Origin of Symmetry is English rock band Muse's second album, released in June 2001 on Mushroom Records in the UK and Australia, and in September 2005 in the United States. "Plug In Baby", "New Born", "Bliss", "Feeling Good" and "Hyper Music" were the singles from this album; the latter two were released together as a double-A-side.
The name for the album comes from a concept put forward by Michio Kaku in his book Hyperspace; Bellamy is known to have an avid interest in Space and theoretical physics.
Maverick Records, who previously released Showbiz in the US, asked Muse to remove the falsetto vocals for the Origin of Symmetry US release. They believed that the falsetto would discourage radio play. Muse's refusal saw them part ways with the label. For this reason, the CD was not released in the US until late in 2005. Muse's track New Born was taken and remixed by Paul Oakenfold, and appears on the Swordfish soundtrack.
"Feeling Good" is a cover of a song originally from a 1965 musical (The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd). Nestlé tried to use it in a coffee commercial. Nestlé first sought the permission of Muse, who refused them the right to use the song, however Nestlé continued to use the song and therefore Muse took them to court. They were forced to remove the track and pay the band £500,000 in damages (which the band donated to Oxfam). Nestlé continued to run the ad but replaced the Muse version with a different rock cover of the song.
Additionally, the start of the song "Space Dementia" has been used for the advertisement of the fragrance Midnight Poison by Christian Dior SA. The advertisement features Eva Green in a blue dress, directed by Wong Kar Wai.
Origin of Symmetry is seen as a departure from the alternative rock sound of Showbiz, as the band experimented instrumentally throughout the album. Dominic Howard (drums) augmented the standard rock drum kit with various other items of his own, and Matthew Bellamy uses a pipe organ on "Megalomania", an anti-religion themed song. Throughout the album, the bass line is used as the driving force, often with the guitar providing only an extra layer to the song rather than carrying the melody. The bass has distortion and other effects applied to it to achieve a greater weight, allowing the guitar to digress from the main chord progression and play higher notes.
A further double-A-side ("Dead Star" / "In Your World") was released closely following this album, to promote the band's next 2CD/2DVD release Hullabaloo.
In 2006, Q readers voted it at #74 on their 100 Greatest Albums Ever.
The album has gone gold in the UK since its release, with sales over 100,000. It has also sold over 1.5 million worldwide but only 53,000 copies have been sold in the US.
