"We basically recorded the album in four weeks as a rock record, and we then spent some time fucking with it after we got the songs done," drummer Robin Goodridge said of The Science of Things, due Tuesday (Oct. 26). "Almost like Bush remixing Bush, rather than giving it to someone else and not having too much control over what you had." Built around a vaguely science-fiction theme, songs such as "Warm Machine," "Spacetravel," "Jesus Online" and "Altered States" continue singer Gavin Rossdale's lyrical fascination with doomed relationships and the decay of modern society.

"The Chemicals Between Us" — a funky, dance-beat-driven rock ballad — was the first song in three years to get added in its first week to all 89 of the stations on Radio & Records' Alternative chart, according to Sky Daniels, the radio trade magazine's general manager. "The alternative format is not as unified in spirit and sound as it once was," Daniels said. "Which is why it's increasingly difficult to [get on every station] at all, let alone in the first week. They managed to do it by covering all the bases; it's melodic enough to appeal to the more pop-oriented stations and hard-rock enough to appeal to the more extreme outlets."

Rossdale described the single as "a pure programmed [drum] song" that he felt got to the heart of miscommunication between friends and lovers. "You just assume that you think a certain way, and therefore, that's how everyone thinks, and that just isn't so," Rossdale said. "I've found myself often in this position, where everything I've done to try and help has only made things worse. I put that down to these differences [in perception]."

The singer retreated to a rugged house in the Irish countryside last year to write the 12-track album, demoing the songs on his own before bringing them to the band. The time alone led to reflection, but it also led to a change in how Bush demo their songs, Rossdale said. Regarding his time in seclusion, Rossdale, 31, said, "I was just going to have ideas, and it was like, 'Fuck it, I'll put a beat down just because it helps me.' And then it was, 'Might as well put a bass down,' and then you go from there, and you just want to make it interesting and fun." The result was 24 songs in a more-or-less polished state that, Rossdale said, relied just as heavily on drum loops and futuristic keyboard sounds as they did on the strident rock style of hits such as "Mouth" and "Swallowed", which built Bush's reputation.

Although the band — which also features guitarist Nigel Pulsford and bassist Dave Parson — came to prominence with the aggressive, grunge-inspired guitar sound of their 1993 debut, Sixteen Stone, and its equally heavy 1996 follow-up, Razorblade Suitcase, it was the1997 remix album Deconstructed that most inspired The Science of Things, according to Goodridge. "What happened is that we were really excited by some of the reinterpretations of our material that people did," Goodridge, 32, said. Deconstructed featured remixes of Bush hits, including "Mouth", reinterpreted by a range of techno/jungle artists including Goldie, Tricky, Meat Beat Manifesto's Jack Dangers and the Dub Pistols.

Formed in England in late 1992, Bush's grunge sound helped them break big in the United States, following the worldwide success of Nirvana's Nevermind (1991). More than two years after its release, Sixteen Stone was certified gold in the U.S., launching the hits "Little Things," "Comedown" and "Glycerine." After finishing The Science of Things in late 1998, Bush were sued by their label, Trauma Records, in March, for $40 million. The suit, in which Trauma claimed breach of contract and nondelivery of the album, delayed the completion and release of The Science of Things until a settlement was reached in June.

As evidenced by "Spacetravel" — which features backing vocals from Rossdale's girlfriend, No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani — and other songs on the new LP, the group has tempered its love of experimentation with a healthy dose of hard rock."We're careful never to go too crazy on that shit," Rossdale said of the techno elements. "We're a rock band."

The Science of Things also includes the tracks "English Fire," "40 Miles From the Sun," "Prizefighter," "The Disease of the Dancing Cats," "Dead Meat," "Letting the Cables Sleep" and "Mindchanger."