01 CITIZEN ERASED ORIGIN OF SYMMETRY (2001)

TG readers’s favourite Muse song, Citizen Erased was also for many years the band’s longest track, and is also one of the rare instances where Matt has used a seven-string – which, as he explains in this month’s cover story, ended up being his very first Manson instrument. “On Citizen Erased, Dom came in one day with this funky James Brown beat and Chris just started playing along,” Matt revealed at the time of release. “I then applied a chord structure that I already had and it suddenly became a full-on metal track out of nowhere. Because it was so heavy for so long we decided to add another song on to the end of it.” The opening riff is played using the open seventh string – tuned to A – and artificial harmonics on the higher A-string. If you don’t have a seven-string, you can tune your sixth string to A, though remember there will be less tension and overall resonance than with the thicker gauges used on extended range instruments.