The 2nd Law
by Muse

The 2nd Law by Muse
Year: 2012
Release date: 2012-10-01
Overall rank: 1,143rd   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
64/100 (from 730 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 2012 (16th)
Award Top albums of the 2010s (167th)
Award Best albums of all time (1,143rd)

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Product Details
Availability

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Muse - The 2nd Law [New Vinyl LP] 180 Gram
Condition: New


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MUSE – The 2nd Law CD 2012 Rock Alternative Warner Bros. Studio Album
Condition: Very Good


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MUSE The 2nd Law NEW SEALED UK 2012 Vinyl 2LP. 825646568772
Condition: New


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Muse bestography

The 2nd Law is ranked 6th best out of 19 albums by Muse on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Muse is Absolution which is ranked number 188 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 7,875.

Muse album bestography « Higher ranked (805th)
Showbiz
This album (1,143rd)
The 2nd Law
Lower ranked (1,488th) »
Drones

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Listen to The 2nd Law on YouTube

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The 2nd Law rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 1,143rd | 2010s rank: 167th | 2012 rank: 16th

The 2nd Law collection

The 2nd Law ratings

Average Rating: 
64/100 (from 730 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 730 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 
05/12/2026 17:54 Jakor  Ratings distribution  5,38670/100
 
90/100
 
05/10/2026 12:14 Adhura  Ratings distribution  1,66377/100
 
75/100
 
04/25/2026 23:19 Robert Anton Wil  Ratings distribution  1,14184/100
 
60/100
 
04/08/2026 21:32 araidernomore  Ratings distribution  45770/100
 
100/100
 
03/24/2026 21:38 Devilwoac  Ratings distribution  1,25997/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album has a Bayesian average rating of 64.2/100, a mean average of 64.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 64.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 20.6.

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The 2nd Law comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 72 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Rating:  
25/100
From 09/25/2025 09:07 | #311076
I love all Muse albums except this one. It goes in every direction, the production is terrible, and there are far fewer good tracks than on their other albums
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
45/100
From 07/21/2025 15:38 | #310236
Much better than I thought it would be, as they clearly experimented with this album. Supremacy is the best track on the album and a great way to start. Also liked Animals, Big Freeze and Save Me. Shame about the penultimate track which is just godawful with the cringey dubstep. Other than that, another good Muse album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 12/30/2024 23:51 | #306730
One of the best bands of all time, who started writing lyrics to question the inequality caused by capitalism, then Western "democracy" removed them from radio and TV and the sheep portrayed in Pink Floyd's Animals album are still all lined up... Méé Méé Méé... Great album
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
65/100
From 12/08/2020 15:15 | #262284
If you don't take the over the top stuff too seriously, if you don't mind dubstep and if you skip some songs, it is quite decent.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 05/22/2020 19:49 | #251850
Ok
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
60/100
From 01/05/2020 22:07 | #246464
Maybe the poppiest of all their albums. But that's okay, it's fun. Rather this than when they try to be deep.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 07/18/2019 20:19 | #239818
I love Muse and all, but man I hated this.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 06/20/2019 04:29 | #237915
This is a great album by Muse with great variety and strong songs. the album starts and finishes brilliantly.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (3 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
50/100
From 02/22/2019 18:59 | #232407
Few good tracks, but very average, again, very formulaic.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (1 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
Rating:  
30/100
From 06/24/2018 16:49 | #217214
This album was Muse's first misstep when going down this dystopian path. Resistance was able to provide some commentary (although a bit simplistic) and was able to cover some of it's deficiencies by being a kind of homage to 1984. 2nd law shows that Muse actually doesn't know what they are talking about and they are really just peddling vague thoughts and negative feelings towards things. I don't even really understand what they stand for besides general fear if those in power and throwing around buzz words hoping people will interpret them as deep thoughts.

That being said, the music is also weaker than the rest of their discography. Madness feels lazy, and most of the rest of the tracks feel very ordinary and don't stand out much. The only song that feels memorable to me is panic station. It isn't their best song, but it actually stands on its own musically.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (3 helpful | 4 unhelpful)
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