10 Best Rock Music Album Closers Of The 2000s
2. Knights Of Cydonia - Muse (Black Holes And Revelations)
Who doesn't love cowboys?
Who doesn't love space?
Who doesn't love cowboys in space?
The point is, Knights of Cydonia by Muse is about cowboys in space.
The British band's fourth album, 2006's Black Holes and Revelations, ends with an atomic blast of a song inspired by the titular Cydonia region of Mars.
Taking musical inspiration from The Tornados song Telstar, which featured lead singer Matt Bellamy's father on guitar, Muse crafted a part sci-fi, part western anthem that quickly caught everyone's attention.
Dominic Howard's galloping drumbeat helps propel this song along and makes it feel like something from the soundtrack to a John Wayne movie. This is balanced by Bellamy's vibrato guitar playing, which is where the alien angle comes from.
As well as bending genres, this song also bends your eardrums when it gets into the final movement. After the famous "No one's going to take me alive" bit, the track breaks down into a great big thumping mess.
In the best way possible, of course.
Knights of Cydonia is one of Muse's biggest songs for a reason and they were very cheeky in hiding it all the way at the end of this album.