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The Vertigo of Bliss

Biffy Clyro - The Vertigo of Bliss Audio CD

A fair review of the Biffy Clyro "The Vertigo of Bliss" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Biffy Clyro reviews here, or go back to the Biffy Clyro tabs.

Band: Biffy Clyro
Title: The Vertigo of Bliss
Rating:

Release Date: 2003-06-23
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Bodies in Flight 2: Ideal Height 3: With Aplomb 4: Day of... 5: Liberate the Illiterate's/A Mong Among Mingers 6: Diary of Always 7: Questions and Answers 8: Eradicate the Doubt 9: When the Faction's Fractioned 10: Toys, Toys, Toys, Choke, Toys, Toys, Toys 11: All the Way Down: Prologue Chapter 1 12: Man of His Appalling Posture 13: Now the Action Is on Fire!

The Best Biffy Album Thus Far
Wow, this band is great. Little is known about Biffy Clyro here in the States so I was very surprised by this band when I happened to come across them randomly on Myspace. I purchased all their albums shortly thereafter and I like this one the most. This album is a little more prog-rock and "mature" sounding than Blackened Sky and every song on it is quality. I wouldn't call Biffy Clyro a prog band, but there are definitely some prog elements to some of their songs. If you enjoy great straight forward alt-rock with elements of punk, prog, and metal, pick up this album. .

Another excellent album
However, I don't think a review of this band should be confined to normal cliche comparrisons, as the band, and indeed this album excel to the top of my stack on a regular interval. Unbelievable! I haven't so much enjoyed a debut since Placebo. My question is - why did it take me til 2004 to discover them??!!?!

Its been a revelation in my music listening life to have Biffy Clyro's first two albums in my collection. The extroadinary riffs, vocal parts, lyrics and compassion all create a warmth and atmosphere that makes you want to invite your mates around and share. There hasn't been a dissapointed listener to those who have heard these songs.

The mechanics of the songs vary, however, the intensity and drive remains consistent - each song with its own bag of tricks and multitude of hooks that will have you rewinding frequently. The music remains complex yet accessible and although catchy many parts will seem unique well into your 50th visit. Tiresome, these albums are not!

So what makes them so different? I don't really know - I suppose its the use of legion styles of rock and indie techniques, congealed into an easily digested audio onslaught with a compulsion to stay popular without sounding common. Sometimes its the lyrics you think of, other times a riff you can't shake. Whichever it is, Biffy Clyro will not be filed in the back of any cupboard nor abandoned without comment. Blackened sky and Vertigo of Bliss should be a double album in my book, and then labelled perhaps the best rock/alternative album of the 2000s!.

Bliss Indeed
What do you do next?

Questions require answers, and when one of the newer songs you start playing live is called "Questions and Answers", people start expecting good answers. So, you release a debut album as good as "Blackened Sky", which spawns four top quality singles, you have an insane and dedicated underground following which is growing bigger by the day and are receiving rave reviews in the press for intelligent and unpredictable grunge/emo/metal rock.

Well, Biffy have come up with them. Vertigo of Bliss is one of the most accomplished and varied albums I have heard for a long long time. From the thumping, shouting opening of 'Bodies In Flight' to the sudden heart-stopping climax of 'Now the Action Is On Fire', this album grabs you by the balls (or other sensitive areas) and implores you to listen. You just can't help yourself. Each track begins and you try to predict where its going to end up, usually ending up completely wrong as Biffy twist the songs this way and that with crashing riffs, furious shouting, funky melodies and fragile broken vocals. Examples - "A Day Of. . . " starts with heavy drums and thrashed guitars and ends up with the group singing choral harmonies, the anthemic "All the Way Down. . . " begins with quiet contemplation and ends with a repeated shouted catchy chorus with fantastic backing vocals - reminiscent of the old classic '57'.

And what singles has this album spawned? Well theres the epic 'toys toys toys', the catchy, slightly more mainstream 'The Ideal Height', the irrepressible 'Eradicate The Doubt'("you are the summer I'll feel forever"), and the aforementioned masterpiece 'Questions and Answers'. Great songs all.

However, look elsewhere for the truly magical as its the hidden gems that this album contains that make it so special. Gems like the hypnotic, breathy, dreamy surrealness of 'Diary Of Always', the magnificent closing track 'Now the Action Is On Fire', and the joyous glory of 'When The Faction's Fractioned' (just listen to the little 'huhs' and 'woos' in the background).

Yes, so the album is chockfull of excellent songs, and the running order is well planned in my opinion. However, truly great albums for me always contain one song above all the others that I treasure. Can Vertigo Of Bliss score one final mark for this?

Of course it can! 'Liberate the Illiterate' is one of my all-time favourite songs, from the hopeful start ("don't be sad, keep smiling"), through the building tension, to the quiet pensive moments just before the full-blooded screams and the final, glorious repition of the song's title. Wonderful.

BEST album i own
When you listen to this cd you have to completely remove any expectations and any knowledge of music composition. This album is without doubt the best I own. The way every song in the album is put together is unorthadox to say the least. forget verse, chorus, verse, chorus. each song is a journey with a beggining and an end and in between anything goes. There is one set rule: it is inventive, stunning and incredibly clever. Since blackened sky the biff have really matured and bloomed into one of the most inventive and distinguishable bands around today. despite almost no publicity biffy's extremely dedicated fanbase managed to push their last single "questions and answers" into the top 40 of the national uk pop charts. Somehow biffy manage to make a previously impossible sound, a sort of gentle alt EMO Metal with compassion. A cocktail of heavy guitar sounds and carefully executed licks blended with sensitive lyrics like "boulders of hate within love decay".

This band are almost perfect in my eyes. 100/100 buy it now!.

You can see a complete list of all Biffy Clyro discography, or go back to the Biffy Clyro tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.