MUSE Frontman MATT BELLAMY Reveals Appreciation For YNGWIE MALMSTEEN: 'I Got Into' His Music 'In The Early '90s'

In a new interview with Classic Rock magazine, MUSE frontman Matt Bellamy revealed an appreciation for Yngwie Malmsteen after Classic Rock's Amit Sharma pointed out that a lick in the MUSE song "You Make Me Feel Like It's Halloween" sounds like something the legendary Swedish guitarist might play.

"Oh, brilliant!", Bellamy exclaimed. "I haven't listened to him in a while, but Yngwie was one of those people I got into in the early '90s when I first started playing. Clearly back then, I thought there was a chance. After a while, I realized I simply couldn't get to where he was, and sort of veered off towards more classical and flamenco guitar styles. Then I started listening to players like [Jimi] Hendrix and [Kurt] Cobain and felt: 'You know what? I can do chaos. I can't do this unbelievable technical precision, but what I can do is create a mess.' So I went down the road of noise, chaos and carnage…. and little elements of the other things stayed with me."

Bellamy also talked about the metal influence on MUSE's "Will Of The People" album, saying: "When we were growing up, we were listening to bands like IRON MAIDEN. And though we connected more through NIRVANA, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and the SMASHING PUMPKINS, we always had this love for eighties metal. METALLICA were also a big one for us, but IRON MAIDEN were the British band and also felt a bit more punk rock in ways. The song 'Phantom Of The Opera' [from IRON MAIDEN's self-titled debut album] doesn't feel as bloated or overtly classical as other metal songs. There's still something quite angry and scary about it. That's why MAIDEN are a band we've always looked up to.

"That usage of the harmonic minor scale and the progressive approach to arrangements is something that we share, even if we never sounded like them and live in a different genre. We have a lot of respect for them as musicians, especially Steve Harris, who is one of the best bass players around."

Three months ago, MUSE announced a North American tour for spring 2023. The North American arena trek will kick off in Chicago, running its two-month course throughout multiple cities including stops in Minneapolis, Toronto, New York, Los Angeles, and more. The tour features special guest EVANESCENCE.

MUSE is Matt Bellamy, Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme. Since forming in 1994, MUSE have released nine studio albums, selling over 30 million units worldwide. Their latest album, "Will Of The People", debuted at No. 1 in multiple territories including United Kingdom (their seventh consecutive No. 1),Austria, France, Finland, Italy and Switzerland. Their previous album, "Simulation Theory", debuted at No. 1 in multiple territories and followed their 2015 album "Drones", which went on to win a Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album", the band's second.

MUSE have won numerous music awards including two Grammy Awards, an American Music Award, five MTV Europe Music Awards, two Brit Awards, eleven NME Awards and seven Q Awards, among others.