SO much has happened to the wonderful Biffy Clyro since that summer’s day six-and-a-half years ago when we saw them blasting out their biting indie-rock from the main stage at Truck Festival.
We’d be lucky to see the Scot rockers grace a stage in Steventon these days with the trio, signed to 14th Floor, ascending to the mainstream with a softer, more melodic approach.
Opposites continues the trend for accessible chunky pop-rock rather than the prog-hardcore early stuff, and should emulate the success of 2007’s mammoth Puzzle and 2009’s Only Revolutions.
The 20-track double-CD opens crackers – Different People, Black Chandelier and Sounds Like Balloons. The rest are great tunes in what has become their signature style. The title is a deceptive – with each disc being, in fact, rather similar. However, each has its own theme: the first being bleak and intense, while the second is much more positive and light.
Opposites will delight recent converts to Kilmarnock’s finest but may well disappoint fans who preferred the heavier material. But while few traces of their metal past remain, it proves a fittingly groundbreaking album with experimental sounds and the quirky lyrics for which threesome Simon Neil, James Johnston and Ben Johnston are famous.
Whether it earns them a repeat Mercury nod or (please no!) another chart-topping cover by X Factee Matt Cardle, remains to be seen. But what can be predicted is a steady climb up the charts.
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