Muse

While some bands set their sights on raising the rafters, Muse has attempted to rattle the farthest reaches of the galaxy — and judging by these introductory Essentials, the English three-piece appears to have set their stall somewhere off the shoulder of Orion. Their imagery belongs to realms beyond our understanding, the impassioned sound — especially on "Starlight" from 2006's tractor beam of delight Black Holes and Revelations — is a blinding revelation in itself, and the band's ability to summon up the sensation of mighty steeds kicking up stardust on mythical plains is brilliantly demonstrated on the galloping progger "Knights of Cydonia." Soar with Muse over the surface of the sun, and beyond, in Next Steps.

Here, we've stashed a blast of early Muse — 1999's "Uno," the lead single from debut album Showbiz, and its follow up, the hard-drivin' "Cave" — as well as a couple of covers that treat the source material as wholly expendable: the Smith's "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" exists on an elevated-threat level, replacing the original's delicate mandolin with an aftershock of fuzzed-up guitar, while "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" shoots off in the opposite direction from Frankie Valli once the amped-up grind starts to kick in. "Apocalypse Please" finds frontman Matt Bellamy at his theatrical best, making a point about fanaticism with characteristic gusto.

While teenagers in the mid-'90s, Matthew Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme, and Dominic Howard cut their teeth on the Devon rock scene under a succession of monikers (including Gothic Plague, Fixed Penalty, and Rocket Baby Dolls) before ultimately settling on Muse and storming the world's arenas with a sound as super-massive as any in the contemporary rock universe. Defined by Bellamy's sky-scraping vocal, and driven by all manner of influences (from minimalist composer Philip Glass to overblown operatic rockers Queen), Muse has illuminated the 21st century with radioactive rocket-flares of sound: here are some of them, spanning the ten-year gap between calling card Showbiz and global chart-topper The Resistance.