The 2nd Law
2012 studio album by Muse
The 2nd Law is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Muse. It was first released on 28 September 2012 in Europe, 1 October 2012 in the United Kingdom, and on 2 October 2012 in North America through Warner Bros. Records and the band's own Helium-3 imprint. Recording took place in studios between London and Los Angeles County, beginning in October 2011 and ending in August 2012. The 2nd Law was Muse's second album to be solely self-produced by the band, following The Resistance (2009). It features additional musicians that performed brass, strings, and choir vocals.
The 2nd Law is a concept album about a deteriorating planet that its inhabitants can no longer live on. Major lyrical themes include societal collapse, totalitarianism, and the second law of thermodynamics, which the title references. Musically, the band chose to experiment significantly and create a sound that was distinct from their previous records. The album incorporates art rock, progressive rock, and electronic music with Muse's traditional alternative rock style.
“The 2nd Law” enters the record as 2012 studio album by Muse. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what studio, album and Muse can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“The 2nd Law” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, studio, album and Muse provides the most credible route into that argument.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q745712. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2012, 2011 and 2009.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The 2nd Law”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The 2nd Law primary sources, The 2nd Law archive and studio research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The 2nd Law”?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “The 2nd Law” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.