Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions
Record Label: 14th Floor
Release Date: March 9, 2010
If you live on the other side of the pond, you will almost certainly consider Scottish trio Biffy Clyro as one of the greatest bands in the world. Progressively building a large hardcore fan base since the early years of the decade, Biffy seem to have finally warranted those claims of universal acclaim.
After 2007's major label debut Puzzle, which contained dark lyrics based upon the death of lead vocalist Simon Neil’s mother, the lyrical themes of Only Revolutions are slightly more upbeat, relating to his relationship with his new wife.
From the opening sounds reminiscent to a pirate walking on a plank on "The Captain", you know that this will be a pleasant record, something quite unexpected from a band which once wrote songs such as "Theres No Such Things as a Jaggy Snake". "The Captain" contains a stoner rock riff with poppy melodies to create a brilliant opener. The next track, "That Golden Rule" is a masterpiece which takes no prisoners; it is surprisingly the heaviest song on the track. The Kyuss style riff is also present. Josh Homme's influence on the album does not stop there as he also contributes to a guitar solo in the next track "Bubbles". Rock ballads "God & Satan" and "Many Of Horror" are divine with the latter containing lyrics that grip your throat such as "You Say, I Love You Boy/But I Know You Lie/I Trust You All The Same/I Don't Know Why" which show an argument from a different point of view. "Born On A Horse" goes to a direction Biffy have never ventured out to before, not the hairdressers, funk highly influenced by Simon Neil’s side-project "Marmaduke Duke”. The only song on the album which does not compare to the immense heights of this album is "Boooom, Blast & Ruin". This is similar to a track on any album of Biffy Clyro's underground days (with better production, of course) but does little favor to either the loyal hardcore fans or the army base of fans since the UK Top 3 album "Puzzle".
The release also has place for the Top 5 single "Mountains" which shows how far Biffy have progressed since the debut single "Iname" which failed to make the Top 200."Only Revolutions" is not the revolution the hardcore fans were hoping for, but will catapult the band to even further heights. It will be almost impossible for anyone listening to the album not to feel oddly inspired or admired by Kilmarnock's finest latest offering. The only thing preventing Biffy Clyro from being considered rock gods all over the world is lack of publicity or advertisement.
Awesome album... weak review. "Boooom, Blast & Ruin" might be the best song on the album.
Some criticisms:
That first paragraph is full of generalizations that I don't think you can justify.
You don't consider someone AS something... you consider them TO BE something.
"Claim universal acclaim" sounds awkward... so does "The only song on the album which does not compare to the immense heights of this album" - you used the word album twice in that sentence and you didn't really have to.
Your closing statement is flat. Hit 'em with something snappy.
That said, you seem to know much about the band - which is a good thing. Just need to work on your writing fundamentals. Keep at it!
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