Bify Clyro
Biffy Clyro are back for their first new album since 2009 in the form of Opposites, and we here at FemaleFirst thought it was fitting to see how the band rose to become one of the UK’s biggest rock bands only to nearly be torn apart by their new found success.
Like many bands, while success may come all of a sudden, a lot of graft goes into the preparation. This is very much the case with Biffy Clyro. The trio of Simon Neil and twins James and Ben Johnston formed in 1995 and spent over a decade perfecting their sound, growing from a teenage cover band to a fully-fledged rock band.
It was their third album released nearly a decade after their initial coming together in 2004 that would get Biffy Clyro attention from outside of the niche Scottish scene, getting them into the good books of DJ Zane Lowe and making them a nationwide prospect, netting them a deal with Warner Brothers offshoot 14th Floor.
It was only in 2007 though that the band truly kicked into the mainstream. Having gone slightly lighter than their last album, their latest collection of tracks struck the perfect balance that any rock band chasing mainstream success is after. Making the songs radio friendly enough to get the casual listener, but not lightening them so much that they lose their more niche fans along the way.
From their enormous choruses that lodged themselves inside your brain for days to come, and a heady mix of driving guitars and overblown instrumentation, Biffy had found all of the pomp and swagger that made Foo Fighters such a chart success.
The singles ‘Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies’ and ‘Saturday Superhouse’ got the band instant national radio play and whole group of new fans who hadn’t heard of the Kilmarnock trio before then. This was clearly shown in the charts, with Puzzles going to number two in the charts (only beaten by Editors second album), the first of their albums to go top forty, let alone top ten.
It wasn’t just a commercial success either, as it was named the best album of the year by both Kerrang and Rock Sound and garnered many excellent reviews, who nearly all agreed that this bigger, more stadium filling music fitted Biffy’s style more.
The band were clearly on a roll and followed up with what is still their biggest single yet in the form of Mountains, a brilliant, driving rock track that powered its way to number 5 in the singles charts and remains to this day their only track to reach this milestone.
They followed that up in 2009 with their next album Only Revelations, a record that further refined the style they’d discovered on Puzzles and creating what might just be the epitome of what Biffy Clyro can do when in their prime. The album went top three and was once again roundly praised by critics, proving that Biffy had truly found their groove.
Not everything was good though within the band, with drummer Ben beginning to suffer with alcoholism problems so strong that he claims that it nearly split the band apart after he ended up missing flights and passing out during recording sessions due to his drinking. With singer Simon Neil also having personal issues, he was worried that the band was tearing itself apart.
Thankfully for their legions of fans though, they were able to get their issues under control, ditching the late nights and partying to buckle down on their music. With the band making promises that this will be something unique (featuring kazoos, bagpipes and tubular bells of all things), Opposites will be the acid test to see if Biffy Clyro can stay at the top of British rock heap.
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