''A Celebration of Endings'' is the eighthThe band referred to the album using the working title ''Opus 8''. This numbering does not include the soundtrack album ''

Balance, Not Symmetry ''Balance, Not Symmetry'' is a 2019 drama film written and directed by Jamie Adams. The film stars Laura Harrier with Bria Vinaite, Kate Dickie, Tamsin Egerton, Freya Mavor, and Shauna Macdonald in major supporting roles. The film is about Cait ...

'' from 2019. See also: Biffy Clyro discography studio album by Scottish

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

Biffy Clyro Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band that formed in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, composed of Simon Neil (guitar, lead vocals), James Johnston (bass, vocals), and Ben Johnston (drums, vocals). Currently signed to 14th Floor Records, they have r ...

. It was produced by

Rich Costey Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling ** Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated commun ...

and was released on 14 August 2020. It debuted at number one on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

, making it the band's third consecutive studio album to top the chart.

Background

The band confirmed they were working on new material in an ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' interview in July 2019, having released their soundtrack album ''

'' a few months earlier. Another ''NME'' interview in October 2019 confirmed the release of the album, with the working title ''Opus 8'', for the 'first half of next year'. The first single, "Instant History", was released on 20 February 2020, and first played on

Annie Mac Annie Mac (born 18 July 1978), is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and ''Future Sounds''. She also DJed in various locations, including hosting her AMP (Annie Mac Presents) ...

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

show. The album was initially planned for release of 15 May 2020, but was pushed back to 14 August due to difficulties surrounding the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Critical reception

The album received critical acclaim upon release. On review aggregate website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the album has an average score of 84 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim," based on 16 reviews. ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' gave the album a perfect score, stating that "Biffy Clyro have delivered an album of restless invention, substance and style that arrives like a spray of water on the arid expanse of this saddest of summers." ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' also gave the album a positive review, writing that the album "soothes, shakes and surprises at every turn".

Track listing

Personnel

Biffy Clyro *

Simon Neil Simon Alexander Neil (born 31 August 1979) is a Scottish vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. He is known for his work in the bands Biffy Clyro and Marmaduke Dukeand also new band with Mike Vennart, Empire state bastard. Career Biffy Clyro ...

– lead vocals, guitars * James Johnston – bass guitar, backing vocals * Ben Johnston – drums, backing vocals, percussion Additional personnel *

Zac Rae Zac Rae is an American musician, best known as the keyboardist, pianist, and multi-instrumentalist of the indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, with whom he has recorded two studio albums and two EPs. Rae is a former member of Alanis Morissette' ...

– additional keyboards * Steve Mac – additional Keyboards * Rob Mathes – string arrangements and conducting * Jenny Nendick – conducting * Jackie Shave – concertmaster (1st violin) * Magnus Johnston – violin * Perry Montague-Mason – violin * Patrick Kiernan – violin * Pete Hanson – violin * Natalia Bonner – violin * Cathy Thompson – violin * Debbie Widdup – violin * Jonathan Evans-Jones – violin * Chris Tombling – violin * Bruce White – viola * Peter Lale – viola * Rachel Roberts – viola * Caroline Dearley – cello * Ian Burdge – cello * Jonathan Williams – cello * Caroline Dearley – cello Production *

– production, mixing * Steve Mac – production * James Rushent – additional production * Chris Laws – additional programming and engineering * Joe La Porta – mastering * Jonathan Allen – string recording * Paul Pritchard – string recording assistant * Neil Dawes – string recording assistant * KT Pipal – engineering * Mario Borgatta – engineering * Wesley M. Seidman – engineering * Cecil Barlett – engineering * Dann Pursey – engineering * Koby Merman – additional mix engineering and digital editing * Dalton Ricks – additional mix engineering * Ross Newbauer – additional mix engineering Artwork and design * Thomas Robson – cover artwork *

– additional artwork, art direction * Richard Welland – art direction * Ash Reynolds – photography

Charts

Certifications

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Celebration of Endings 2020 albums Biffy Clyro albums Warner Records albums