Muse began recording in late 2002 with the producers John Cornfield and Paul Reed at
Air Studios, London, where they recorded "
Butterflies and Hurricanes" and "Blackout". They were joined later by the American producer
Rich Costey, who produced the rest of the album. Costey had worked with acts Muse admired, including
Rage Against the Machine and
Audioslave, and wanted to give them a bigger, more aggressive sound. According to Costey, Muse wanted to sound like a "colossal, dynamic, epic and powerful rock band". Muse and Costey used the sound design system
Kyma to process tracks including "
Time Is Running Out", "Hysteria" and "Apocalypse Please". Bellamy said Kyma added an "outrageously hi-fi and bright and futuristic sound"; Costey described it as "the sound of the record". The group experimented with drum sounds, using a number of microphones. For the introduction to "Apocalypse Please", they recorded two
kick drums in the Grouse Lodge swimming pool. They also recorded Wolstenholme diving into the pool, which was used in the bridge of "Thoughts of a Dying Atheist". For "Ruled by Secrecy", they recorded a drum take in the courtyard outdoors, hoping to capture an unusual ambience, but discarded the results. On "Falling Away with You", Costey captured the sound of Bellamy's fingers on the guitar strings to create an intimate feeling. For "
Sing for Absolution", Muse used
prepared piano, laying metal objects such as nails and guitar strings on the piano strings. They also processed the piano with a pitch-shifting
DigiTech Whammy pedal and an
Echloplex delay effect. For "Ruled by Secrecy", they blended piano and a Yamaha CP-80
electric piano. Costey recorded Bellamy's left and right-hand parts separately, and ran them through guitar amps and an Echoplex. "Time Is Running Out" was the most difficult song to record; Muse spent hours working on the bass sound for the introduction, processing Wolstenholme's bass with multiple effects. Eventually, they used a
Roland synthesiser played through a Marshall amp. "Endlessly" was the last song completed. Muse struggled to improve on the simplicity of Bellamy's demo, recorded with a piano and a
four-to-the-floor drum machine rhythm. Eventually, they used lighter, jazzier drumming and an old
Hammond organ. Later in 2003, Muse and Costey spent three weeks in
Cello Studios, Los Angeles. They recorded more overdubs, including the marching sounds that open the album, and the final version of "Endlessly", and
mixed the album. They also attracted interest from American labels and signed a contract with
Warner Bros. Records. == Music and lyrics ==