The album saw a change in style for Muse, with influences including Depeche Mode, Millionaire, Lightning Bolt, Sly and the Family Stone, and music from southern Italy.

The singles "Supermassive Black Hole" and "Knights of Cydonia" were both UK top-10 hits, while "Starlight", "Map of the Problematique", and "Invincible" charted within the top 25.

[7] The singer, Matt Bellamy, said Muse wanted to be free from distractions so that they could "concentrate, spend time and be surrounded by different musical influences".

[8] Costey wanted to capture Bellamy's "personality" as a guitarist, recording the sound of his fingers and plectrum on the strings.

[9] It was written for Absolution, but rewritten for Black Holes with new lyrics and an arrangement inspired by "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Elvis Presley.

[6] The drummer, Dominic Howard, said the band had planned to record it with a "massive, epic" approach, but decided to use a small studio with vintage equipment and few microphones.

[6] Bellamy said that the song title "acknowledged that this is a bit funny, particularly when we are pushing the epic side of the band to almost comical levels ...

[9] Bellamy said he finds "the unknown in general a stimulating area for the imagination",[15] and this interest is reflected throughout the album, which features rebellious paranoia (particularly during "Assassin").

It was also available as a limited edition CD/DVD combination, that featured videos and live renditions of "Supermassive Black Hole", "Knights of Cydonia" and "Starlight".

[citation needed] The first US single was "Knights of Cydonia", on 13 June 2006, which peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, and was followed by "Starlight" and "Supermassive Black Hole".

"Starlight" was Muse's most popular single in the US at that point, reaching number two on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

[11] Several critics characterised Black Holes and Revelations as an "overblown" album that "works", including RTÉ's Bill Lehane,[38] the NME's Anthony Thornton,[28] and Rolling Stone's Christian Hoard.

[31] Hoard went on to describe "Knights of Cydonia" and "City of Delusion" as "ridiculous", but concluded that it was "surprising" that the album worked.

[39] The album also garnered some crossover appeal, with Oakland hip hop group Zion I releasing a notable remix of "Knights of Cydonia" in 2008.

[40] Black Holes and Revelations was placed at number 34 in a public vote conducted by Q for "The Best British Albums of all time" in February 2008.

The album also spawned "Supermassive Black Hole", Muse's most successful single in the UK to date, hitting number four on the charts.

A world tour followed the release of the album that included dates in the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and most of Europe and Asia.

[49] The first shows included the Leeds and Reading Carling Weekend festivals, followed by a tour that visited most of the world's major continents.

Some dates that were booked to play in support of My Chemical Romance in the US were cancelled after members of both bands were affected by food poisoning.

The band then moved to America, playing their biggest North American headline concerts at the time at the Inglewood Forum and the Palacio de los Deportes arena in Mexico City.

Footage of the latter concert was released on DVD, while a live CD album contained a selection of recorded tracks from the two nights.