Album Review - Biffy Clyro : Revolutions / Live At Wembley (2011)

The Biffy Clyro live show is an awesome affair and I have had the privilege of witnessing on numerous occasions, from smaller stages such as the Bristol Academy to their recent headline set at Sonisphere Festival. This double live release, a CD recording and DVD of the Scottish trio’s huge Wembley show, presents the band at a stage of their career where enormously epic is the scale at which they perform.

They’re a big time band now, and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of guys. The DVD is a fast-cut jolting experience, showing off the huge screens, bright lights and pyrotechnics. The visuals are a stunning accompaniment to the music, and that’s the main thing I want to talk about here. The CD is the set in full, which is 21 tracks (including an intro, interlude and outro) of some of the best Biffy tracks from their back catalogue, performed spectacularly by a band in their prime. Sure, much of the set features tracks from the latest albums, ‘Only Revolutions’ and ‘Puzzle’ but there is still room for some old favourites amongst the arguably more commercially accessible material from recent years.#

‘Revolutions / Live At Wembley’ is a good purchase for Biffy fans of new and old, capturing Simon Neil, James Johnson and Ben Johnson at their best, tearing through opening track ‘The Captain’ with venom, throwing back the years with singalong classic ‘57’ and delivering the complicated time signatures in ‘Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies’ in impeccable fashion. They are amazing performers, combining their awesome song writing with a stage presence that is second to none, This shines through in the audio of the show, which although does sound slightly auto-tuned to  near perfection, doesn’t take away from what makes Biffy Clyro one of the most important bands on the UK music scene right now.

Most of the tracks sound massive, which is what makes this album a success. After seeing Biffy rock a headline set at Sonisphere it’s hard to imagine the band being anywhere other than right at the top. Tracks like ‘Glitter & Trauma’ and ‘That Golden Rule’ are thrilling from the offset and the quieter songs like ‘Machines’ and ‘Many of Horror’ are beautiful, especially when combined with the voices of the thousands of people in the Wembley crowd.

Biffy Clyro are already one of my favourite modern bands, but releases like this really cement them as UK heavyweights. I expect a continued rise to the stars on a journey that will only get better. Wembley is just the beginning.

Album Review - Depth : Situations Fulfilled (2011)

Depth are a four-piece rock/post-hardcore band from Norwich who wear their influences on their sleeve on their full length album, ‘Situations Fulfilled’. They’ve had moderate success since their formation, including a live show streamed across the internet on the Red Bull Bedroom Jam website and a popular track on the Lava TV website. 

Unfortunately, this offering from Depth (which was also my first experience of the band) falls slightly flat and that’s possible due to the amount of tracks on the album. For an unsigned release, 12 tracks is a hell of a lot. It’s a huge mouthful for new listeners as it would be for industry professionals giving it the once over. Quality would have been better than quantity, as the size of the album makes each song quite forgettable. Nothing really stands out amongst the vast amount of bland tracks, making this album a painful experience at times.

Now, I will take nothing away from the band, they’re clearly good at what they do and I am sure that their success is warranted. I expect they have a loyal fan-base and put on a good live show. But ‘Situations Fulfilled’ just isn’t going to blow you out of the water.

Depth started out as a cover band, and this really isn’t surprising. They sound like a slightly less intense version of Funeral For A Friend, and that isn’t something that the world really needs right now. The songs are drenched in the sound of the Welsh band, and even some of the song titles are clearly influenced by the band’s most successful album, ‘Casually Dressed & Deep In Conversation’, even going as far as using some words from FFAF song titles in their own. There is paying homage and just plain ripping off, and I think Depth stand somewhere in the middle.

Some songs are more enjoyable to listen to than others, but by the time the middle of the album comes around, I am well and truly bored. I just want to stop listening and that’s really not what music should be about. Much of the songs feel forced and sometimes have too many mediocre parts are flying around, making much of this album unremarkable in almost every way.

If the band can pull away from the sounds of bands that inspire them and make something of their own, I am sure they could record something that doesn’t feel like watered down, half-arsed alternative rock, but for now, ‘Situations Fulfilled’ is just that.