Mix the soaring climaxes of Kings Of Leon with the melodic, but yet incredibly gritty rock riffs and choruses of Foo Fighters, and make them Scottish.
Voila.
Simon Neil, Ben Johnston and James Johnston, (Lead, Drums and Bass respectively) were united at the age of 12 by their love of grunge, metal, punk and Pearl Jam's "Black" from the 1991 album Ten (the defining underground record apart from Nirvana's Nevermind) and formed a band as a result. Simple enough.
But, as the best band story often goes, this wasn't an overnight success. They realeased their debut single in 1999. A decade ago.
Despite everything you immediately assume, Biffy Clyro are not some kind of puritan Rock/Metal/Hardcore band.
They embrace the Pop. (You see the resemblance to the Foo's?)
The way they mix the kick-ass riffs with some nice melodies made the long path to the mainstream charts just a little bit shorter.
They kicked out the 8-minute tracks with some shorter, straighter songs complete with some softer songs(Many of Horrors, for instance, simplistic but beautiful) and released the album Only Revolutions. Yes, there are the few people, unsurprisingly that say Biffy have Changed "in a bad way". But, really, if they hadn't changed their sound just a little bit they might not have gained the popularity they now indeed have. Because sometimes change is good, and not everyone wants to listen to 8-minute songs...
Whether its the incredibly sweet, piano power of "Mountains" or the slightly strange "Pause It and Turn It Up" (No, it isn't just you, the song IS 25 minutes long. FACT), There is something there worth listening to, because secretly, everyone likes a good pop melody, whether or not it is diguised by the "Rock Star" cover.
Embrace the pop, people.
Peace, Love, Empathy.
Album Highlights: That Golden Rule, Cloud Of Stink, Many of Horror
No comments:
Post a Comment