"Hysteria" is a song by the English rock band Muse, released on 1 December 2003 as the third single from their third studio album, Absolution (2003). It was produced by Muse and Rich Costey. "Hysteria" reached number 17 on the UK singles chart and number 9 in the US on the BillboardModern Rock Tracks chart.
Performances of "Hysteria" are included the live videos Absolution Tour (2005) and HAARP (2008). A demo and a live version appeared on Absolution XX, the 20th-anniversary Absolution reissue.[2] The song was featured in the video game Fortnite Festival.[3]
Recording
According to the bassist, Chris Wolstenholme, "Hysteria" originated in a jam during a soundcheck in Doncaster, England, with the guitarist, Matt Bellamy, playing the riff in a blues style. Wolstenholme transferred the riff to bass guitar and changed it to a "machine-gun-like" sixteenths pattern.[4] He split his signal into three Marshall amps, one clean and two distorted, and blended the results with a synthesiser.[5][4]
Bellamy restructured "Hysteria" after feedback from the producer, Rich Costey.[6] Muse recorded "Hysteria" at Air Studios in late 2002 and completed it at Livingstone Studios in early 2003, both in London.[7][8] They processed the song using the sound design system Kyma.[6] In 2025, Wolstenholme said "Hysteria" was his favourite Muse bassline.[4]
Music video
The music video was inspired by the hotel-trashing scene from Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982). It takes the form of a short narrative depicting a man (played by Justin Theroux) 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 (played by Hayley Caradoc-Hodgkins). The encounter ends violently.
An alternate video was 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.[9]
Reception
In 2012, "Hysteria" was voted the best Muse song by readers of NME.[10] The bassline was named the sixth-best of all time by MusicRadar in 2011.[11]
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