Make MUSE No.1

[ynnekkenny]

this week muse fans across the country (and the world) are trying to get Citizens Erased into the UK top 40 by using digital downloads for the week ending 15th July. things are looking good so far. it would be amazing to give the best live band in the world a number 1 single.

so if there any MUSE fans out there go and buy Citizens Erased from the Origin Of Symmetry album either today or tomorrow from one of these three places

1 iTunes (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=43464922&s=143444)
2 7Digital (http://www.7digital.com/stores/basket.aspx?shop=34&sid=59505&tid=100087)
3 HMVDigital (http://www.hmvdigital.com/HMV.Digital.WebStore.Portal/default.aspx)

the track costs 79p and if you are wanting to buy from outside the UK use 7Digital and provide a valid UK postcode such as HA9 0WS (which is the postcode for wembley stadium by the way)

you can follow these links to find out more info
Muse Forum Announcement (http://board.muse.mu/announcement.php?f=33)
MuseLive Announcement (http://www.muselive.com/index.php?m=single&id=3290)

cheers for the help together we can get Rihanna off the number one stop and put Britains best band at the top of the charts.

[terrorbite]

They're a decent band, but pff the charts are meaningless anyway so who cares?

[Ledloonus]

Best live band ever? No.

Although that's just my opinion.

[ynnekkenny]

Best live band ever? No.

Although that's just my opinion.

go see them live. you'll change your mind. also the plethera of Live Bands Act awards they have won must count for something.
and i didnt say best live band ever :D

[Hydralisk]

I am a uber fan of muse; however, I am sick to the back teeth of Citizen Erased. and Black holes and Revelations for that matter.

In fact, I'm generally not in a muse mood atm.

Having said that, I may buy it later if I remember.

EDIT: You have to see them live, they are one of, if not the best live bands in Britain at the moment. Although the music itself may be disliked by a many lot of them, Matt Bellamy's Energy on stage is to be envied by all.

[Ledloonus]

i didnt say best live band ever :D
Ah yes I see now.
I shall go and see them next time they're around here (if I have any money):)

[Midget]

i'd much rather try and make a less known band no1, who probably deserve it more and could use the publicity

however, i very much doubt we could achieve this with only the people who browse music...

[mrsnuffles]

citizen erased is their best song, so the choice pleases me

however, it's difficult to put into words how little i care about their chart position

besides, i think umbrella is a good song

[Tiggs]

Muse are a very good live band, thats for sure, but not the best out there. They do everything very very well, stage show, musicianship, stage energy, very well, but in my experience that doesn't end up making you feel quite as amazed as a band who concentrate mostly on just one of those aspects and do it exceptionally well. e.g. stage show: Rammstein, musicianship: Porcupine Tree, Stage Energy: Gogol Bordello (or quie a few punk bands to be honest)

Oh and for the record I've seen Muse 3 times in total.


Anyway back on topic, I've never been much of a fan of singles, nor download sites. Although it might end up being a nice bit of publicity, just seems like a waste of 79p to me (especially as I have Origin of Symmetry anyway)

edit: I sense a slight negative theme in my post, many apologies

[ynnekkenny]

well its only 79p
it is good publicity
i too have it on origin of symmetry
and i too have seen them 3 times
chart position really doesnt matter that much but this is an example of how people power, publicity and the new chart rules can manipulate chart position.

[Irvine Black]

Britains best band
What?

Really, no. Muse are OK but Britain's best band? I think not.

Citizen Erased is an awesome song though.

[White Tiger]

Must resist spending 79p to help favorite band.

[bionic sheep]

Yeah guys, when I'm done sipping Cherry Cola and watching MTV, I like nothing more than paying to be part of an advertising campaign.

You fucking idiots.

[Cjw]

To be fair Bionic, I do remember seeing this started up on http://www.muselive.com when browsing a few weeks ago.

http://www.muselive.com/forums.php?m=posts&q=25737&d=0

There's the thread which kicked it off.

[bionic sheep]

Whether it's a sincere effort from fans or a plant by the ad men (don't accuse me of being paranoid, it's obscenely common) it's still a stupid idea.

How do Muse need promoting at all? They are massive. If you like the band enough to do this, chances are you have the CD already. This most likely won't work, because most people are too lazy to do it, and charting doesn't mean anything anyway.

It's not like they're some minor band who needs a leg up to get famous. They are a mainstream band already, like it or not.

Just enjoy the music and let the PR guys do their jobs, or in three months time everyone will be complaining they've sold out or some shit.

[Beef Magic]

Oh please. Muse are fucking over rated. Best band in Britain? Are you fucking deaf? Did you even listen to anything new? Frank Turner, Reuben, Engerica, Porcupine Tree all released albums that wiped the floor with anything Muse released recently.

Yeah I've seen them live. It was "ok" but nothing compared to someone like Nick Cave. No pyrotechnics or flashing lights or projections, just for guys in suits making lots of amazing noise. Fantastic.

[ynnekkenny]

bionic sheep i hope you are proved wrong and you will see just what a fan base can do when they put their mind to things. muse will be in the top 40 this week.

beef magics saying muse are overrated is your opinion. they sold out wembley two nights in a row, i'd love to see nick cave or porcupine tree do that. and yes i do know who they are i just cant see why you would say they are as good as muse. and by the way there are far more adjectives than "fucking".

this is one case were muse's popularity is a direct result of their ability to perform and produce music.

[bionic sheep]

Saying they aren't overrated and then saying they sold out wembley two nights in a row just pretty much goes to prove his point, really.

They look like fun performers, and there's a lot of imaginative noise coming out of them. Muse are alright in my eyes; however, they are nowhere near the best British band, and they don't seem to do much live to give them such a reputation as performers. This ain't a vendetta against Muse or owt, it's just that there's a massive amount of better stuff coming out from all over the market, and they are vastly overrated in so many respects.

I hope you do prove me wrong, though. Go nuts. Waste your money on proving that you have awful taste in music and that you like to support bands who do not need it. Feel free to stand tall for that week, because you're roughly in the same league as the people who knit cotton boots and send them to David Beckham for his kids. I'm sure they'll be very touched and all, but isn't there something more - I don't know - productive you could be doing with your time and money? I don't want to come off as a whinger, but there are charities that could do an awful lot with all the money you're giving them in free advertising.

I'd also like to point out that George Michael sold out Wembley two days in a row just the week before muse. Might like to think on that before you start rattlin' on about the power of the fan base.

[mrsnuffles]

what's with all this bollocks "omg blah blah blah's album is soooooo much than muses's". By definition, the best band in britain is the most popular. And clearly, when it comes to indie/rock bands who have released stuff recently, it's between muse and razorlight.

[Cjw]

I'm sort of on the fence in regards to these "get so and so track to the top by downloading it on iTunes" campaigns. In one way, it's nice to see that people are messing around with the chart system abit, even it is a little meaningless but in another, it requires intensive advertising on other message boards which is bloody irritating to people who don't want to hear it.

Regardless, If they wanted to freak out radio listeners, they should have mass bought microcuts. I can't see Citizen Erased being played in full on UK radio, it's over 7 minutes long!

[MeatwagonAction]

Saying they aren't overrated and then saying they sold out wembley two nights in a row just pretty much goes to prove his point, really.

They look like fun performers, and there's a lot of imaginative noise coming out of them. Muse are alright in my eyes; however, they are nowhere near the best British band, and they don't seem to do much live to give them such a reputation as performers. This ain't a vendetta against Muse or owt, it's just that there's a massive amount of better stuff coming out from all over the market, and they are vastly overrated in so many respects.

I hope you do prove me wrong, though. Go nuts. Waste your money on proving that you have awful taste in music and that you like to support bands who do not need it. Feel free to stand tall for that week, because you're roughly in the same league as the people who knit cotton boots and send them to David Beckham for his kids. I'm sure they'll be very touched and all, but isn't there something more - I don't know - productive you could be doing with your time and money? I don't want to come off as a whinger, but there are charities that could do an awful lot with all the money you're giving them in free advertising.

I'd also like to point out that George Michael sold out Wembley two days in a row just the week before muse. Might like to think on that before you start rattlin' on about the power of the fan base.

I heard that Muse's lighting designer for the Wembley gigs was the guy who designed Pink Floyd's lighting for their shows from 1980 onwards, and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd fame's lighting in 2006.

[Soapie]

I do believe that the Saturday of the two Muse at Wembley gigs was sold out (or well on the way to being) when the George Michael gigs were announced. They were the first act to sell out Wembley, just not to play to a sold out crowd. Which is a bit mean of George Michael.

[bionic sheep]

CJW: "Freak out radio listeners"? If that was the intention, how are Muse going to do it at all? They aren't even slightly unconventional, and if the fans do succeed then we've established that Muse fans are actually a majority, and so it'll only 'freak out' about three people. Grats, guys.

MWA: So? There are still far better live acts.

Soapie: I see your point, but it doesn't really make so much of a difference. They're still not the best band in Britain, and they don't deserve this blind show of misguided loyalty.

By definition, the best band in britain is the most popular. And clearly, when it comes to indie/rock bands who have released stuff recently, it's between muse and razorlight.
This is such obvious bollocks that I'm not even going to bite.

[mrsnuffles]

This is such obvious bollocks that I'm not even going to bite.

The countless number of 'best band/best album etc" polls that appear on the TV are nearly always decided by popular vote. It's clearly the best way to do things because it removes the matter of opinion - no one person's is more valued than anyone elses. I think Razorlight suck, but I can appreciate the fact that lots of people do like them.

[Midget]

muse and razorlight are the best bands in britain??

then this a sad, sad day for the music industry

and like bionic sheep said, this is all absolute tripe... muse don't need the publicity so stop wasting your damn money

give it to a charity or do this for a band who actually need it

[Beef Magic]

beef magics saying muse are overrated is your opinion. they sold out wembley two nights in a row, i'd love to see nick cave or porcupine tree do that. and yes i do know who they are i just cant see why you would say they are as good as muse. and by the way there are far more adjectives than "fucking".

Of course it's my opinion. I said it. I thought you people were smart enough to figure out that nugget of information out for yourselves by now, but obviously not. I am fully aware of the fact there are more adjectives than "fucking", but considering I have an A-Level in English, and your use of grammar suggests something rather below your stated age of 22, you can't really have a go.

I don't care that Muse sold out Wembley two nights in a row (And the second night wasn't actually sold out, for your information). Elvis Costello sold out five consecutive Monday's at the Hammersmith Palais, in under an hour, no less. And he was, at the time, more than capable of selling out a couple of nights at Wembley, which was, according to the book Playing Live, "a terrible place for music". (Notice I said "was", this was before it was rebuilt. Obviously. Before anyone starts sounding off. Good) - Radiohead also sold out Earl's Court in a matter of minutes. Who are, by rights, more popular than Muse and Razorlight anyway.

Remember that Muse were called "Radiohead-lite" with Showbiz.

And I'd say Nick Cave could sell out a fair few gigs....

[bionic sheep]

The countless number of 'best band/best album etc" polls that appear on the TV are nearly always decided by popular vote. It's clearly the best way to do things because it removes the matter of opinion - no one person's is more valued than anyone elses. I think Razorlight suck, but I can appreciate the fact that lots of people do like them.
I've typed out like six responses to this post, and I genuinely can't word one properly. The argument that popularity equals talent is just completely wrong, in just about every way, and I can't think of a way to argue against it because I didn't think anyone would ever argue for it.

Is Britney Spears the best american artist? Is Rhianna currently the best English musician? Most popular does not equal best, because to be the best you have to factor in every other band in Britain - or at least a sizeable portion of it.

Arguing the most popular band is the best band is so wrong it HURTS.

[Soapie]

Talent often leads to popularity, but you don't necessarily have to have a huge amount of talent to be popular (not counting behind the scenes).

For the record, a lot of British pop music is top notch, no matter what anyone says, Umbrella is a top song.

[mrsnuffles]

I've typed out like six responses to this post, and I genuinely can't word one properly. The argument that popularity equals talent is just completely wrong, in just about every way, and I can't think of a way to argue against it because I didn't think anyone would ever argue for it.
Is Britney Spears the best american artist? Is Rhianna currently the best English musician? Most popular does not equal best, because to be the best you have to factor in every other band in Britain - or at least a sizeable portion of it.

Arguing the most popular band is the best band is so wrong it HURTS.

I never said anything about talent. I just said that, in my opinion, the 'best' band in the country is the band that most people would consider their favourite. I suppose you could factor in the general opinion of music critics, and, of course, the real test of a band's popularity is longevity. I have no idea how successful Muse will be in twenty years time, but at the moment they are indeed very popular and therefore should be considered to be one of the 'best' bands.

I don't quite understand your reasoning. Clearly Rihanna is a popular artist today - you appear to have a problem with this. Is this because your music taste is superior to the people who buy her records?

[bionic sheep]

Stop acting like I'm being some elitist fuck about this. I'm not saying I have better taste than anyone, unlike the people who started this campaign - the video promoting it explicitly says "Let's show these people what real music sounds like". I like a lot of pop music, including that song by Rhianna - I just don't consider her the 'best' British musician just because she's right at the top of the charts.

The real test of what is the 'best' or not isn't anything to do with longevity or popularity - they are completely mutually exclusive factors. You are arguing that the most popular artist is the best and the most talented, when this is clearly not the case; the 'best' is the one producing the 'best' music, and that is clearly not true at all - there are a million and one musicians out there producing music that is infinitely superior to Muse, whether they are more popular or not. Beef Magic has already mentioned Radiohead, who are a million times better than Muse will ever be, and they are a hell of a lot more popular.

For the record, I use the words 'talented' and 'skilled' to mean two seperate things. In my estimation, 'talent' is producing awesome music, whereas 'skilled' is being good at playing guitar, or whatever else. There are plenty of talented people who have absolutely no technical skill, and Dragonforce attests to the fact that people can be massively skilled and have very little talent.

[El Fisho]

An amusing debate indeed, which will ultimately go nowhere. As far as I'm concerned if you can play music and make money on a big scale, cool good for you. There is no way to gauge who is the 'best' band in England, or the world. You could probably work out who's technically most skilled or the most popular, but both of those can be seen as positive and negative by different people. (People hate technical metal, people hate bands for 'selling out')

In short, there are acts you like and acts you don't. Ultimately some will be more successful business-wise or influential in musical development, but you can't as such call them the 'best'. The point I'm trying to get across I suppose is let people listen to what they want and lay off telling them its crap and/or your music is so the best in the world.

[bionic sheep]

Which is exactly the point I was making at the start, before it flipped over and I became the elitist fuck for some reason.

This 'campaign' is mounted on two things, both of which are bollocks. One of them is to support Muse - and they don't need supporting - and the other is to prove they are the 'best' band in Britain - which they aren't - by making them chart - which doesn't matter.

To re-instate my original point: You fucking idiots.

[mrsnuffles]

Stop acting like I'm being some elitist fuck about this. I'm not saying I have better taste than anyone, unlike the people who started this campaign - the video promoting it explicitly says "Let's show these people what real music sounds like". I like a lot of pop music, including that song by Rhianna - I just don't consider her the 'best' British musician just because she's right at the top of the charts.

The real test of what is the 'best' or not isn't anything to do with longevity or popularity - they are completely mutually exclusive factors. You are arguing that the most popular artist is the best and the most talented, when this is clearly not the case; the 'best' is the one producing the 'best' music, and that is clearly not true at all - there are a million and one musicians out there producing music that is infinitely superior to Muse, whether they are more popular or not. Beef Magic has already mentioned Radiohead, who are a million times better than Muse will ever be, and they are a hell of a lot more popular.


I am most definitely not arguing that the best artist is the most talented. In fact, I actually clarified this in my last post. I simply said that, in my opinion obviously, the 'best' band must be the most popular because no one person's opinion is more valued than any other person's. You talk about bands having 'produced music infinitely superior to Muse' like it's fact - like it's not TOTALLY a matter of opinion.

Again, if you actually read my first post you will see that I specifically mention Muse and Razorlight because they have released albums recently and are currently playing live a lot, not because I think they are better than Radiohead. I find it interesting that you mention Radiohead - OK Computer often tops 'best album' lists decided by popular vote. In other words it is the MOST POPULAR album.

My point is simply that because the 'value' of music is completely subjective, the most popular bands are the ones who most people value most highly.

And I completely disagree with you when it comes to longevity. The ability to make music which appeals to several generations is the common factor between many of the world's 'greatest' bands. I would argue that it is this ability that makes them great.

Incidently, I would consider many of today's 'best' bands and artists to be pretty terrible, but I accept that this is my opinion and that I am clearly in the minority.

[bionic sheep]

Right, so the 'value' of music is completely subjective. That I can agree on, even if I don't think that makes the opinions of the majority more important than the opinions of the minority.

However, that still leaves the other two points I made just up the page. Even if one out of three is only my opinion, the other two still render this whole idea bollocks.

[mrsnuffles]

Right, so the 'value' of music is completely subjective. That I can agree on, even if I don't think that makes the opinions of the majority more important than the opinions of the minority.

However, that still leaves the other two points I made just up the page. Even if one out of three is only my opinion, the other two still render this whole idea bollocks.

I don't think the opinions of the majority are more important either - I just think that they should be recognised. I honestly can't think of any other way to 'rank' bands other than popularity. The idea of a 'best' band is pretty stupid to me anyway.

And yeah, I couldn't care less about the whole get muse to number 1 thing either. I may have actually bought Umbrella off iTunes now I think about it. That would be pretty ironic if I did.

[ynnekkenny]

look what i've started.sorry about that.

the point of this - well my interpretation of it was to see if some of the most crazed and obsessive fans in britain (just spend time in any muse forum and you will see this to be evident) can screw with the charts in order to make muse have a chart entry with one of their unreleased songs. ok you dont think muse are the best band in the world or an amazing live band but I do and my aim was to gather any muse fans up that lurk around this forum in an attempt to help the cause that was started by a crazed fan a few weeks ago.

granted this will give publicity to Muse but that wasnt the main aim

at the moment Muse are one of the most popular, skilled and talented bands in Britain how can you deny that?

[Midget]

but why? what will this achieve?

you're potentially ruining somebody else's chances of getting the no1 they deserve, all because you're obsessive little fanboys

if muse really deserve to get no1, their singles would've made no1 fairly, they shouldn't have to have an unfair advantage

(and what about people who don't want to hear muse 15 times a day on the radio at work? i know i wouldn't... they're a decent band and all, but for me their music gets old, really fast... i'm already sick of black holes and revelations)

[Beef Magic]

Muse are one of the most popular, skilled and talented bands in Britain how can you deny that?

Because their last album was fucking dull as. I used to like Muse but they haven't aged well in my opinion - same as System Of A Down. Judging on Black Holes and Revelations, I would say that Muse are losing the talent in the ability to write songs


Oh, and just incase people don't get it...

[/opinion]

[Midget]

starlight was a fucking joke, why they released that as a single i will never know

[bionic sheep]

What this whole subforum really needs is a custom banner that simply reads "OPINION" in big letters, so that people don't feel the need to state it over and over.

[FoxDhoj]

This is shit. Why should Muse get any more famous? If I was in Muse I wouldn't give in to all this potentially extra fame. Flogging a dead horse.

If you're gonna buy something on iTunes or whatever that's going to a good cause, buy this:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=258862572&s=143444

It's a track done with under-privileged Aborigine kids from a detention centre in Australia. It's a project (called Heaps Decent) set up by the somewhat notorious Philladelphian DJ, Diplo, and next he'll be working with kids in the favela of Rio de Janiero, Brazil. So your money would be going to a good cause.

(BTW, you might know Diplo from either his solo stuff, his work with British/Sri Lankan grime rapper M.I.A, or his links to Bonde Do Role, CSS, Spank Rock etc, his remixing, his comparisons to DJ Shadow, his Fabric Live mix, his involvement with the label Ninja Tune/Big Dada, or his own record label, Mad Decent)

[Beef Magic]

Plus M.I.A is pretty hot, as opposed to Matt Bellmey's ability to grow any form of real beard.

[Bewildebeast]

can screw with the charts in order to make muse have a chart entry with one of their unreleased songs.

How is lots of people buying the same song screwing with the charts? Isn't that kind of the point of them?

If I put out a single which consisted entirely of me making animal noises with my armpits and managed to get 75,000 people to buy it then yeah, maybe, but not this

[GorillaBearBear]

I think you can argue that it is fuckign with the charts when it is fanboys deciding to try and put a 4 year old song by a hugely overrated band at number 1

[Tiggs]

Amazing no one has thought to mention this, but that campaign completely failed (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/singles.shtml) to make any impression on the charts

[Midget]

good :)

[FoxDhoj]

Plus M.I.A is pretty hot, as opposed to Matt Bellmey's ability to grow any form of real beard.

Too right. M.I.A is/was (not sure) Diplo's bird.

Lucky boy!!

[Soapie]

According to someone on the Muse board, the point of this was "to make a drastic point about the sorry state of music".

I'm not sure if I'm reading that the same way it was meant.

Also, it got to number 122 apparently.

[terrorbite]

Also, it got to number 122 apparently.
Haha. They made a drastic point indeed then :D

[Flack]

some of the most crazed and obsessive fans in britain (just spend time in any muse forum and you will see this to be evident)

I have a problem with this statement here.

Reason?

(This will be such a shock for some people who actually know me.)

Dream Theater.

I can think of three people who bought 75+ copies of their new album.

Just so they can get in the charts.

There are people in england who follow them for every date in europe.

There is one person (French, I believe, but besides the point) who has seen them, what, it MUST be nearly 200 times in their career.

Their last album, was filled with "nuggets" (References to other albums/songs/general bands).

They dissected the entire album in about a month.

And they were SO thorough, they managed to notice "nuggets" that the BAND didn't even notice were there.

Obsessive? Maybe.

But the most obsessive? I seriously doubt it.

[Just for the record, their new album got to number 25 in the UK, and number 7 on the European Album Chart.]

[mrsnuffles]

There are people like that for most bands though.

And it says more about the people than the band tbh

[Flack]

There are people like that for most bands though.

And it says more about the people than the band tbh

All I'm trying to say is they're not the most obsessive fan base.

And it does, you're right.

[mrsnuffles]

you are also right

[ChokeOnThis_x]

I absolutely adore Muse, I've seen them 3 times now :].
What's everyone's favourite songs?
Mines has to be "Bliss" or "Muscle Museum".

[Beef Magic]

I saw Muse once. They were average. My favourite songs of Muse' are the ones when I turn them off and listen to The Technical (http://www.myspace.com/thetechnical) instead.

[mrsnuffles]

i saw muse once. they were very good. my favourite songs of muse are citizen erased and dead star.