Opposites

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As it is, Opposites may not be the career-defining masterpiece it's intended as, but it's certainly not the pompous disaster it could have been: it has failings, but not the ones you might expect. It was recorded during their live performance at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, in Glasgow, Scotland on 1 April 2013, one of their concerts of the Opposites Tour. With ‘Opposites’, Biffy Clyro have diluted their sound even further, with the focus almost exclusively on by the numbers mid tempo rockers with big choruses and even bigger stadiums in mind. This first release led to the band being chosen by Stow College's Electric Honey record label to release a record: thekidswhopoptodaywillrocktomorrow was released on Nerosa on 13 June 2000, receiving airplay from BBC Radio Scotland DJ Vic Galloway. And – the most important disjunction of all – Biffy Clyro demonstrate the self-assuredness of a band who know they’re destined for Foo Fighters-levels of global reverence while still playing by their own rules.

But it’s the moments of unfamiliarity that prove most rewarding: listen out for the Sunn o))) meets The Cure drone of opener DumDum, the thunderous drum and synth of Separate Missions, and the playful Witch’s Cup. I don't want to seem like a dick, but this line is horrible (if you mean loyalty to fans)- fans owe a band loyalty just as much a the band owes them. As with the previous album, two singles were released before the actual album: " Glitter and Trauma" and " My Recovery Injection" on 9 August and 20 September respectively.

In April 2018, Biffy Clyro announced that they were concurrently working on two albums, their eighth studio album with the working title Opus 8 (released in 2020 as A Celebration of Endings) as well as a soundtrack album. There’s the tender Opposite and, later on, The Thaw, which both tug at the heartstrings without ever sounding sickly and saccharine. The three-piece have hit something of a purple patch of late, with a run of three albums in as many years: 2019 film soundtrack Balance, Not Symmetry, 2020’s A Celebration of Endings and its 2021 companion album The Myth of the Happily Ever After. This companion piece to 2020’s A Celebration of Endings was recorded virtually in secret at the band’s rehearsal space hidden away on an East Ayrshire farm. But on an album that could be loosely described as 45 minutes of uninterrupted success, it’s closer Cop Syrup which offers a moment of genuine horripilation.

Biffy Clyro are a band who have always prided themselves on evading rock’n’roll clichés; they are three normal men, who live normal lives with normal wives and girlfriends in the very normal Ayrshire, in Scotland. The band announced they would be playing a large arena tour through March/April 2013, including London's The O2 Arena, with City and Colour in support. Aided and abetted by Balance, Not Symmetry producer Adam Noble, this is the sound of a band free of what might politely be described as helpful advice from helpful record executives. In an episode of Music Choice's Pop Quiz, Simon Neil said that Biffy Clyro is the name of a Scotsman that built his own rocket and was the first man in space.No disappointment, with hindsight, Ellipsis falls a whisker-short of the rest of their dizzying oeuvre. It was around this time that the band began touring extensively, including supporting Weezer on 20 March at the Barrowlands in Glasgow. Revolutions: Live at Wembley: "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100: 03 July 2011 – 09 July 2011". In an interview with the NME, the band stated that they had started work on a follow up to Puzzle, with Simon Neil saying that the album would include some of the band's "heaviest riffs to date". Biffy Clyro were confirmed to be supporting Muse for 14 dates on their European tour, including Wembley Stadium on 11 September, performing after I Am Arrows and White Lies.

But Biffy Clyro have confidently bucked the system without compromising their sometimes chaotic sound.

The band have never disclosed where the name "Biffy Clyro" originated, and Simon Neil has said that it was "a stupid name" that was often "awkward" to explain its origins when the band started and when not many had heard their music. There’s the fizz-bang perfection of Tiny Indoor Fireworks and the comforting swell of the string-laden of The Champ, which slides headfirst into Bond theme territory. During this time, the band's rising popularity saw them perform an increasing number of shows, which delayed the work on the new album. Neil's riffs are lubricated with buckets of piss and vinegar, and punctuated with a rallying cry of ‘Fuck everybody’, later melting into a beautiful orchestral passage before concluding with a defiant, jaw-breaking coda. This Modern Leper": "Official Scottish Singles Chart Top 100: 04 September 2020 – 11 September 2020".