Opposites: Biffy Clyro's career defining masterpiece or pompous double album drivel?

Double albums have something of a reputation for disaster. While well received at the time, Guns n' Rose's 1991 Use Your Illusion I and II are now regarded as bloated records with few redeeming features, and Green Day's recent triple Uno, Dos and Tre are considered among the worst releases of the band's long career. It takes a certain kind of group to create a great double album; The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Pink Floyd are among those who have truly, brilliantly succeeded. And now Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro can enter this exclusive club: Opposites is perhaps Biffy's best album to date.

With Opposites, Biffy have opted to split the record into two separate mini albums: The Sand at the Core of our Bones and The Land at the End of our Toes, each comprised of ten songs and checking in at around forty minutes each. As the album's title suggests, each mini album contrasts with the other, The Sand giving a more reflective, dwelling feeling in it's music and lyrics, and The Land looking towards the future. It's worth noting that this two disc setup is vastly superior to alternative: a single album made up of fourteen selected tracks, as while this collects the greatest hits of the double, it lacks the moods and feelings created by listing to one of the mini albums.

Musically, Biffy Clyro are on top of their game, with each mini album featuring anthemic numbers including Black Chandelier, Sounds Like Balloons and Biblical on The Sand, and Stingin' Belle, Modern Magic Formula and Victory Over the Sun on The Land, all of which will surely become classics of Biffy Clyro's career and firm fan favourites. Each mini album features consistently superb songs, tearing through one hit after another. Frontman Simon Neil's vocals and guitar are at their best, with the bass and drums provided by brothers James and Ben Johnston creating the impressive sound of a band utterly united, a remarkable feat considering the group's struggle with alcoholism in recent years.

It's by no means a perfect pair, certain tracks inevitable fail to keep to the high standard of the albums' best and there's some lyrical questionably, but overall Opposites is both musically superb and a brilliantly functioning double album. In an age dominated by the shuffle, The Sand at the Core of our Bones and The Land at the End of our Toes are examples of those occasional sublime pieces of power that demand to be listened to from start to finish, an extremely rare accomplishment. Album of the year? Hell yes.

9/10