Absolution is the third studio album by English alternative rock band Muse. It was released on September 21, 2003 in the UK and almost six months later on March 23, 2004 in the U.S. by Taste Music Limited. The album yielded the band's first big American hits - "Time Is Running Out" and "Hysteria", the former becoming their first UK Top 10 single. Unlike previous albums, the recording and releasing of Absolution was not subject to constraining schedules, allowing the band to take as much time as they felt necessary to refine and alter their songs.
As with their previous albums, Absolution is mostly targeted at the "alternative rock and hard rock" audiences, and has a strong apocalyptic tone that is typical of the genre.
Muse's frontman Matthew Bellamy cites influences on the album from Pink Floyd's The Wall, King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King,and U2's Achtung Baby.
