Muscle Museum (EP)

Muscle Museum is the second EP by English rock band Muse. Recorded in 1998 at Sawmills Studios with producer Paul Reeve, it was released on 11 January 1999 by Dangerous Records, limited to 999 hand-numbered copies. The EP features six tracks, five of which were released again later – "Instant Messenger" (as "Pink Ego Box") was featured as the B-side to the band's third single "Muscle Museum", while four were re-recorded for the group's debut full-length album Showbiz.

Muscle Museum
EP by Muse
Released	11 January 1999 (1999-01-11)
Recorded	1998 (1998)
Studio	Sawmills (Fowey, England)
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	20:41
Label	Dangerous
Producer	Muse Paul Reeve
Muse chronology
Muse (1998) Muscle Museum (1999) Showbiz (1999)

Recording and release

As with their self-titled debut EP, Muse recorded Muscle Museum at Dennis Smith's Sawmills Studios with producer Paul Reeve, with the sessions taking place in 1998. Reeve also performed additional backing vocals "Unintended" and "Instant Messenger". Muscle Museum was released in the same way as the Muse EP, on Smith's Dangerous Records limited to 999 numbered copies, on 11 January 1999. Some additional copies were pressed on CD-R not including the second version of "Muscle Museum", while media contacts were sent non-numbered copies. Journalist Mark Beaumont has described the EP's release as "low-key", calling it a "stop-gap" release.

Reception and legacy

The Muscle Museum EP gained Muse national exposure, thanks in part to the NME who featured Muse following its release. The EP entered the NME Indie Singles Chart at number 3, behind major label acts Mercury Rev and Fatboy Slim. However, according to Muse: Inside the Muscle Museum author Ben Myers, early reviews of the release were not particularly positive: fanzine Robots and Electric Brains, for example, sarcastically likened the band's sound to that of Radiohead, with whom they were compared often. A number of tracks from the EP were played on Steve Lamacq's show on BBC Radio 1 a few weeks after its release. The EP was included as part of Muse's 2019 boxset, Origin of Muse, which covered Muse's early releases and their first two studio albums. As part of Record Store Day, the EP was rereleased on limited edition 12" vinyl on 18 April 2026.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Matt Bellamy.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Muscle Museum"	4:20
2.	"Sober"	4:02
3.	"Uno"	3:36
4.	"Unintended"	3:56
5.	"Instant Messenger"	3:31
6.	"(Muscle Museum)#2"	1:16

Personnel

Muse

• Matt Bellamy – lead vocals, guitars, piano, Hammond organ, Mellotron, production
• Chris Wolstenholme – bass, backing vocals, production
• Dominic Howard – drums, production

Additional personnel

• Paul Reeve – production, engineering, mixing, backing vocals (tracks 4 and 5)
• Mark Thomas – engineering assistance
• John Cornfield – mastering
• Phil Andrews – photography
• Steve Conner – graphic design

Charts

Chart performance for Muscle Museum

Chart (2026)	Peak position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)	92
Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ)	13
Scottish Albums (OCC)	13
UK Albums (OCC)	84

Bibliography

• Beaumont, Mark (2008), Out of This World: The Story of Muse, London, England: Omnibus Press (published 8 October 2008), ISBN 978-1847723772
• Myers, Ben (2007), Muse: Inside the Muscle Museum, New York City, New York: Random House (published 7 June 2007), ISBN 978-0955282256

External links

• Muscle Museum on the band's official website
• Muscle Museum at Discogs (list of releases)