User:Rodmjorge/Muse/Newton Abbot demo

Between around November 1996 and April 1997, Muse recorded about 20 songs as demos in Coombeshead Studios, which is part of the college they attended, Coombeshead College.

Some of the songs recorded got remastered and were put into later albums like Showbiz and Origin of Symmetry, others got into singles as B-sides, and others never got remastered at all.

Falling with the Crowd
Falling with the Crowd is one of the four songs that never got fully released. This is also the only song without any concrete proof of it being played live, and one of the two songs off this demo to not be released on the Origin of Muse box set. This truly is those really obscure songs, and it's got that charm because of it.

Also, if this song actually got released with this name, it would be the third Muse song with a name starting with "Falling" (others being "Falling Down" and "Falling Away with You").

Agitated
Agitated got later reworked into their debut single "Uno". The length of the song also got cut down, from 3:15 to 2:23. Because of this change, a ton of lyrics were shortened as well.

Live, this song dates back to 1996! This really is one of their earliest works, it's a shame it wasn't in any album. It did appear on their EP Random 1–8, though, so that's cool. Latest performance was in 2022, in a supposedly "secret" gig promoting Will of the People.

Coma
Coma was lucky enough to get into their first EP, their single "Cave" and their other EP Random 1–8. I guess they really like this song. It's one of their earliest as well, and you can tell by the more pop sound this song carries, rather than their usual stuff.

Although popular in the scheme of getting into EPs, it's not that popular live. In fact, it's one of the rarest remastered songs live. So much so, that there isn't any video recorded of the song being played live! However, gig setlists back in 1997 have Coma in it, so it's plausible that it was played. It's unknown when was the last performance of this song, but it's believed to be 1998, even before the EP Muse released.

Balloonatic
Balloonatic is one of many songs off this demo that did get remastered, albeit with another title. This is actually "Twin", a song off the single "Cave". It has a lot of different lyrics, although the song structure and lyrical theming is still the same. Apparently, the title "Balloonatic" comes from a children's show, and was changed to "Twin" after Matthew Bellamy finished writing the lyrics.

Because the band didn't have that many songs to play live at the time, it's possible that they played this song many times in the past, although there's no real proof about it. There is only a 1997 gig setlist containing the song, although it's misspelled as "Ballonatic"... seems like they didn't attend school.

Forameus
Forameus is another song off the four that didn't get remastered, and one of the two that didn't make the cut in the Origin of Muse box set. Shame. It really is, though, it's catchy as hell, especially that chorus.

It is one of the oldest songs played live, dating back to January 1995! Yes, you heard right, very early 1995, practically 1994, the year the band was formed. Last performance was around 1997, and it was never seen ever again... Truly a crying shame.

Boredom
Boredom is once again, another song that didn't get remastered. It did appear on the box set, although Matthew Bellamy called it 'crap'. Well, don't say that!

Because this demo was only properly "released" in 2007, people didn't know this song even existed before then. So, when a video of this song being played live in 1997 surfaced around 2005, people thought it was "Spiral Static". Honestly sounds pretty similar. Latest performance of this song live also ended in 1997. Sad.

Crazy Days
Crazy Days is just another way of saying "Yes Please". Produced in late 1996, the outro is a little different than the final version, and got reused into a later song, called "Execution Commentary" (their best song, easily Top 1).

It is unknown when they started playing this live. It's confirmed in some 1996 setlists, but people believe it dates back to their 1994 Battle of the Bands concert, just really, reallyyyyy unfinished.

Sober
Sober is a song that got remastered as the ninth track of their debut album Showbiz. It's the only song off this cassette that appeared on the album, and it also appears in all demo cassettes... for some reason. Do they really like this song this much?

Possibly written in 1997, as there's no live recordings or setlists including this song beforehand. It was played a lot during the pre-Showbiz era, though, which is a possible reason as to why it got chosen for the album in the first place (still think "Twin" should have taken the edge).

Jimmy Kane
Jimmy Kane is a song that got remastered into their first single, "Uno". This one is interesting, with a badass funky bassline, cool sounding guitar and incredible vocals, it's really weird why it didn't appear on Showbiz, but apparently the reason is because: Weird reasons though, because there's a pretty easy fix: just change the lyrics and song title. Oh well, I digress.
 * The song does have a strong carnal vibe... Wouldn't really fit with the lyrical theming on the album.
 * They didn't want this imaginary protagonist called Jimmy Kane to be the "main character" of the album.

But maybe they just hate this song, as it was performed live literally ONCE in 1996, and there's no footage available! It's one of the two Showbiz B-sides that don't have any form of live video available, the other being "Con-Science".

Rain
Rain is, once again, another song that didn't get the edge of being remastered, but at least it appeared on their Origin of Muse box set. It goes for a more blues rock vibe, and it works pretty well! It's a good listen.

And maybe the band thinks so as well, as this is the only non-released song that got played AFTER their early days (1994-1998). Yeah, that's right, last time they played this song was in 1999! I wish it had continued onwards, though.