Simon Neil and his Tattoos - A little update!

A report came on BBC Breakfast the other day about tattoos and whether policemen/women should be able to have them or not. I got talking to my Mum about different tattoos and why people get them and a name that kept popping up for me was Simon Neil.

Simon Neil is the AMAZING frontman of Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro whose entire top half of his body (excluding his head) is covered in tattoos and each one means a different one to him. Neil says he has about 30 tattoos all in all from lyrics to Di Vinci sketches. I thought I'd go through some of his best ones.

A Perfect Circle's Debut Album Artwork
from 2000.

For his 21st birthday, his girlfriend (now his wife) got him his first tattoo which was a reference to A Perfect Circle's debut album "Mer de Noms" and is the little symbol right at the bottom on the left hand side. Although he no longer considers himself a fan of the band, he says the tattoo still means a lot to him because it was from his wife.

Biffy Clyro's third album "Infinity Land"
artwork.

All members of the band have some kind of reference to their albums tattooed on them somewhere. I know Simon, Jim and Ben all have a puzzle piece tattooed on their left side of their ribs in reference to their 4th studio album "Puzzle" (which is personally my favourite) and a lot of fans also have this tattooed in the same place as a sign of dedication towards the band. Simon has the heart held in the hands of the figure on the front of "Infinity Land"'s artwork tattooed on his left arm.

Simon's mother's painting.
Taken from an interview from Radio 2.
To see the interview go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmJdfNXyl20

If you are a Biffy fan, you will know that Simon's mother, Eleanor, passed away in 2004 and that their single from "Puzzle", "Folding Stars" was written about their relationship with each other and said after the songs release "She really liked the quiet songs, so I wrote the song for her. It's the kind of song she'd like and although it was really tough to record, I'm immensely proud of it. it makes me happy when people say they connect with the song but I'm not sure if we'll ever play it live. Not any time soon, anyway". Since then he did perform an acoustic version of folding stars live at Wembley on their "Revolutions" tour without Ben and James (to see that performance go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE3S8S-gVRQ). Simon has one of his mother's paintings tattooed on his back in memory of her.

Simon with Brian.

Simon married his wife in 2008 in Ayr, where they live. Neil has been a Beach Boys fan all his life (he recently met Brian Wilson and interviewed him for NME as part of the heroes feature) and so his first dance with is wife was to "God Only Knows What I'd Do Without You". His most famous tattoo is the one on his chest which says "God Only Knows What I'd Do Without You" as a tribute to his wife.

I love Simon Neil's tattoos because they aren't pointless or to make a statement, the are each a small bit of the jigsaw of his life and mixed with his music, it paints a beautiful picture about his take on the world.

(08/10/13) This was the video I used for this article, Simon Neil does an interview with Jo Whiley for Radio 2. Hopefully this will give you a better view of what he was talking about!

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Biffy Clyro - "Folding Stars" Live at Wembley.

I stumbled across Biffy Clyro completely by accident. I was on iTunes and I saw "Only Revolutions" in the chart and really liked the artwork and so bought it two Christmases ago. I listened to it and loved it straight away. Around March 2011, I was in Morrisons in West Brom and I can across the live album of the Wembley Gig in December (at this point I'd only listened to "Only Revolutions") and begged my parents to get it and they bought it for me. I came across "Folding Stars" on that album and it is the most amazing song I'd ever heard by them and I thought I'd share it here because I just posted it on Tumblr. I love it so much and I also think the story behind it is so gorgeous that I should share it! There is more on the song in this post: http://goo.gl/tkxqG

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Changes in music taste: Why is my music better than yours?

This is not my comment. It just got me thinking!

We have all had that debate in our families - you sit there and complain that your fellow relative is playing drivel and that they should listen to decent music like you. In my family, we're ok when it comes to music taste but my brother does tend to slip towards chart music which to the rest of the family is mindless nonsense. Why is this? Why does something seem like mind numbing crap that lacks substance to me yet be amongst the top played tracks on my brother's iPod?

This thought came into my mind why I saw a post on Reddit that asked the same thing and if you ask me what my opinion of what music today is it's that: music in general today lacks substance because it has become easier and easier for bands to get their sound heard and recorded. It is now easy to get a hit without much talent at all, only money. Jenna Rose and Rebecca Black are examples of this - with greed want-to-be music producers telling young girls that they have talent and auto-tuning their toneless voices to hell and posting it on YouTube the music scene is being watered down to a meaningless pulp.

The Change in Music Taste

In the 60s, the Beatles took over the world. Rock and roll was here and chart music was born. Back then, people were happy to listen to twee love songs that stuck in their heads and that they could tap their foot to. The music was modest and spoke of the ideal. People were just starting to throw away the barre chords and actually write something new and exciting which sparked off the whole issue that I am discussing today.

Eurovision 1974, ABBA blow away Europe and the rest of the world with "Waterloo". Although they didn't win the contest, it was the start of something big! Again throughout the 70s the themes to most of the music were love and heartbreak but for the first time there was music you and your Mum could listen to and not feel like your whole family thought you were the spawn of the devil. The 70s was the the musical era for everyone which is why it is a popular period of debate in these kind of discussions.

30 years ago, the Smiths got together in Manchester and took the country by storm. They would become my  and many others idea of "the perfect band". What was it that made the Smiths so successful? It is easy to say that the Smiths were one of the 80s most successful bands because for the first time ever they told the truth, in terms of politics and love. Morrissey summed up teenagers angst beautifully which is why he is a hero to so many people. When during the 70s music could be listened to by all, in the 80s it separated again - you locked yourself in your room listening to the words of Curtis, Weller and Morrissey whilst your parents still gripped onto the ABBA records. But of course, there was WHAM! and Duran Duran who lit up discos around the country and that your Gran danced to at Christmas - we shouldn't forget pop music in this decade, it was some of the best!

The 90s was another decade where parents and children stayed separate with the birth of grunge and Oasis. Nirvana brought heavy rock to the scene without constantly going on about the being the Anti-Christ, Kurt Cobain, like Morrissey, wrote about the hardships of being an awkward teenager which reached out to the entire generation. Oasis, Blur, Pulp etc carried on the rebellious edge to teenage music promoting getting pissed and laid and whatever but still made the decade one of the best in terms of bands to come out of it. But the 90s was very cheesy as well... Steps, Take That, Boyzone, PETE WATERMAN! If you could vaguely singing a tune and their were five or six of you, Pete wanted you and some may argue that put a downer on the decade - not me... I WENT TO GO SEE TAKE THAT AND I'M NOT ASHAMED!

This brings us to know.... the decade where teenagers with taste in music have gone backwards. There have been good bands but none of them have revolutionised anything or made teenagers feel any different. Take me for example: yes, I love Palma Violets and Biffy and Dry the River but if I had to choose a band that really speak to me then I'd have to go with the Smiths. I have others who would choose Nirvana or the Beatles or Oasis. The bottom line is music today sucks and that is why this debate has come about because unless today's pop music is all you have been exposed to, everyone knows there has been better. Today is a whole load of bands trying too hard to be different and edgy and they really aren't - they are just a bit pathetic and if they are good, they are saying what someone said 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago!

Parents argue with their children about music taste because they regret not exposing their children to something better in the first place! I thank my lucky stars my Dad put his Oasis CDs in the car when we went on holiday whether I liked it or not because at least now I have enough knowledge to make my own decisions about what I listen to instead of MTV telling me.

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Top 10 Albums Of The Year So Far

This year has been a pretty good year for music so far. This is my top ten of the best albums released this year.

10. "Exile" - Hurts. I waited a long time for this album to come out and I was worried that it wouldn't when the duo said they'd forgotten how to write music but obviously, it wasn't true. This album is a great follow up to their debut, "Happiness", continuing the moodiness that they captured so well the first time round. Listen to Hurts on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Exile-Hurts/dp/B00AO2T9VU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370856703&sr=8-1&keywords=hurts.

9. "I Love You" - The Neighbourhood. I saw this album on my download site and clicked on the link purely because of the album artwork and it was one of my finds of the year. It is nice and dark which I like but was a bit more more synthy than I'd been used to. I think from the the opening bars to the first song I was a little bit in love with this album. Listen to The Neighbourhood on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/I-Love-You-The-Neighbourhood/dp/B00C2KCM0M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370857103&sr=8-1&keywords=the+neighbourhood.

8. "Random Access Memories" - Daft Punk. Oooh controversial! I put Daft Punk here because although I think the album is great, the genre isn't 100% my thing and so I feel there where albums that I would listen to more often than this one and enjoy more. Daft Punk have taken the world by storm with this album. Practically everyone was singing "Get Lucky" a month ago or so and it is definitely my favourite chart topper of the year. The album is full of other great tunes to get you dancing and will definitely be one of those albums that goes down in history as one of the best. Listen to Daft Punk on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Random-Access-Memories-Daft-Punk/dp/B00C061I3K/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1370857591&sr=8-3&keywords=daft+punk.

7. "Wish to Scream" - Tribes. This is the follow up to the band's successful debut, which was loved by all and hailed one of 2011's albums of the year by many, but didn't get the same standing ovation when it was release last month. Yes there was a lot of new ideas and yes it wasn't necessarily the bangy crashy Tribes of late 2011 but it was still an amazing album. Listen to Tribes on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wish-To-Scream-Tribes/dp/B00BLDHQ5W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370857989&sr=8-1&keywords=tribes+wish+to+scream.

6. "In Love" - Peace. This is a gorgeous laid back album that will be played more and more as the summer goes on. It's another indie record that I like quite a lot. Peace where one of those bands we were told to look out for at the start of the year and they didn't disappoint. Listen to Peace on Spotify or buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/In-Love-Peace/dp/B00B9608R4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370859322&sr=8-1&keywords=in+love+peace

5. "Modern Vampires of the City" - Vampire Weekend. Their 4th studio album kicked off the summer with the release of "Diane Young" and "Step" rattling around indie fans heads throughout April and May. "Step" proved to be a triumph using Pachabel's Canon as a foundation which can be risky but they pulled it off to make one of my favourite tracks of the year. Listen to Vampire Weekend on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Modern-Vampires-City-Vampire-Weekend/dp/B00BB22GQM/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1370859820&sr=1-1&keywords=vampire+weekend.

4. "The Messenger" - Johnny Marr. Ah rejoice, he's back! When my Dad and I found out Johnny was coming back we went into a little hype for a few months. It is full of excellent tracks that reach out to the old Smiths fan everywhere. My Dad still plays back the videos we filmed when we went to see him live in Birmingham. Listen to Johnny Marr on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Messenger-Johnny-Marr/dp/B00AG22JHY/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1370860256&sr=1-1&keywords=johnny+marr.

3. "180" - Palma Violets. This is definitely the indie album of the year, Palma Violets are a revolution! I wasn't sure on them at first but they have become one of my favourite bands. The album is just pure fun to listen to you can tell that the boys are enjoying the moment whilst it's definitely there. It's a great album for the summer. Listen to Palma Violets on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/180-Palma-Violets/dp/B00AE1VXD8/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1370860805&sr=1-1&keywords=palma+violets.

2. "Opposites" - Biffy Clyro. So far this has been the rock album of the year. The band had everyone waiting for near enough 5 years for the release of their 6th studio album and from the fans perspective, they didn't disappoint. The album consisted of 20 tracks which made up for their absence and had some great stadium anthems on their too. It really is amazing. Listen to Biffy Clyro on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Opposites-2CD-DVD-Biffy-Clyro/dp/B009AWRF9I/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1370861111&sr=1-2&keywords=opposites+biffy+clyro.

1. "I Once Was An Eagle" - Laura Marling. At the start of the year I didn't think anyone would beat Biffy to the top album wise but last month they were smashed by Laura Marling's beautiful 4th album. The songs are like poetry and the Indian influences throughout the album blew me away the first time I listened to it - it was a magical moment. Listen to Laura Marling on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Once-Was-Eagle-Laura-Marling/dp/B00BQWR9BO/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1370861471&sr=1-1&keywords=laura+marling+once+i+was+an+eagle.

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Directioners, why you so angry?

As much as I'm not fond of NME's review writing at the minute, the NME Awards are still my favourite music awards ceremony of the year.

It was a good night for a lot of my favourite musicians - Biffy Clyro won best British band, Johnny Marr won Godlike Genius, Palma Violets won best new band. Although the success of my music collection did put a smile on my face, I was ecstatic to see One Direction getting worst band and Harry Styles getting villain of the year but not everyone shared my view as you probably know.

Styles, respect to him, took his award with a pinch of salt and showed that he could be a grown up about the "tongue and cheek" award saying 'And thank you to NME for my award tonight. Gotta take the rough with the smooth eh?' - I'd like to say the fans showed as much respect for themselves when they found out about One Directions success at the ceremony...

Almost straight after Harry's tweet, his following sharpened their pitch forks for yet another rant at someone for daring like anything other than vaguely attractive young men singing, with the aid of autotune, other people's songs. The only good thing about the situation is now 11,274,851 know there is something beyond chart music as I'm sure that about 75% of that sum had never heard of NME before that. 

Fans wrote very angry letters, YES LETTERS, to NME as well as a number of very aggressive tweets saying "I'M GOING TO SHOOT YOU IN THE FUCKING HEAD" and "MY BAAABBBYYYYY HOW IGNORANT PEOPLE CAN BE !!!! PIECES OF SHITTTT!". But why are they so angry?

I understand they are hurt that their favourite people in the whole have been slagged off  (I would be) but to me, I'd take 1D's success at the NME awards as a complement. Firstly, NME have considered One Direction as a band which is a lot more than their readers would consider them and isn't it what Directioners have wanted for years? To have One Direction seen as a band? Secondly, lets face Harry Styles is an arse. How many women has he bedded in the last year? As a girl, I can honestly say this is one of the reasons he's so unattractive - HE HAS NO RESPECT FOR WOMEN, he just picks and chooses which women he wants when he wants and that to me is utterly repulsive! I mean it really is a low to be hated more than David Cameron but he deserves it. Cameron, as much as he is a posh twat, is a family man who loves his kids and his wife and as much as he's not doing a good job at running the country, I get the impression he's a pretty nice guy.

Styles' 19th birthday party photos are enough to put you off him - £3k bar tabs, cake fights, band member getting close to strippers - it's pathetic! He's a silly 19 year old who is too big for his boots and I hoped his award would give him a reality check but to be fair I think it has made his ego even bigger.

Of course not all Directioners are bad, I have Directioners as friends who were hurt but understood the fact that it's obviously other people's opinion and dealt with it. Harry too, he just took it as another award to add to his collection and was very civil. The problem these days is their is a fine line between loyally following musicians and being emotionally and mentally unstable.

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What has happened to NME?

Hello all, I haven't posted in a while because I've been extremely busy with coursework but I'm back to talk about what was my favourite music magazine NME. 

Now 2013 was meant to be a a year of great music and great artist and to me (even though we're only two months in) it has but apparently, NME doesn't think so. I don't know if others agree but I'd say a good review from NME is 8/10 but NME have been a bit picky with those and aren't handing them out very often this year. 

My first issue was review of Pure Love's album "Anthems" which they gave a measly 1/10. The writer of this particular review Tom Howard said the album "consisted of 11 tracks of unimaginative pub rock" which to me is a bit harsh because, all though Frank Carter was previously the singer of Gallows and Jim Carroll was once the guitarist of Hope Conspiracy, Pure Love are a new band and this is their debut album it's not going to be The White Album and also my understanding is that NME write about Indie music with ultimately is pub rock, no? Mr Howard then went on to say that "Ultimately it just proves that all Carter did in Gallows was sing." which may have been the case but I've listened to the album and the album may not be perfect but it's still very good for a new band's debut and if you ask me has some catchy songs. Reactions to the review weren't very good I must admit but the point is still the same, a 1/10 is basically saying that it isn't worthy of existence and I don't think any album deserves that and definitely not this one.

Secondly, there is Fionn Regan's "The Bunkhouse Vol 1: Anchor Black Tattoo" which Kevin EG Perry gave a 5/10 because he recorded it himself with a mic and four-track instead of a big studio. Is it just me asking whether or not NME have forgotten what kind of bands they write about? Regan has independently recorded and released his own album and by the looks of things is doing quite well in the great scheme of things, Spotify like it - it's all over there so how could it be bad? I think it's a lovely album which has a nice relaxed feel to it and I would just like to add "reciting his careful poetry while flicking at the strings as if trying to dislodge a piece of chewing gum." is called finger picking and is a well known guitar technique.

The last album I'm going to mention is one I'm annoyed by simply because I love the band so much. Dan Stubbs gave Biffy Clyro's album "Opposites" a 7/10, which to me is a shock straight away but then when you read what he didn't like about the album it goes beyond ridiculous. Stubbs writes "A pained atmosphere hangs over CD1, broken only by the bit in 'The Joke's On Us' when 'our souls' sounds like 'arseholes'" which is not only very immature but also quite offensive, it is like he's saying "Hahaha, their Scottish... Hilarious!". To me it's fairly obvious that Mr Stubbs here listened to the album once as I'll even admit that after my first listen I didn't really get what Biffy were getting at with the album after all, there are 20 tracks on the new album so it's a lot to take in at first but after a few listens you do start to get it and it becomes clear they have pulled off the double album.

If you ask me NMEs review writing has become a bit bitchy and desperate to cause controversy but it brings down the standard of the magazine completely. To be honest, if NME want to regain the respect of their readers they need to listen to the album more than once and write more than a paragraph on the album. This is meant to be a well established music magazine, they need to start acting like it again.

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"Opposites" Album Preview - Biffy Clyro

"Opposites" Album Artwork.

This month, Scottish rock giants, Biffy Clyro will be releasing their sixth album “Opposites”. Over the past ten years, Biffy have experimented with many different instruments and playing techniques on their albums from playing around with synths and drum machines to combining heavy guitar with beautiful string arrangements. Over the years, Simon, Ben and James have amazed their fans with overwhelming music and now the question amongst fans is “How can they make it any better?”

We have already had a good taster of what is going to be on the album, during the summer, the band released their first single in four years, “Stingin’ Belle” which created buzz all over the music scene with amazing riffs and the use of bagpipes in the instrumental. More recently, last month Biffy released what will be the 2^nd single, “Black Chandelier” which when compared to “Stingin’ Belle” and to a lot of their other songs could be called pop-rock and tame because of the simpler 4/4 arrangement and did make the fans question whether Biffy were coming back as the Biffy they remembered. I was actually very happy with “Black Chandelier” after a while because I accepted it for one of Biffy’s love songs which made me think of “Blackened Sky”, their debut album which is made up of songs for his future wife.

From both of these singles it is hard to tell what is to come next month from the band and so, to get an idea of what will be on the album, we need to look at Biffy’s performances over the last year. Because over 2012, Biffy have been in California recording, they haven’t had much time to stop working and appear at festivals. The Scottish rocker’s most famous festival event this year was Download at Donnigton Park alongside AC/DC and the Prodigy. They also were part of the line-up for this year’s iTunes Festival and from these performances you start to get a nice feel for the album.

Looking back to last autumn, when Biffy Clyro did the iTunes Festival, you can see that Biffy haven’t lost anything when it comes to putting on a good show – they are still the guys who go on stage with no shirts on and all wear converses and still prance about the stage. The only new thing I can see is Simon has a new guitar and James has a new bass.

One thing that comes across quite strong is they’re going back to their obscure days when it comes to song titles for example new songs include “Modern Magic Formula” and “Sounds Like Balloons” which definitely have a “There’s No Such Thing As A Jaggy Snake” ring to them and has a ring of the old Biffy.

Over the years, Biffy started writing nice easy songs with a structure that was easy to follow but from what I’ve heard they’re going back to the days when half the songs didn’t really make sense but somehow worked. For me that is quite exciting because for a while, I thought they were going to start trying to please everybody and go all namby-pamby for the sake of a few more album sales but they’re not (I hope).

As always, a lot of the new songs seem to be about Simon and his wife and their relationship over the years which is nice because one of the things I love about Biffy Clyro is that the fans seem to know the ins and outs of the band’s lives (especially Simon’s) because every song seems to be autobiographical - for example, “Folding Stars” was written when Simon’s Mum died and the new songs are like the latest instalment of their lives.

So onto putting all of this together and getting a picture from the pieces we have so far. I feel the new songs fit in with the old and that although they are trying to make the sound fresh, they are taking little bits from the very old (past “Puzzle”) days and explains why in their performances over the past year, they have played more songs from “Infinity Land” and “Blackened Sky”. Honestly, I don’t really know what to expect later on this month, there are a lot of songs to guess about because it’s going to be a double album but I think we can safely say they will be staying a gem to the fans and won’t be going all “mainstream” on us all.

All I can really say is be excited about this album if you’re a fan or not because it really looks like it’s going to be one of the rock albums of the year.

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"Puzzle" - Biffy Clyro Review

Track List:

1. "Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies"

2. "Saturday Superhouse"

3. "Who's Got A Match"

4. "As Dust Dances"*

5. "A Whole Child Ago"

6."The Conversation Is"

7. "Now I'm Everyone"

8. "Semi-Mental"*

9. "Love Has A Diameter"

10. "Get Fucked Stud"

11. "Folding Stars"

12. "9/15ths"*

13. "Machines"

*Tracks containing hidden track "4/15ths"

I thought it was time to do a review of another one of my favourite albums. Last time I did Dry the River's "Shallow Bed" which is a lovely laid back folky album that you could easily play at your grandparents house and get away with it. This album is NOT one of those albums. I love all of Biffy's albums but this is definitely one of my favourites, released in in 2007, it was there 4th studio album in 5 years and was the album that really put the band on the music map.

The album was written when Simon, the lead singer, was going through a very rough time after losing both his mother and his grandfather in the same year. The album does really reflect that and the album cover shows a man with a piece missing this is meant to symbolise Simon's loss.

The album has an explosive start with "Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies", "Saturday Superhouse" and "Who's Got A Match" beginning the record which is a mass of guitars and drums and beautiful orchestral tones throughout (especially in "Living Is A Problem..."). The orchestra is used a lot in this album, Simon has played violin since he was a boy and so has always been good at composing really affective string pieces for his albums. The start of the album really does suck you in, the fat choruses with very catchy lyrics start to capture you in the music.

At track 4 ("As Dust Dances") the album settles down a bit and turns a bit more sombre. "As Dust Dances" is one of the reasons I love this album, my favourite kind of Biffy songs are the slower ones because Simon's skill really comes to light in these pieces. The amount of bands who write songs with a good riff and lots of distortion but don't actually use that much imagination in what they're writing down or playing is so great and it really does make music a bit boring but Biffy Clyro don't do this, especially on this album. The song slowly builds up to the heavy Biffyness throughout the song starting with just the electric guitar and vocals which is very clean and pure and then the guitar is very basic. It isn't until the 2nd chorus when you really start to get a very rocky feel to the song and even then it isn't until the first bridge where you get the distortion coming in. Biffy Clyro really experiment on this album with what instruments they use together and how each instrument is played. The album has a hidden track "4/15ths" which is a beautiful track when put together, it is a perfect example of how Simon blends distortion and an orchestra well having both subtle and very powerful elements to the track.

The middle section as a whole is very pop-y for the Biff. At this point, Biffy Clyro where trying to capture the American market and so had to make their music that way to appeal to the wider audience but it for just seems to be the same as a lot of the songs on "Infinity Land" (their third album) - for example, "My Recovery Injection" has a nice reggae feel to it and is a nice easy track to listen to if you don't like rock. For the first time with "Puzzle", Biffy Clyro were writing songs you could actually dance to. Before, especially with "Blackened Sky" and "The Vertigo Of Bliss", the music was very good but very moody and was more something you would sit down and head-bang to rather than get up and dance to but this album really pushed the band forward. Although the album has quite a dark message about it, it has an overall major tonality about making it more appealing to the wider audience.

There is a beautiful end to this album with two of the most personal song Simon has ever written making up the finale. "Folding Stars" was written about his mother and how her death affected him and "Machines", the final song, is about him starting to be able to pick himself up again after his mother's death. "9/15ths" is an amazing piece of composing, although the lyrics never change (apart from the "4/15ths" bit), the use of strings  and the choir is so affective and it is for me one of the most absorbing pieces on the album.

All in all, this is an amazing album. If you were to ask me which Biffy Clyro album to get, I would definitely say "Puzzle" just because of the variety of music you get on in. This album was the beginning of a new era for Biffy, it was them leaving behind the moody headbanging music of before and saying "hello" to the future of arena tours and no.1 albums. If you haven't listened to this album, listen to it NOW, it is a hidden gem of a record!

9.5/10

To listen to "Saturday Superhouse", click here.

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Biffy Clyro - Spring Arena Tour Announced

Opposites Album Artwork

Well, I got some very good news when I got in from Palma Violets last night. I sat down with my cup of tea (Yes. Very rock and roll, I know!) and logged into Facebook to update my "friends" on what I had been up to over the past few hours when I found a very exciting picture published by Biffy Clyro's Facebook page. THEIR GOING ON TOUR!!! As you my know already, Biffy Clyro are without a doubt my favourite band in the world and so you can imagine my excitement. Their gigs will be held from 20th March to 3rd April 2013 and tickets officially go on sale on Friday (Pre-sale on Wednesday for "Team Biffy" members). The dates are as follows:

Newcastle Metro Radio Arena (March 20, 2013)
Birmingham LG Arena (21)
Cardiff Motorpoint Arena (22)
Sheffield Motorpoint Arena (23)
Manchester Arena (25)
Bournemouth International Centre (26)
Dublin The O2 (28)
Belfast Odyssey Arena (29)
Aberdeen AECC (31)
Glasgow SECC (April 1)
London The O2 (3)

Biffy released their new album's artwork over the weekend and the album is out on January 28th. This is their 6th studio album and this will be their 2nd arena tour. MON THE BIFF!

For more information on the tour go to Biffy's website: http://www.biffyclyro.com/

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Biffy Clyro Album Artwork Unveiling

The band's teaser album cover
 (I think it's nice enough to be the cover)

As you know, I'm a huge Biffy fan and I'm so excited about their 6th studio album "Opposites" which will be getting released on 28th January next year. The band are going to unveil their new artwork in the near future but the need their fans help. If, like me you are a Biffy fan, get to: http://www.biffyclyro.com/opposites/sp_rid=MjY4NzM1NTg1NDkS1&sp_mid=40143186&eml=40143186 and get tweeting because the more people tweet it, the quicker we all get to see it.

The artwork is displayed on the website and it currently 86% full. Lets get it to 100 by the end of the day!!!

Mon the Biff!

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Why I'm Excited About Pure Love's New Album

Pure Love are one of my favourite new bands. With their debut album "Anthems" already being delayed until early next year, I am overflowing with excitement because of the sheer brilliance of their first three singles ("Bury My Bones", "Handsome Devil's Club" and "Riot Club".

Who are Pure Love?

Pure Love are the AMAZING upcoming British/American duo made up of former Gallows frontman Frank Carter and ex-Hope Conspiracy and Suicide File's guitarist Jim Carroll. The bands sound is different from their punk-hardcore backgrounds.

The band, who formed after Frank left Gallows after creative differences, have already supported Biffy Clyro (Hail them!) at their one off warm up gig in Swindon at the start of the summer and were due to support Pulled Apart By Horses on their November tour which has since been cancelled.

Pure Love are going on their first solo tour this Autumn, which I sadly don't have tickets for (sob sob!) and are definitely a band to look out for in the future.

To listen to my personal favourite Pure Love song go to - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjFV6BfV8nY

To but their singles go to iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/pure-love/id529867833

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