Plug In Baby

2001 single by Muse

"Plug In Baby" is a song by English rock band Muse. It was released as the lead single from the band's second studio album, Origin of Symmetry (2001), on 12 March 2001. The song became the band's highest charting single in the UK when it peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart, until it was surpassed by "Time Is Running Out", which peaked at number 8 in 2003. Today, "Plug In Baby" is considered one of Muse's most notable songs, and has been featured on the live albums Hullabaloo Soundtrack (2002), HAARP (2008) and Live at Rome Olympic Stadium (2013).

"Plug In Baby" is written in the key of B minor (although the song does not begin or end on the tonic chord of the key). It's mainly guitar and bass driven, and moves at a tempo of 136 bpm. The guitar riff is based on the harmonic minor scale. The beginning of the riff shows similarities to the toccata from Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565" and the beginning of Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings". One of the B sides to the single, "Execution Commentary", was described by Bellamy as the "worst song I've ever written".

The 1997 studio demo of the song lacked the main riff of the song, although there were numerous similarities in the lyrics and structure. "Plug In Baby" was to be re recorded under the wishes of Maverick to coincide with the US tour promoting the Origin of Symmetry album, as Maverick wished Bellamy to tone down the falsetto on the song as well as on the album. The band spent a few days at Long View Farm in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, in September 2001 recording this new version, but were left unsatisfied by the result. Consequently, Maverick dropped Muse in the US market and Origin of Symmetry remained unreleased in the country until 2005.

The song is often praised for its opening guitar riff, which Total Guitar magazine readers voted as the number 1 ultimate guitar riff of the 2000s and the 13th best of all time in 2004. In 2011, Spinner. com named "Plug In Baby" the 46th greatest guitar riff of all time, citing its "play on Bach's 'Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565'." The song has been featured on the video games Guitar Hero 5 and Rocksmith.

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)Ref. (Reference)United Kingdom12 March 20017 inch vinyl, CD, cassetteMushroomAustralia26 March 2001CDFestival Mushroom