Absolution is the third studio album by English rock band Muse, released on 22 September 2003 through Taste Media.

Costey wanted to give Muse a bigger, more aggressive sound, and Absolution is more polished and direct than their previous albums.

It incorporates classical influences, with orchestra on tracks such as "Butterflies and Hurricanes" and "Blackout", and apocalyptic lyrical themes.

[4] Muse decided to focus on Europe, and embarked on the final leg of their tour for their previous album, Origin of Symmetry, playing the future Absolution songs "Hysteria" and "The Small Print".

[3] After the tour, Muse resumed writing and recording demos in an unused commercial loft in Hackney, London.

Costey had worked with acts Muse admired, including Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, and wanted to give them a bigger, more aggressive sound.

[5] Muse and Costey returned to Air in late 2002 to work on songs including "Hysteria" and "Stockholm Syndrome".

For "Stockholm Syndrome", Costey vocodered Bellamy's guitar with a Nord modular synthesiser, creating "hollow, white noisey" sound.

[6] Muse and Costey used the sound design system Kyma to process tracks including "Time Is Running Out", "Hysteria" and "Apocalypse Please".

[5] For "Ruled by Secrecy", they recorded a drum take in the courtyard outdoors, hoping to capture an unusual ambience, but discarded the results.

[5] On "Falling Away with You", Costey captured the sound of Bellamy's fingers on the guitar strings to create an intimate feeling.

Costey recorded Bellamy's left and right-hand parts separately, and ran them through guitar amps and an Echoplex.

Muse struggled to improve on the simplicity of Bellamy's demo, recorded with a piano and a four-to-the-floor drum machine rhythm.

[8] In 2020, Wolstenholme described it as a continuation of their second album, Origin of Symmetry (2001): "We knew what we wanted to do, and we'd found our feet a little bit, and we felt comfortable with what we did.

[10] For "Butterflies and Hurricanes", he sought to create a heavy rock song using classical piano instead of guitar, with a "mechanical paradiddle thing all the way through".

[12][3] Absolution is one of two Muse albums (alongside Black Holes and Revelations) to feature artwork by Storm Thorgerson.

[17] Alternative Press wrote that its "chaotic choruses feel like the triumphant culmination of some earth-shattering undertaking",[19] while Andrew Future of Drowned in Sound called it "a truly elemental opus".

"[22] Rob Kemp of Rolling Stone was less enthusiastic, drawing Radiohead comparisons and concluding that Bellamy "doesn't bring as much ingenuity to his singing".

[35] A remastered 20th-anniversary reissue, Absolution XX Anniversary, featuring bonus tracks, live recordings and demos, was released on 17 November 2023.

Notes References Touring members: Morgan Nicholls (2004, 2006–2022), Daniel Newell (2006–2008), Alessandro Cortini (2009), Dan Lancaster (2022–present)