"Hysteria" is a song by English alternative rock bandMuse and is featured on their third studio album, Absolution. It was also released as a single from that album on 1 December 2003 in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 17 in the UK Singles Chart. The song is also well known for its intricate bass line, which was voted the sixth best bass line of all time on MusicRadar. It reached number 9 in the US on the BillboardModern Rock Tracks chart. The artwork for the 7" cover was chosen by competition, and the winner was Adam Falkus. The runner-up images are included in the DVD version of the single. The song was performed regularly during the tour in support of Absolution and remains a staple of the band's live show. The song also appears on the Absolution Tour DVD and on both the CD and DVD of HAARP.
Music video
The song's video, starring actor Justin Theroux and directed by Matt Kirby, is based on the hotel-trashing scene from the movie Pink Floyd – The Wall. It takes the form of a short narrative depicting a man awakening inside of a hotel room and, through non-linear chronological elements, discovering that he both stalked and eventually met with a prostitute with whom he was obsessed. This encounter, however, ends unpleasantly. The video has several interpretations and can be seen to have several ambiguous elements, including the fit of rage which induces the man to trash the hotel room, and several chronologically non-linear sequences describing elements of plot. An alternate video was also created for the release of the single in the U.S. which features the band playing in front of a green screen; with white blood vessels, a woman's face, red, grey and black circles overlapping, and lightning. This video is also used in the UK before the watershed, as the original video was deemed unsuitable for children. The director's cut of the video features several women visiting the protagonist in his hotel room as well as the main woman from the original version and is available on the Microcuts fansite.
Usage in the media
The song is available to play on Rocksmith 2014 as part of a Muse 5-song pack. "Hysteria" is also featured in the European version of the video gameRock Band and as downloadable content for the US version. Hysteria is frequently used as Windsor-Detroits 88.7, 89x's "Morning X's" starter song. Hysteria was also played during sign-off of "The Barsky Show", hosted by Paul Barsky on 94 WYSP-FM in Philadelphia between 2005 and 2008. The Jim Rome Show uses this song as a "bumper" between show breaks. The television channel TNT used "Hysteria" in its commercials in late 2004, and it was also used in commercials for Guerlain's Insolence perfume. Aside from commercials, "Hysteria" was featured in the BBC program Top Gearin Season 5, Episode 7, in the film Evo VIII vs Lamborghini. "Hysteria" was also featured in a season 2 episode of the HBO series Entourage, and was used alongside "Blackout", another song from the Absolution album, in the movie Millions. The song was also used in an episode of Doctor Who confidential. The British television program used the song at the end of each show with the "Explosive Of The Week". It was also used as the main theme for Moto GP on the BBC up until the Dutch race at Assen in 2009, as well as the background song of the official race edit for the 2009 Australian Grand Prix on Formula1.com. Professional wrestler Nicole Matthews uses "Hysteria" as her entrance theme in Shimmer Women Athletes. The Pittsburgh Penguins used this song for their introduction video in the second half of the 2011-12 NHL season. The Washington Capitals used the song as a musical introduction to the second period of their home hockey games during the 2006-07 NHL Season.
