The Big Roar

The Joy Formidable | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 15, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Atlantic/Canvasback
• ASIN: B004DKLVLA
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,703 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. The Everchanging Spectrum Of A Lie

2. The Magnifying Glass

3. I Don't Want To See You Like This

4. Austere

5. A Heavy Abacus

6. Whirring

7. Buoy

8. Maruyama

9. Cradle

10. Llaw = Wall

11. Chapter 2

12. The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade

Editorial Reviews

After self-releasing their eight-track A Balloon Called Moaning EP, The Joy Formidable spent 2009 touring the U.K., Europe and Australia with bands including Editors, Temper Trap and Passion Pit, mastering tiny clubs and festival stages alike. Along the way, they earned critical raves from NME, The Guardian, the London Times, Spin and Pitchfork, and praise from Garbage's Shirley Manson and Courtney Love, among others.

When they weren't on the road, the band worked on writing and tracking the material for The Big Roar. "We recorded in a tiny corner of our London bedroom," says guitarist and lead singer Ritzy Bryan. "It was great, because you could capture that moment when you wake up in the middle of the night with a melody or an image or a lyric." Working on and off for a year, the trio -- Bryan, bassist Rhydian Dafydd and drummer Matthew Thomas -- crafted a remarkable collection of modern rock songs that explore what Bryan describes as "the possibility of victory in a hopeless situation." Adds Dafydd: "The album covers a lot of emotional range. It's captured the battle between the eternal optimist and the manic depressive."

The band produced The Big Roar themselves, with help from engineer Neak Menter. They traveled to Los Angeles in summer of 2010 to mix it with Rich Costey (Muse, Foo Fighters, Glasvegas). The Village Voice called the album's first single, "I Don't Want To See You Like This," "one of the band's best offerings yet, a breakup song that looks forward to the other side of heartache, with racing guitars and thundering drums that seem engineered to snap both parts of the still-attached couple out of their sad state.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A triumphant debut! March 16, 2011

By Will Rogers

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I first heard this band via a preview of the album on NPR, and I've listened to little else since. There are at least 3 brilliant songs ("The Everchanging Spectrum of a Lie", "Whirring", and "Llaw=Wall"), and 6 other great songs ("Don't Want to See You Like This", "Austere", "A Heavy Abacus", "Buoy", "Cradle", and "The Greatest Light is the Greatest Shade"). The remaining 3 tracks are merely good.

The title of the album is really quite appropriate, as this trio delivers a huge sound that is melodic and triumphantly rocking. They pull off the rare feat of being heavy and hard at times without seeming morose, somber or angry. All of the songs are quite catchy and they'll take turns lodging themselves in your head.

Looking forward to seeing them at The Earl in Atlanta on 3/22!

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars TJF Crossover Appeal June 17, 2011

By Kautilya1

Format:Audio CD

Best album of the year....mass appeal in my household from 15 year old pop lover to 17 year old Beatles aficionado to 40 something alternative hack.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A sonic assault... February 1, 2011

By Nse Ette TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD

The Joy Formidable are a Welsh trio and their debut "The Big Roar" is like a sonic assault, from "The Everchanging Spectrum Of A Lie" which opens with dischordant beats giving way to a Garbage-style affair with tumbling and trilling guitars, to the Garage Rock of "The Magnifying Glass". Lead vocalist Ritzy Bryan even channels Shirley Manson in places.

"Austere" is a light bouncy dreamy affair, while "Whirring" is shorn (in part) of the wall of guitars present on much everything else, revealing a sweet song set to thumping beats. Other standouts are the eerie "Buoy", the spooky ballad "Llaw = Wall" (with bandmate Rhydian Dafydd on vocals), to "Chapter 2" (which starts off with typewriter sounds before buzzing guitars take over). Closing is the epic ballad "The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade". Phones aloft everyone!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Possibly the LOUDEST alternative/indie rock band on the planet... August 15, 2011

By Brandon J. Scarberry

Format:Audio CD

I was blown away last year when I purchased A Balloon Called Moaning off of iTunes after watching a live performance video of the band performing "Austere. Now, here in 2011, we have The Joy Formidable's debut album showcasing their noisy yet eccentric brand of chaotic riffing coupled with catchy hooks and solid rhythms. If you've never heard The Joy Formidable, I suggest you start with one of their "older"-Ballon Called Moaning songs (Cradle, Austere, Whirring, etc.), as some of the tracks on here are very in-your-face and visceral so to speak. The first three tracks of Big Roar showcase this very well, with Ritzy using her guitar to produce the most atmospheric yet devastating riffs known to man. As another reviewer noted, Matthew Thomas's use of double-bass is definitely a unique factor to Joy Formidable's sound. It aids so much in the build ups and breakdowns of several tracks featured on Big Roar, most notably "Buoy". I could go into the dichotomy of how each track is presented and how the dynamics shift within each song, but no words can do The Big Roar justice, you'll just have to hear it for yourself.

+Pro's+

+Loud, epic guitar work
+Catchy, pulsating choruses
+Excellent instrumentation & genius dynamics
+Variety from song to song (Llaw=Wall features Rhydian on vocals; The Greatest Light..'s use of synth)

-Con's-

-None....except I wish there were more songs = ]

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Next Big Thing From England! May 10, 2011

By Jayson Berray

Format:MP3 Music

I have become increasingly convinced over the years that most of the good music that reaches our ears here in America actually comes from England.

Granted, America has birthed its fair share of amazing musical acts, but come on, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Radiohead, Oasis, Coldplay, Muse? The list goes on.

A group to add to that list is England's The Joy Formidable. The lead single "Whirring" off of their major label debut album The Big Roar has been getting massive radio airplay all over the country, especially here in Portland on our beloved 94.7. It's been getting so much airplay that before I heard the entire album I found myself wondering if there were even any other songs by this band.

As far as sound goes, think Silversun Pickups meets The Killers meets The Temper Trap. But with a female singer. Well, that isn't too far of a stretch I guess because the lead singer of Silversun Pickups sounds like a girl anyway. But the thing that separates them from the rest of what's going on right now in their genre is that they have some very hard rock elements. For instance, the drums. I've never hears such tasteful use of a double bass pedal on an album that wasn't classified in the heavy metal genre.

Other than appearing at this year's Coachella and Lollapalooza festivals The Joy Formidable are scarcely appearing in the United States. Every other date on their website right now is for Europe. This may not be a bad thing for them though. Because with as much popularity as they are gaining in America by the time they do tour here I wouldn't be surprised if it was sold out across the board....

Speaking of live shows, there are few albums that come out where I find myself thinking, "This album would be amazing performed live in its entirety, just the way the tracks are laid out." This is one of those albums. Hopefully that's the way they are doing it, but hey, it's their music.

The album version of the aforementioned single "Whirring" is something to behold. Not only is there the first half (the radio-friendly familiar half) but there is a whole instrumental second half in which the band gradually builds up to a section of all-out rock where you can't help but dance along. This is also a prime example of that tasteful double bass drumming I mentioned earlier.

Other tracks where the drums are both an integral part and are skillfully executed are "I Don't Want To See You Like This," "A Heavy Abacus," "Buoy," and "Chapter 2." The drummer strikes a perfect balance of being in the middle of all the noise, yet seems to be leading the entire song and the other instruments seem to fit around him.

Overall it is one of the more formidable albums released this year. It's worthy to stay in your CD player (if you still use one) for at least a week after buying it. You can't say that for a lot of the music that sees the light of day these days. Good music is released right and left, but most of it doesn't have any staying power. This album does. Read more ›

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Joy Formidable - Welsh wonders produce a thunderous debut February 12, 2011

By Red on Black TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD

While some of these songs have been doing the rounds for a number of years its is a Joy at last to have them all encased on this debut album from our friends in the North (Wales in this case). The Joy Formidable band comprise the delectable Ritzy Bryan - Vocals / guitar, Rhydian Dafydd - Vocals / bass and Matt Thomas - Drums and they are a great addition to the proud tradition of Welsh rock bands who generally make a very big noise and infuse their music with a passion which could fill our national shrine the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Your reviewer saw them supporting the Howling Bells some two years ago and it was clear then that they were a very special prospect indeed as the blew the latter off stage.

Anyone checking out the wonderful "Austere" will not just nod in agreement but be literally pulverised by a wall of sound that echoes Siouxsie and Banshees on "Spellbound" and borrows respectfully from the great Kim Deal in the Pixies. The great "Whirring" has been out for ever but it sounds as fresh today and the extended version of it on the Big Roar reminds me for the first time of a link with Montreal's finest "The Arcade Fire. Things become even more pronounced in this respect on the last track the "The greatest light is the greatest shade" where they not only play the Canadians at their own game they produce a song of such raw power that is simply overwhelming. This album is nevertheless evidence that the whole is the sum of the parts, such as the noise fest that starts off the seven minute plus opener `The Everchanging Spectrum Of A Lie' which develops into a chorus so big it should require planning permission.... "Llaw =Wall" alternatively is sung by Rhydian David and is a much darker affair with an almost hymn like dirge to begin until it we pause for a short silence and it comes back like a song possessed; the slow burning "Buoy" also falls into this category. Perhaps the band ethic is best expressed however on the pop gem "Cradle" which proves that Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs has a got a new contender in town who wants her crown and had better watch out.

Never has an album been so aptly named as the "Big Roar" since this is the sonic equivalent of a huge musical force building up to maximum power and unleashing a true wave of Welsh energy. Certainly the band has had plenty of time to perfect these songs and if a slight whinge is allowed those who already have the bands mini LP "A balloon called moaning" are already in possession of many of the key songs here. Yet to be fair the band have re-recorded them and often improved upon them. Overall "The Big Roar" is a supremely confident debut from a band that is realising its promise, they are a force of nature in concert and they have finally achieved parity on record. Read more ›