they want to experiment with the way that new material reaches fans.

Speaking to NME.com frontman Matt Bellamy said: "I don’t think we’re going to approach the next album like we’re making an album."

He added: "I like the idea of releasing a series of songs, every month or every couple of months – just putting songs out there. Almost like making the single a more prominent format, and then every few years doing a best of from that period and that would be the album. So in other words, throw out songs every couple of months and see how people like them."

As previously reported, Muse will release a CD/DVD set titled "HAARP" on April 1. The package will feature the U.K. trio rocking the stage during their two consecutive sold-out shows at London's Wembley Stadium last June.

The CD is a recording of the first concert on June 16, while the DVD features the second show on June 17. The band played in front of a crowd of 75,000 on both nights, drawing mainly from their two most recent albums, 2003's "Absolution" and 2006's "Black Holes and Revelations."

The latter was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize and came in third in NME's 2006 Albums of the Year list.

Check out the exclusive video of Muse performing a neck-snapping version of “Stockholm Syndrome” filmed live at London’s Wembley Arena this past summer at this location.

Comments

[slann101]

wow....ASH have already said this. aint you original bellamy.

[titsmcgee852]

ehh. i love muse, but i think this is a stupid idea. i personally think his ego is abit high. i stil love muse though i hope for an album.

[soapalot]

Yeah that's an incredibly dumb idea. I really hope they don't do that. Considering they're my favourite band at the moment, I don't want to wait for one or two new songs every couple of months. And they do such fantastic albums, it would be a shame to waste such a talent.

[coolo]

It may not be too bad at least we will get to hear much more of what Muse can do and have something to look froward to every month.

[GabeWang]

I love Muse, honestly one of my favourite bands ever. But this is pretty lame. Bellamy's sort of lost it lately, anyone agree?

[pierowmaniac]

What next a direct debit/subscription option?

[xxadamnxx]

like many other people have stated, Muse is easily one of my favorite bands and one of the main reasons for that is their incredible ability to write whole, cohesive, complete albums. songs flow from one to the next, spanning a wide range of genres and sounds, painting this complex piece that works as a whole. now for them to completely abandon that and to say "hey.. singles from now on." is pretty lame in my opinion.

[rush4life]

I don't know why anyone's complaining, the record industry sold singles for ages like this.

[TheMansonMan]

i really cant be bothered to buy singles sometimes
i hope bellamy retracts that statement and releases an album
rock on!

[musefanatic]

Haven't they already released HAARP?

Ah well, I'll just be happy to hear some new material.

[sum1udunno]

HAARP hasn't been released in the US until April 1st.

[Novacane...]

It's basically a marketing stratergy. Think about the amount of fans that would buy the singles and the 'best of' albums containing them singles.

I'm not liking this idea, I love buying albums.

am I the only one who liked it, as 3 songs over 6 months times the next 3 years is 18 songs, which is longer than most albums, which is how I'm looking at it?

checked.

[Jondy]

i love muse but i think it's a crap idea. I like the album format. when i get new music from a band i like to get alot at once. a band gets together and works hard to produce a mass of songs for us to enjoy together, the songs while seperate come together to form a special sound unique to that album. I like concept albums which would be impossible in the single format.

[negativecreep92]

He's probably just pissing around with the press. Muse do this a lot, especially with the NME. The NME will print pretty much anything and will blow throwaway comments out of proportion.

[dvd_dq]

it is more commercial... but Y u would you need more money..... idk albums are more traditional, and straightfoward.

[goldmember1217]

I like this idea a lot.

[MA 4 ever]

I never buy singles, even of my fav bands I need the albums. This really sucks because they craft their albums really especially Black Holes that album was sequenced perfectly what a shame.

[powerstroke]

This is really old. Like two months maybe. It's not a bad idea, but I'd rather just hear a new Muse album. The way he explains it though, it would be available as an album ultimately. Once they release enough singles for an album, they would be compiled together and make a new album. It's not a terrible idea but I'd rather have them stick to what works lol. And honestly, Muse tells something new to NME every other day of the week so I wouldn't be suprised if it's another joke by Bellamy.

[duncang]

While it's an interesting idea, I don't know how they'd manage to get decent tours together if they're gonna be releasing new material every few months.

[Punks|Not|Dead]

As a huge Muse fan I'd prefer an album tbh.

[Captain Cool]

slann101 wrote:

wow....ASH have already said this. aint you original bellamy.

Matt Bellamy also said it for the first time about 2 years ago, i dont know if that was before Ash, but it makes it more likely that it was.

[opc100]

Moneygrabbing.

Checked.

[Adarsh]

Muse usually end up playing songs (or snippets of songs) live before releasing it in albums anyway, so i doubt it would change their live format much

[stradivari310]

This could be good or bad depending on how they go about it.

[wilty00]

Didn't we know this a LONG time ago?

Hate the idea, by the way.

[Chris_Parker]

Well, this is old, but I kind of like the idea. I hope the 4/1 release has nothing to do with a certain holiday...

[Nerdo-sez-bo]

It's NME guys, they're spreading shit out context, don't listen.

I think it's ridiculous UG even steal articles from NME, they're made of lies anyway, with misleading headlines and generally untrue ruomours.

[druz15_UG]

old news

[perilouspete]

weird title

[ShaDoW0lf]

Actually, Jonathan Coulton did this for a long time with his "thing a week" idea. It worked well for him, considering he's not Mat Bellamy. So long as all Muse's songs are as good quality as the songs on their previous albums, I have no problem with it. After all, admit it, over half of you would probably download a Muse single before the album is out if you could.

[druz15_UG]

damn haarp is out where i live but its sold out everywhere

[stumaster18]

GAY
PLEASE don't do this!! The fans want a full album!!!

[IamAwesomeness]

muse are my favorite band.....and am i the only one who thinks its a good idea? i would probably do the same.if ur going into new material its nice to see how people will accept b4 u just come out with it. look at black holes and revelations, alot of people didnt like it becuz of how different it was. muse is doing a smart thing. look at linkin park, wen they came out with minutes to midnight people were so surprised and pissed off becuz of how different it was compared to wat they knew as linkin park. and now alot of people hate them, at least more than b4. p.s. i do like linkin park so dnt take it the wrong way

Checked.

[MadsSolgaard]

I think it's an new and exiting way of making music. Making singles of all songs, instead of throwing some of the songs away and never release them.

[|Guitarhead|]

Stupid. I think this is simply a sneaky money-grabbing scheme. I do love MUSE, but this is as I said, a stupid idea.

[Claude Balstein]

This is older news but Matt talks a lot of crap in interviews so i'm not holding much too this story. Even though if they DO go with this strategy it could be a very pleasing thing for the fans. Muse release a few songs a month and experiment with songs, see how the fans react to them, and if they get a good reaction, they make more like it.

Then after about a year they have release an album worth then they can compile the 'best of' the previously released tracks. But yea, Muse will take over the world...

[TGautier13]

i had an idea almost identical to this a few months ago

now that matt pretty much agrees with me i think thats how our band will distribute our music

FACT: this kind of practice has already been done, and for many years. ELVIS. EARLY BEATLES. the first FULL album was by the Beach Boys

[dirtymexican863]

I like the idea. They're experimenting with something new. Don't like it? Don't buy it.

[Tinted Memories]

Na I very much doubt they will. This is really old too and I think maybe after 1-2 albums they will.

[MoshMaster101]

1) OLD NEWS
2) Its not really news, because if you read the whole interview, this is only a small part of a very large section of the feature. Since the NME are tossers, they took it completely out of context and declared "MUSE TO STOP MAKING ALBUMS!!!!11!!one!"

Amateurs.

[skater dan0]

i think it's a great idea but not for muse

they are one of the few bands that can write a good album that flows properly from one song to the next

[Rock'n'Roller]

I have to say that the picture of Matt Bellamy up top
isn't too flattering

a big Yayness for Muse though

[hazzmatazz]

I'd rather just have an album

[gallagher2006]

WTF? have I gone back in time to last week? UG is sooo slow on the uptake = /

[Ouch_needles]

This has been discussed very indepthly on Muse.mu and muselive; Muse are just messing around with NME, and NME have taken the quote entirely out of context to sell more issues. Anyone remember that matt said he wanted to put a 15 minute solo into the next albumn, again to NME? Theyr just messing to keep you guessing.

[roythereaper]

[QUOTE=Matt Bellamy]I like the idea of...[/QUOTE]

Which does not mean: "We're going to..."

Also, by saying "I don't think we're going to approach the next album like we're making an album" could simply mean they would make each song to work to a different agenda and not be made to flow as one album; not necessarily a bad thing.

[One Inch Man]

don't like the idea! I want an album!

[Pure_Morning]

Wouldn't this kind of end up like Japanese Whispers by the Cure?

[TJ1991]

Uh... HAARP's been out for a week.

I don't think this is a great idea, I think 'money grabbing' is the term. I love Muse, and I like the idea of getting new songs every now and then, but I can wait. I'm not spending money on a single only to buy it on an album a bit later. A few singles then a new album with new stuff on it would be OK, but I don't agree with this idea...

The title of this thread needs to be edited. The term is "per se," not "persay."

Checked.

[AnimatedHand]

>.< crap idea. Their albums flow too well to be done like this. Plus, I'd rather one disc, not like 5.

[notoriousF A T]

Captain Cool wrote:

slann101 wrote:

wow....ASH have already said this. aint you original bellamy.

Matt Bellamy also said it for the first time about 2 years ago, i dont know if that was before Ash, but it makes it more likely that it was.

i think ash said it last year after their album was released so i think matt said it first

Checked.

[travislausch]

First, saying that he wants to add more dance influences. Then, adding that he wants to write a 15 minute "space rock solo". Now, completely eschewing the album format altogether.

I think we're being had. Muse seems like just that kind of band that likes to mess with peoples' heads.

[pyritmann]

This is Dumb, they are just lazy and dont want to be rushed to do anything, never no it might make better music tho

[weorge]

its a money thing, 11 singles makes more than one album with 11 songs. problem is, if its in singles everyone will limewire it and theyll be broke. stupid idea.

[wiggyisgreat]

Old news really isnt it?

[dgme92]

I just have a feeling they'll stick to the album format.

[AFrozenFlame89]

Muse is a great band and although I love having entire albums all at once, it's a really interesting idea to spread out songs over times. It would give me something to look forward to, plus, instead of having to pay $15 - $20 at once, it would be nice to only shell out a few bucks for some new tunes.

[-stratomaster-]

Crap idea. Too much focking effort to collect a shotload of singles as opposed to one nice tidy neat album.

[jammin]

Wow, who wrote the title for this article?

[AngerIsAGift06]

wrong singles are for popstars back to the studio bellamy

[kryptonite22]

i dont see the point. it just smacks of money to me.

[thepatman0]

i like this idea....use is my favorite band and not to say that the albums are getting old, but having to wait 2 years in between is far too long....the idea of a new batch of songs every month or so sounds good...plus theres the best-ofs so cds will be made and live shows will stay the same energetic shows they are im guessing....and it could be a joke as bellamy does a lot....im fine with it!!!

[Ragnorak6000]

Jesus if they do this I wont be able to get there new songs. Cause I have a shit internet connection and cant download them.

[thepatman0]

itunes....or order on ebay lol

[Jamie_W]

If the stand-alone songs are as good as Dead Star, I don't mind.

[piff665]

Interesting idea, but not a new one. In addition to older bands, some current bands do this as well, such as the dirtbombs. Not a bad idea though. At least they arent against taking chances, like most bands these days.

[ghostofhendrix]

BTW Matt is blatantly kidding- he's just messing with NME and they've taken it out of proportion- there's no way they'd stop making albums because the songs always flow well, which you don't get in singles.

[roythereaper]

If you consider it's usually about £2 for a single, if they released each single with B-sides and the likes, say 3 tracks per single, you could end up with an 11 track album for £22 alongside 22 B-side/live/etc. tracks. Also keeping in mind the added production costs of printing 11 CDs instead of one, added cost for booklet and casing... It probably wouldn't be a very profitable scheme even if you exclude illegal downloading.

[Henry1801]

He's only said he likes the idea, he says that with a lot of stuff that he doesnt do hes just toying around with ideas and to the person that said bellamy wasnt original because ash have already said that this technique has been done many times before any of this and ash are just lame.

[philman42487]

my favorite band with my least favorite idea

[jbhitter24]

singles suck. making a good album isn't just about making good songs, they have to have a flow, one track has to be related to another.

[knightsof muse]

i love muse

[radioplay]

Jondy wrote:

i love muse but i think it's a crap idea. I like the album format. when i get new music from a band i like to get alot at once. a band gets together and works hard to produce a mass of songs for us to enjoy together, the songs while seperate come together to form a special sound unique to that album. I like concept albums which would be impossible in the single format.

I agree completely...

[jammyninja]

I really hope they don't do this, I suppose I would still buy the singles and stuff if they did it but for me the songs that perhaps don't seem single friendly are some of the best e.g. my personal favourites in this category would be Hoodoo, Fillip, Dark Shines etc...

[deadlyMETAL]

I've really disliked the decline of the album format, but if they put out albums like normal, and put up other singles online or however they like that might end up on a 'greatest hits' album later along the line, then cool.

But releasing them as a greatest hits album wouldn't be a good idea if you release the songs once or twice or three times a month for a year or so.... Then all your albums would be greatest hit collections, wouldn't they?

[Punks|Not|Dead]

Without sounding gay...how awesome do Matt's eyes look in that pic? xD

checked.

[Wolf_At_TheDoor]

I do prefer albums as opposed to singles but I like this idea. Not only is it something new and refreshing but think about it. They could potentially release a lot more material this way... As opposed to us waiting a couple of years for a new album...

Having said that Muse is going downhill for me anyway. I didn't enjoy blackholes very much, and I've heard they plan on continuing their "Dance" approach..

*Sighs* Muse has gone disco.

[WhereArtEsteban]

titsmcgee852 wrote:

ehh. i love muse, but i think this is a stupid idea. i personally think his ego is abit high. i stil love muse though i hope for an album.

Though I'm all for saving the album and all, this is probably the way most bands are gonna be doing it now. Especially bands with wider audiances, cds just arent being bought as much and buying singular songs off of like itunes is HUGE. So as far as an "economical" decision, he's probably in the right on this one.

But I (one of the few who purchase cds) would prefer an album.

[StringsofBlack]

Wow this is stupid. I like Muse, but this just screams selling out to me. Lets just make singles. So dumb.

[StringsofBlack]

deadlyMETAL wrote:

I've really disliked the decline of the album format, but if they put out albums like normal, and put up other singles online or however they like that might end up on a 'greatest hits' album later along the line, then cool.

But releasing them as a greatest hits album wouldn't be a good idea if you release the songs once or twice or three times a month for a year or so.... Then all your albums would be greatest hit collections, wouldn't they?

yes. they would.

[guy_tebache]

Pop artists have been releasing singles as the main part of their releases for 20 years. I think its far better to do what the Arctic Monkeys do and release a high quality album, and then release a sh**load of B-sides and non-related singles to keep fans happy between albums. What Muse are doing just shows that they're becoming too mainstream, and they, or their record label are trying to squeeze every penny out of them.

[Velvet_Angst]

I feel mixed about this. I think it's an interesting idea. But are they going to write all the material, and release it bit by bit, or are they going too record new material for each release?

The latter would be more interesting, it's be like looking at Polaroids of themselves. You know? But if they write it all and release overpriced singles than that would just be dumb.

Placebo, a band very similar in fanbase to Muse have been releasing albums, and then releasing tons of Singles for that album. They've been doing this their entire career, and I think it would be best if Muse did the same thing. It would be interesting to listen to an album like Black Holes and then listen to the songs on singles, remixed, or edited, or whatnot.

[ateitup]

i think it would wear the songs out when you dont have a variety to choose from.

[pinktux7]

I don't think "making the single a more prominent format" would benifit the music industry as a whole. Even if it worked for them, new small bands might only get one or two songs into the public ear.

[tele-man92]

some people actually like having REAL cds put out instead of having to purchase an itunes card and buying singles sooooo not too keen on his idea (i love muse though, my band does a couple covers of them)

[mattyp90]

It'd be nice to hear more material often, but at the same time, it is pretty nice to have a whole load of songs at once as an album.

I think of it like - do you want small, quite good presents every month, or do you want big, quality presents at Christmas?

[DanteR*]

Smashing Pumpkins have stated that their going to do this as well.

[fitter.happier.]

i might appreciate this kind of move from another artist but i like muse albums. smashing pumpkins dont care so much, not a fan of their stuff lately.

[Uber-rocker]

Dirk Gently wrote:
The title of this thread needs to be edited. The term is "per se," not "persay."

I'm glad somebody else picked up on that, and I wasn't the only one.
I don't really like this idea, but I'm sure whatever music Muse release will be good anyway.

[myself101]

weorge wrote:

its a money thing, 11 singles makes more than one album with 11 songs. problem is, if its in singles everyone will limewire it and theyll be broke. stupid idea.

It's not about the money. They have enough money.

Besides, its quite clear he's screwing NME around.

[GodbowstoMath]

titsmcgee852 wrote:

ehh. i love muse, but i think this is a stupid idea. i personally think his ego is abit high. i stil love muse though i hope for an album.

This is retro more than anything. Loads of people did this in the 50s and 60s. It wouldn't always lead to an album neither.

Since so many people just download the songs, I think it'd work, I'd personally prefer a whole album at once. Perhaps a compromise, they can release however many songs they want as singles, then they release an album of all new material... plus a US tour... seems fair to me.

and to uber-rocker & dirk gently, i also wondered about the persay... is that the UK way of spelling it??

[GodbowstoMath]

Punks|Not|Dead wrote:

Without sounding gay...how awesome do Matt's eyes look in that pic? xD

sounds pretty gay dude, but he is dreamy... i'm not gay either though.

[ChewieMuse]

He has a Good Point and Idea to Put out a few songs every month then compialing the best in to one, Very smart, Nice eyes too lol :P, GO MUSE!

Checked II

[astonmartini]

per se actually

[M.O.P]

Muse are my favourite band and I do not like this.
I really hate buying singles and I would rather buy albums.

[el drew]

i agree this is a stupid idea, but look at the context of the article....

bellamy says HE would like to do this, but do you really think that their record label would go for an idea like that? muse is just now kinda blowin up and i dont think there label would take a chance like just letting them release singles

[Nickman3000]

like everyone else, i don't like this as well, i love full albums and i love muse and some of my favourite muse songs didn't make it as a single like 'Citizen Erased', 'Exo-politics', 'Take a Bow' & 'Blackout' didn't make it as singles so what's saying we'll best Muse's best out of this idea!

[bassboy 999]

Sell out.

[Reecoom]

I can't decide on whether I like this idea or not. Though it will be awesome with a couple of new songs, gotta love Muse.

[halvies]

if ur like me and listen to every song they have, u'll understand that their albums are amazing to listen to as a whole, but i dont really like the idea of only listening to one new song for two months, not the best idea i say

[Jk3y]

Nah, they're not sell outs, they've held to their genre and tried new genres while still keeping the muse we all love

British mags (as usual) make a big deal outta nothing
give those poms a bad name

[SlashNX]

wat a great monkey making idea... get everyone to buy the singles... then buy the "album" which only contains songs which everyone already has!

[amisuary]

I don't give damn as long as they keep on making good music.

[CryingAlone]

I love muse.. cant wait for new songs!!! Muse>all

[circus musician]

can't they just make a album containing a collection of songs like other bands do? as if they were singles except they're not. that makes sense to me.

Checked.

[circus musician]

how about they make them free? hmmm? put them on their website that would be most excellent

[ChewieMuse]

M.O.P wrote:

Muse are my favourite band and I do not like this.
I really hate buying singles and I would rather buy albums.

Well One thing matt wants to See who the Real fans of Muse are :P, and what Fans are willing to buy and how many, thats the Strategy , To see who his faithful fans are :P

[ChewieMuse]

circus musician wrote:

can't they just make a album containing a collection of songs like other bands do? as if they were singles except they're not. that makes sense to me.

Thats what their plan is >.< but see they want to see how the music fairs first, and then Put all their best songs and a few Mellow ones INTO one big album, its actually pretty smart.

[Phoenix_24Leas]

NO! NOOO! not liking this plan, some songs just work in conjunction with other songs. Could you imagine Ruled by secrecy in single format? the album Absolution was just one flowing song to another and using this idea takes that away. I'd prefer if they stuck with a solid albums with unreleased songs inbetween

[Lildelicious]

muse is my favorite band. i thought this was a bad idea but then remembered all the B-Sides they just relesed on singles ( like easily on the bside of the starlight single). chances are if muse makes it, its gonna be good.

[benrochlin]

Seems pretty pointless really. Yeh it would be good to get stuff more regularly but people are just gonna end up spending more money and thne burning off new discs with it all on to play on CD players and in cars. It would work for downloads but they should still keep the albums coming out.

[splendid4]

Hmmmm.. I don't really like this idea.. But it would be good if it means more songs. I just want as much stuff out of Matt Bellamy's head as possible.

[splendid4]

Well there's certainly some good news from this.

"and then every few years"

Sounds like they're gonna be making music for a long time.