United States of Eurasia
Encyclopedia
"United States of Eurasia" is a song by English alternative rock
band Muse
and is featured on their fifth studio album The Resistance
. The song was made available as a free digital download
online on 21 July 2009 and is followed by an instrumental
solo entitled "Collateral Damage", based on Nocturne In E-Flat Major, Op.9 No.2 by Frédéric Chopin
.
uploaded on the band's Twitter
profile. On 3 July 2009, the album's track listing was revealed, with "United States..." positioned fourth between "Undisclosed Desires" and "Guiding Light".
In a pre-release interview featured in the August edition of music magazine Mojo
, vocalist and guitarist Matthew Bellamy
reveals the song to be inspired by "a book called The Grand Chessboard
by Zbigniew Brzezinski
," explaining that "Brzezinski has the viewpoint that the Eurasia
n landmass, ie Europe
, Asia
and the Middle East
, needs to be controlled by America
to secure the oil supply." Bellamy goes on to suggest that the song is also influenced by George Orwell
's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four
, in which Eurasia is one of Earth's three super-states.
" would in fact be released as the lead single
, and that "United States..." would be the 'prize' achieved by completing the 'treasure hunt' activity set up by the band, "United States of Eurasia". As of 20 July, all six sample segments of the song promised by the treasure hunt have been unlocked by the fan community; a message is currently being displayed on the project page, ordering viewers to report back soon for an "emergency flash briefing." The main site then changed the green headline title from "Ununited States of Eurasia" to "United States of Eurasia".
On July 20 at approximately 12:00 PM (BST), the treasure hunt site "Ununited States of Eurasia" updated its map to include America and a banner reading "RECOGNITION FROM USA REQUESTED" with co-ordinates to a street in New York where the last phase is being played out. Interestingly, it is the only station that has a timed limit to it for activation and that failure in activating it will result in a Lockdown Crisis Mode which will mobilise "The Resistance". A subsequent Twitter post by Bellamy in reply to a fan states that US would have the grand finale and that they would have "a tough decision to make", hinting on the possibility that the final station should not be activated and that United States of Eurasia should not be recognised. Joe Ellis became the first DJ to air the new song on KXLL
during his Sunday show on 19 July 2009.
Following the conclusion of the treasure hunt on 21 July 2009, the song was made available for download from the microsite, complete with ending piano sonata "Collateral Damage", a slightly altered version of Frédéric Chopin's Nocturne in E-flat Major Op. 9 No. 2, with additional sounds of playing children and a jet fighter.
published a pre-release interview with the band on 7 July, identifying "United States..." as one of the highlights of the album and describing how it "builds into a climax of multi-tracked Queen
-style vocals." In a French review of the album published on MuseBootlegs.com, the song is likened to Queen's song "Bohemian Rhapsody
", Maurice Jarre
's soundtrack for the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia
and Polish composer Frédéric Chopin
, the amalgamation of which is said to produce "A long, cinematic classic rock
trip."
Online review magazine Pitchfork Media
was less receptive and granted the song a rating of 2 out of 10. Stating, "Even for a shameless group like Muse, 'United States of Eurasia' is pushing things a little too far...[with] rhetoric that'd make even the most passionate zealot roll their eyes."
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Muse
Muse (band)
Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...
and is featured on their fifth studio album The Resistance
The Resistance (album)
The Resistance is the fifth studio album by English alternative rock band Muse, released in Europe on 14 September 2009, and in North America on 15 September 2009....
. The song was made available as a free digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
online on 21 July 2009 and is followed by an instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
solo entitled "Collateral Damage", based on Nocturne In E-Flat Major, Op.9 No.2 by Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
.
Background and composition
"United States of Eurasia" was the first song title to be confirmed as on The Resistance, after fans worked it out from a photograph of its sheet musicSheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
uploaded on the band's Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
profile. On 3 July 2009, the album's track listing was revealed, with "United States..." positioned fourth between "Undisclosed Desires" and "Guiding Light".
In a pre-release interview featured in the August edition of music magazine Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
, vocalist and guitarist Matthew Bellamy
Matthew Bellamy
Matthew James Bellamy is an English musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, pianist, and main songwriter of the alternative rock band Muse.-Early life:...
reveals the song to be inspired by "a book called The Grand Chessboard
The Grand Chessboard
The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives is one of the major works of Zbigniew Brzezinski. Brzezinski graduated with a PhD from Harvard University in 1953 and became Professor of American Foreign Policy at John Hopkins University before becoming the United States...
by Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski is a Polish American political scientist, geostrategist, and statesman who served as United States National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981....
," explaining that "Brzezinski has the viewpoint that the Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
n landmass, ie Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, needs to be controlled by America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to secure the oil supply." Bellamy goes on to suggest that the song is also influenced by George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
, in which Eurasia is one of Earth's three super-states.
Release - 'Project Eurasia'
While initially thought to be the first single due to be released from The Resistance, the band confirmed on their Twitter profile that "UprisingUprising (song)
"Uprising" is a song by English rock band Muse, featured on their fifth studio album The Resistance. Written by lead vocalist and guitarist Matthew Bellamy, the song was released as the lead single from the album on 7 September 2009...
" would in fact be released as the lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
, and that "United States..." would be the 'prize' achieved by completing the 'treasure hunt' activity set up by the band, "United States of Eurasia". As of 20 July, all six sample segments of the song promised by the treasure hunt have been unlocked by the fan community; a message is currently being displayed on the project page, ordering viewers to report back soon for an "emergency flash briefing." The main site then changed the green headline title from "Ununited States of Eurasia" to "United States of Eurasia".
On July 20 at approximately 12:00 PM (BST), the treasure hunt site "Ununited States of Eurasia" updated its map to include America and a banner reading "RECOGNITION FROM USA REQUESTED" with co-ordinates to a street in New York where the last phase is being played out. Interestingly, it is the only station that has a timed limit to it for activation and that failure in activating it will result in a Lockdown Crisis Mode which will mobilise "The Resistance". A subsequent Twitter post by Bellamy in reply to a fan states that US would have the grand finale and that they would have "a tough decision to make", hinting on the possibility that the final station should not be activated and that United States of Eurasia should not be recognised. Joe Ellis became the first DJ to air the new song on KXLL
KXLL
KXLL is a non-commercial adult album alternative/modern rock hybrid music radio station in Juneau, Alaska, broadcasting on 100.7 FM.-History:Capital Community Broadcasting purchased KXLL and KSRJ from White Oak Broadcasting of Alaska in 2006....
during his Sunday show on 19 July 2009.
Following the conclusion of the treasure hunt on 21 July 2009, the song was made available for download from the microsite, complete with ending piano sonata "Collateral Damage", a slightly altered version of Frédéric Chopin's Nocturne in E-flat Major Op. 9 No. 2, with additional sounds of playing children and a jet fighter.
Reception
The song has received mixed reviews from critics and fans alike. Music magazine NMENME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
published a pre-release interview with the band on 7 July, identifying "United States..." as one of the highlights of the album and describing how it "builds into a climax of multi-tracked Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
-style vocals." In a French review of the album published on MuseBootlegs.com, the song is likened to Queen's song "Bohemian Rhapsody
Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera...
", Maurice Jarre
Maurice Jarre
Maurice-Alexis Jarre was a French composer and conductor.Although he composed several concert works, he is best known for his film scores, and is particularly known for his collaborations with film director David Lean. Jarre composed the scores to all of Lean's films since Lawrence of Arabia...
's soundtrack for the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia
Lawrence of Arabia (film)
Lawrence of Arabia is a 1962 British film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence. It was directed by David Lean and produced by Sam Spiegel through his British company, Horizon Pictures, with the screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson. The film stars Peter O'Toole in the title role. It is widely...
and Polish composer Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
, the amalgamation of which is said to produce "A long, cinematic classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
trip."
Online review magazine Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
was less receptive and granted the song a rating of 2 out of 10. Stating, "Even for a shameless group like Muse, 'United States of Eurasia' is pushing things a little too far...[with] rhetoric that'd make even the most passionate zealot roll their eyes."