Welcome people of C3. Join us for tonight’s show at the Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre in London! Only a short walk from the station accessible from the District and Picadilly lines^✝, this is an important venue for tonight’s headliners. Now let us begin, as we have with us a lineup of two massive bands in modern rock.

 

First our opener, the legendary act from Chicago…

 

^✝Do not actually go to the Exhibition Centre, as it was unfortunately demolished in 2014

 

The Smashing Pumpkins Two-Pack

Authored by DemonUnicorns

 

The Smashing Pumpkins – “Glass”

 

This is the theme song for the god-like character named Glass in the Machina concept based on the public persona of Corgan. It has heavy guitar riffs and one of the most endurance-testing drum charts from Chamberlin to date.

 

The Smashing Pumpkins – “Untitled”

 

This is the final song recorded before the initial bands breakup and was premiered on their greatest hits album. Corgan intentionally made this song to sound more like Gish and Siamese Dream, and the blistering guitar solo is sure to take you back to those days.

 

And now our headliners, coming to us from a burning black hole in Devon…

 

Muse – Origin of Symmetry/Absolution

Authored by kueller

 

For Muse, the albums Origin of Symmetry (2001) and Absolution (2003) are by many considered the peak of their career. These albums left their legacy in the 00s alternative scene and contains many of the hits that made them so highly requested in Rock Band (“Hysteria”, their only DLC, hails from Absolution). The biggest hits from these records have been naturally released on C3 through the years. But today with this release both of these iconic albums are now authored to completion!

 

And what of our venue? In December of 2004 Muse played two shows at Earl’s Court that many fans, myself included, consider to be the greatest shows of their career (there was even a petition to release more footage). Closing off the main legs of their Absolution Tour, it also became a perfect summary of their career up to that point. It is then only fitting that we celebrate these two records at the same venue.

 

Origin of Symmetry

 

Origin of Symmetry saw Muse lock in the sound they were developing in their debut Showbiz (1999) and turning it up to maximum, creating an explosive set of rock songs infused with classical influences. The guitar riffs, driving bass lines, piercing falsetto, and synth arpeggios would all become synonymous with the “Muse” sound.

 

The album’s themes of isolation and existential confusion of the coming technological age are most present in the middle track “Screenager”, a soft haunting piece with dissonant acoustic guitar over animal bone percussion. “Feeling Good” adds a heavier take to the famous jazz piece, originally written for a musical and famously covered by Nina Simone and later many others. Drummer Dominic Howard gives this song its driving force culminating in a chaotic drum solo that breaks off into the song’s quiet outro.

 

The most fitting closer for such a grandiose album, “Megalomania” is a slow and dark procession with Bellamy delivering a nihilistic attack to the idea of a God itself over its own iconic instrument – the church organ. The song’s finale closes off the album with their biggest display of operatic power.

 

08. “Screenager”

 

10. “Feeling Good”

 

G/B/D reductions – FUGGNUTZ

 

11. “Megalomania”

 

With a venue created by the venue goddess atupomaruru!

 

Absolution

 

In Absolution, Muse delved further into the theatrics from Origin. The orchestra parts and Queen-like harmonies that are commonplace in their recent work began to take prominence here. The tracklisting hops through a range of styles documenting the state of a band locking in a sound while still trying to evolve new ones.

 

The only song from both albums not played live, “Falling Away With You” is a heart-wrenching song about lost memories and lost love, contrasting soft acoustic verses with soaring arpeggiated choruses before fading into the noisy somewhat shoegazey “Interlude”. We slow down with the swelling strings of the ballad “Blackout” until the distortion comes in for the emotional guitar solo.

 

The hard hitters “The Small Print” and “Thoughts of a Dying Atheist” show Muse at their purest alternative rock form, a bit of an early addition into styles that would dominate rock in the 00s. And finally, “Ruled By Secrecy” closes the album starting with the soft ascending and descending piano lines before exploding into majestic heavy chords and then fading back out again. The lyrics, of a man who has gone insane from global conspiracies, served as a fitting preview of the topics their next album would explore.

 

Note: “Intro” from Absolution was not added since it is incorporated into Apocalypse Please.

 

06. “Falling Away With You”

 

G/B/D reductions – Septekka

 

07. “Interlude”

 

Originally by SystematicChaos on the FoF forums, given to me as part of the original FoF Muse project.

 

09. “Blackout”

 

11. “The Small Print”

 

G/B/D reductions – Septekka

 

13. “Thoughts of a Dying Atheist

 

G/B/D reductions – FUGGNUTZ

 

14. “Ruled By Secrecy”