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How Do We Define Bands That Span Multiple Genres?

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If you were to ask a Muse fan the question, “What genre are Muse?” most would either tell you that they’re some form of alternative or that they simply don’t know. The reason for this is because over 22 years and 7 studio albums, along with a smattering of B-Sides attached to singles, Muse have never really defined themselves as one genre. Muse, of course, are not the only band that defy being confined to a single genre, The White Stripes and Led Zeppelin come to mind. This raises the question; how do we define bands that span multiple genres? Beaumont (2014) describes the majority of Muse’s first two albums as being Rachmaninoff influenced writing that “…recently he’s [Matt Bellamy] been listening to a lot of early 20th century piano music, emotional but technically complex composers such as Rachmaninoff, and he had a head full of ivories. So when ‘Sunburn’, written and demo’d while the band were in the studio, didn’t sound right when played on guitar [John] Leckie suggested that he switch to the studio piano to work it out. Hence the delicate opening tinklings of ‘Showbiz’ were born and a stellar canon of sonic supernovas was begun. Indeed, Matt’s rediscovered interest in piano would go on heavily to influence the songwriting for Muse’s second album Origin of Symmetry.” Beaumont (2014) goes on to further explain their genre with “Where most rock bands used strings and classical influences to embellish their more sombre moments…Muse did something new and unthinkable. They

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