"Plug In Baby" is a song by English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

. It was released as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

from the band's second studio album, '' Origin of Symmetry'' (2001), on 28 February 2001 in Japan and on 12 March 2001 in the United Kingdom. The song became the band's highest-charting single in the UK when it peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart, until it was surpassed by " Time Is Running Out", which peaked at number 8 in 2003. Today, "Plug In Baby" is considered one of Muse's most notable songs, and has been featured on the live albums '' HAARP'' (2008) and '' Live at Rome Olympic Stadium'' (2013).

Background and composition

"Plug In Baby" is written in the key of

B minor B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major. The B natural minor scale is: Changes need ...

(although the song does not begin or end on the tonic chord of the key). It is mainly guitar and bass-driven, and moves at a tempo of 136 bpm. The guitar riff is based on the

harmonic minor scale The harmonic minor scale (or Aeolian ♮7 scale) is a Scale (music), musical scale derived from the natural minor scale, with the minor seventh degree raised by one semitone to a major seventh, creating an augmented second between the sixth and ...

. The beginning of the riff shows similarities to the

toccata Toccata (from Italian ''toccare'', literally, "to touch", with "toccata" being the action of touching) is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virt ...

from

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

's "

Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, BWV 565, is a composition for Pipe organ, organ by, according to the oldest sources, German composer Johann Sebastian Bach. It is one of the most widely recognisable works in the organ re ...

" and the beginning of

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor (music), conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the mid-20th century. Principally influenced ...

's " Adagio for Strings". One of the

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

to the single, "Execution Commentary", was described by Bellamy as the "worst song I've ever written".

Recording

The 1997 studio demo of the song lacked the main

riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based ...

of the song, although there were numerous similarities in the lyrics and structure. "Plug In Baby" was to be re-recorded under the wishes of Maverick to coincide with the US tour promoting the ''Origin of Symmetry'' album, as Maverick wished Bellamy to tone down the falsetto on the song as well as on the album. The band spent a few days at

Long View Farm Long View Farm Studios was a music recording studio located in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, North Brookfield, Massachusetts that was founded in 1974 by Gilbert Scott Markle, a professor at Clark University, on his farm property. It was the lo ...

in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, in September 2001 recording this new version, but were left unsatisfied by the result. Consequently, Maverick dropped Muse in the US market and ''Origin of Symmetry'' remained unreleased in the country until 2005.

Legacy

The song is often praised for its opening guitar riff, which '' Total Guitar'' magazine readers voted as the number 1 ultimate guitar riff of the 2000s and the 13th best of all time in 2004. In 2011, Spinner.com named "Plug In Baby" the 46th greatest guitar riff of all time, citing its "play on Bach's 'Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565'." The song has been featured on the video games ''

Guitar Hero 5 ''Guitar Hero 5'' is a 2009 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fifth main installment and the ninth overall installment in the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was released internationally in ...

'' and ''

Rocksmith ''Rocksmith'' is a music video game produced by Ubisoft, released in October 2011 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms in North America. ''Rocksmith'' was released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 during September 2012 in Australian and Europ ...

''.

Track listing

Personnel

Personnel adapted from '' Origin of Symmetry'' liner notes. Muse *

Matthew Bellamy Matthew James Bellamy (born 9 June 1978) is an English singer, songwriter and producer. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and lyricist for the English rock band Muse (band), Muse. He is recognised for his eccentric stage persona, wid ...

– lead vocals, guitar, production, mixing * Christopher Wolstenholme – bass, backing vocals, production, mixing * Dominic Howard – drums, production, mixing Additional personnel * David Bottrill – production, engineering * John Cornfield – mixing * Tanya Andrew – artwork

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control Muse (band) songs 2001 singles 2001 songs Mushroom Records singles Popular songs based on classical music Song recordings produced by David Bottrill Songs written by Matt Bellamy UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles