Biffy Clyro Album: “Puzzle [PA]”

You know how Oasis CD's always sound big and urgent, like something great is going to happen? There's a lot of that here, and unfortunately nothing really does. "Folding Stars" is the best example of that, big guitars and the lead up to the multi-harmony chorus . . . that just isn't there. "Dust Dances" is the slow burner type that sounds promising, but as the band gets into it they keep stretching lines out looking for something to click that doesn't quite happen, it all sounds like the lead up to the passage they were looking for and never found. "Saturday" goes against their sound, it's too fast and loud, and again never quite gets to a memorable hook.

A very frustrating CD, because I liked their sound and voices and was kind of rooting for them to really hit it. The problem is the one thing they're missing is the most difficult of all, nothing else really matters if you can write hooks. And if you can't, no amount of good noise makes up for it, because it just drains in one ear and out the other. You can learn a lot about music, but you can't learn to hit the gong, you either have it or you don't. Sorry guys.

I saw the "Mountains" video on tv and liked it very much. So I bought this latest album. From the first notes on, I thought, this is a special band. And the album turned out to be great. Really love it ! And it never left the cdplayer since. This is the best album of 2007.....and maybe 2008 ?

I'm usually not one to try something out just because the critics liked it, but when I heard the praise this album was getting, my interest was peaked. I got the album, and fell in love. As a seasoned music lover, I wondered how I had never looked into this underrated band.

I listened to the album over and over, never growing tired of it, and each time I was struck by its quality. It was very melodic, with a keen sense of harmony as well, the lyrics were interesting, and each of the band's members had impressive skill on their respective instruments. Each song was distinct and well-written, and everytime I listened to the album, I was left stunned.

I've listened to most of the band's other material since then, and there's some great stuff - truly a fantastic band - but still, this album moves me every time, and I still think it's their best-written, musically speaking.

I know some Biffy Clyro fans are miffed because it's been successful (as if that's a bad thing), or because it's attracted new fans (again, is that a bad thing?), or because it they think it sounds more mainstream (which can be contested). Of course, one of the other reviews even complained that critics liked it too much. These fans need to lighten up and look at the big picture. All good bands progress and go into new territory from time to time, and that's what Biffy Clyro's doing, and, if you ask me, they're going into exciting new directions.

Biffy Clyro deserve their reputation as an underappreciated and rising force in experimental rock, and this album is consistently listenable and occasionally fascinating. But sometimes the band seems to be progressing just for the sake of progressing, and they can't quite reach the heights to which they're doggedly climbing. Granted, the band's engagingly cryptic lyrics and imposing musical chops lead to many victories on this album. (Regarding those lyrics, I wonder if anyone else has noticed the obscure Guns n' Roses quote to start off "Get F***ed Stud.") Biffy Clyro are at their best when they stick to smart mid-tempo hooks like in "A Whole Child Ago" and "The Conversation Is..."; while they add some real excitement with the sly heavy grooves of "Saturday Superhouse" and especially the punishing "Semi-Mental." Unfortunately, trouble arises when the band slows down or experiments with different styles. The classical/gothic elements of "Intro," "Living is a Problem Because Everything Dies," and "9/15ths" are more annoying than they are enlightening. The angular stoner rock of "Who's Got a Match" is a direct rip-off of Queens of the Stone Age, and "Love Has a Diameter" is highly reminiscent of mid-period Peter Gabriel. The ballads "As Dust Dances" and "Machines," while insistent and believable, could be dismissed as slightly less languid takes on Coldplay. Regardless, the progressions and explorations of Biffy Clyro are worth taking very seriously, and as soon as they shed their over-reliance on their influences and their somewhat directionless over-reaching, they'll achieve a real breakthrough. [~doomsdayer520~]