09TIME IS RUNNING OUT ABSOLUTION (2003)

Another high contender in the list of Muse tracks your bassist keeps asking to run through, and one of the last to be composed for Absolution, this top 10 single was the sound of Muse embracing a more mid-tempo and groove-oriented take on alternative rock. Oddly enough, the members have even revealed it was partly inspired by the Michael Jackson hit Billie Jean, a song which they felt made listeners want to click their fingers and shake their hips – and in that regard they most certainly succeeded. During the pre-chorus where he sings “Bury it, I won’t let you bury it”, Matt Bellamy incorporates elements of the vocal melody into his chords, often simply changing just one note at a time to allow his guitar to not only support but also mirror his voice. If tremolopicked octave shapes after the chorus sections are reminiscent of the kind of things that Jonny Greenwood played on Radiohead’s Pablo Honey and

The Bends, it’s probably because Greenwood was a biginfluence on Bellamy early on.