Fave Muse song from each album

11 Sep, 2026

I'm a big Muse fan since high school. I've listened to their albums over and over and I was very happy to see them coming back at the end of June. So, let's celebrate the new album talking about them and picking up my favorite songs from each album!

Showbiz

I'm... Actually not super fond of Showbiz. I like it, but it's not an album I end up coming back too often, unless I'm doing a relisten of the whole discography. As a debut album is definitely not bad, but I feel like the band still hadn't found their sound. Maybe they feel a bit too Radiohead-y. Anyway, Sunburn and Muscle Museum are definitely songs I really like, but I think my favorite is actually Unintended. A classic, but I think Bellamy's voice really shines in this one. It... very romantic.

Origin of Symmetry

Their second album is a different story. Here are some of their most iconic songs and where, to me, they finally found their sound. There are still songs I'm not super fond of and, as much as I love Feeling Good, I prefer when albums are either all cover or all original songs.

With that said, lots of favorites here! I've always been mesmerized by New Born's first part with its switch to the guitar solo. Bliss is also great, love the intro switching piano with that... electronic sound effect. My choice, however, would always be between Citizen Erased and Plug in Baby.

I have a fun story about Citizen Erased: the first time I said the title out loud, I butchered it so much the classmate I was talking to couldn't stop laughing. I actually didn't connect that... Citizen was, like, citizen, the people who live in a nation or a city and Erased was like... erased, cancelled. I knew those words, my brain just couldn't put 2 and 2 together, ok? Anyway, that's a great song and I love how it almost tells an entire story through instrumentation.

Plug in baby ended up as my favorite in the end. That riff is so good! And that's one of those songs I can't help but singing out loud everytime. That "in unbroken virgin realities" line is fire.

Absolution

Here it is, my favorite album. Banger from start to finish. No bad songs. It's so hard to pick even honourable mentions... So, ok, let's start with a unappreciated jem: as someone who dreads when things end in life, Thoughts of a Dying Atheist really hits me everytime I listen to it, the lyrics "It scares the hell out of me and the end is all I can see" feel personal. Then there's Time is running out the fist Muse song I ever listened to and I think it probably has a special place in my heart just for that: it's a great song in many regards. Iconic intro.

This time I got three songs battling for the favorite spot. Stockholm Syndrome is basically how I learned what stockholm syndrome was. I adore how the chorus sounds, with that piano in the background. Hysteria might be this album's fan favorite and for good reason, iconic bass section in here and another one I can't stop singing when it comes up. In the end, I'm gonna pick Butterflies and Hurricanes as my favorite. Maybe not as iconic as the others, but the ominous vibes, the emotional chorus and the lyrics, that felt very personal when I was a teenager, give it a special spot in my heart. Also the dramatic piano + strings part that starts at 3.03? So good!

Black holes and revelation

This is the album that was out when Muse became my favorite band. This album is twenty years old and this makes me feel old as well. I need to start talking about songs with Supermassive black hole and it's unfortunate how this became the song of sparkling vampires playing baseball. Not too fond of the vocals here, but the guitars are iconic. Invincibile has always been a special song to listen when I need to feel... Well, invincible. Knights of Cydonia wasn't really one of my favorites until I listened to it live four years ago in Florence. It is an awesome song to hear live.

Favorite song of the album goes to Starlight. It's such an easy song to listen to! The rhythmic clap, the melody, the lyrics, all great! "Our hopes and expectations, black holes and revelations", I love how it namedrops the album title!

The Resistance

This album is the first one people who only like early Muse tend to dislike. And it's another one of my favourites. I might be biased by the fact that it's the first Muse album I have waited. But I also think it's an album whose themes of dystopic control of the system and love through resistance are more relevant now than ever. One of my favorite songs, United States of Eurasia is a 1982 reference too! And a song with a lot of piano as well. Lots of Resistance songs have piano, actually. Some of them are also damn fun, like I belong to you with its clarinet and its french lyrics. I also think putting a Symphony in a rock album is pretty cool, part 2 of Exogenesis Symphony, Cross-pollination, is probably the one I like most.

My favourite song on the album, however, is the one giving the album its name: Resistance. It's the one carrying most of the message, obviously, and it really speaks to me. It's a song I associate to my all time favorite ship. And if I'll ever decide to get a tatoo "Love is our Resistance" is definitely something I know I wouldn't regret having on my body. I love this song so much...

The 2nd Law

The sixth album is a whole different beast. When it came out I wasn't a fan of electronic music and kind of disliked dubstep. Jokes on me because Unsustainable was VERY dubstep and I liked it, but I just couldn't admit it. It's also a strange album because two songs were written and sung by Chris Wolstenholme instead of Matthew Bellamy and I also like them even if they sound a bit "less Muse". Out of those two Save Me is my favorite.

Madness could have been my favorite songs in the album if it wasn't for the "M-m-m-m-m-mad mad mad" that I find a little bit annoying. I really love the second half of the song though. The spot for best 2nd Law song then goes to Supremacy even if I think, because of its themes and sound, it would have fit better in Resistance rather than The 2nd Law. But I love Resistance too much to care.

Drones

Admittedly, I haven't listen much to Drones and while I read the tracklist there are a lot of songs where I couldn't say how they sound. But I remember how Psycho sounds and I like it, but the lyrics are a bit too silly for me¹.

Probably the song I ended up listening the most is Dead Inside. Since Resistance we had some dancey-poppy ballads in every album, like Undisclosed Desires or Madness. Dead Inside is one of them to me. Also, isn't it funny how frequently I end up choosing the song with the album name drop in it? "Unleash a million drones and confine me than erase me"

Simulation Theory

Ok, with Simulation Theory my sentiment is basically the same I have with Drones, but worse and this makes me sad because I really vibe with the cyberpunky concept of the album.

The songs I like the most in this album has to be Something Human and Tough Contagion. Probably not in my top 10 Muse songs, but I like them. Tough Contagion is cool, but Something Human is just... really sweet and the lyrics really fit the cyberpunky vibe².

Will of the People

WotP is... special to me. It's the album that came out the first time I was able to see them live and I love Won't stand down to death. That song, first single in the album, marked the reignition of my love for Muse and I was obsessed. I think it's a great song that gives me the strength to not retreat when unjust things happen to me.

The rest of the album, I'll admit, is a mixed bag. From the silliest songs I ever heard from them, to songs I quite like, like Euphoria, Verona (italian representation yay ³) and Ghosts, especially the version featuring italian singer Elisa (that is not actually in the album, but it's ok).

The "Wow!" Signal

I had zero expectations, and yet I got one of the most cohesive albums they ever made. All of this while featuring a lot of different genres. They've done so since Resistance, but I think this is where they were most successful. And for this single album I'm making a track by track commentary because I've been honestly obsessed since late June. I'll be shocked if this won't be my favourite album of 2026.

The album starts really strong with The Dark Forest, a song that reminds me both of Knights of Cydonia with it's "western" vibe and FF8's Liberi Fatali with the latin choir. It's great. Maybe not a song that would have worked as a single, but as the opening of the album is perfect.

Nightshift Superstar is the dancey song of the album, which are usually hit or miss for me. And it's probably not among my favorite songs here, but that bass solo after the chorus is just badass. I'm also not a big fan of how it seems like it's the only song of the album allowed to be on the radio (in Italy at least).

Shimmering Scars has to be my favourite non single song of the album. I seriously started crying the first time I listened to it. It tells about the end of a love story and lyrics like "I carried half the blame" and "Was I not enough?" show a surprising maturity⁴. It feels very passionate, intimate, great riff and I absolutely love it.

Then it's time for my favourite single out before the album came out (very important distinction) in Cryogen. Maybe the lyrics are a bit corny, but musically? It's everything I loved about early Muse. It reminds me of Plug in Baby and that's a huge plus in my book. The last minute of the song is wild.

Be with you is the strange electronic one. Not among my favourites, but I can't stop shaking weirdly when I listen to it (after the organ intro, ofc).

I think Hexagons is very cool. I'm not sure why they used it as a single because it doesn't feel very radiophonic(?), but as a midpoint of the album is great. Perfectly incapsulates the space opera vibe.

It took some listens for me to actually start appreciating The Sickness in You & I, but now I do. It's a solid song, but I don't have much to say about it except the fact that the transitions from Hexagons and to Unravelling are super satisfying! So smooth...

Unravelling is another song I really enjoy. I wouldn't have called the blog like that if I didn't. And yet, it's not even among my absolute favorites of the album. The bar is that high. I love how huge this song becomes during the chorus and I think the strings are what really elevate this track.

Hush is my actual favourite track in the album. I didn't expect to like it this much, considering the Ellie Goulding featuring. I don't dislike her, but I was honestly worried she wouldn't fit. To my surprise, she did and better that I could ever expect. I love everything about this song: the riff, the variation in voices and music, the lyrics... Whenever I listen to it, I have to stop, I can't focus on anything else. It's too good.

The album ends with Space Debrees. A good song, one that works amazingly as a somber closure and I cannot picture myself listening to this outside this album. Does it make sense? I don't know.

And this ends my dissertation on how much I love Muse in my very limited music vocabulary. I'm so happy I'll see them live in two months. I can't wait!

#favesongs #music