''The Big Roar'' is the debut album by

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

rock band

the Joy Formidable The Joy Formidable is a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 2007 in Mold, Flintshire, and currently based in London, England. The band consists of Rhiannon "Ritzy" Bryan ( lead vocals, guitar), Rhydian Dafydd ( bass, vocals) and Matthew Jam ...

, released in the UK on 24 January 2011 on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

, with a US release following on 15 March 2011.The Joy Formidable announce debut album release date and tracklisting

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 ...

. Retrieved 10 June 2011. The tracks " Austere", "Cradle", "

Whirring "Whirring" is a song by the Welsh alternative rock band the Joy Formidable. Written by the band, it was originally released on the band's debut EP, ''A Balloon Called Moaning'', in 2009 before being re-released on the band's debut full-length alb ...

" and "The Greatest Light Is the Greatest Shade" were originally featured on the band's debut mini album ''

A Balloon Called Moaning ''A Balloon Called Moaning'' is the debut extended play by Welsh indie rock band the Joy Formidable. It was released exclusively in Japan in December 2008, then released with additional tracks in the UK the following month. Critical reception The ...

''. These songs were re-recorded for ''The Big Roar''.

Background and recording

In summer 2010, the band signed with Canvasback Records, a subsidiary of

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

. The band worked on writing and tracking the material for ''The Big Roar'' when they were not on tour. The album was recorded in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

.The Joy Formidable - Full Biography

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. Retrieved 15 December 2011. On the album, bassist Rhydian Dafydd said that "(it) covers a lot of emotional range. It's captured the battle between the eternal optimist and the manic depressive". Their debut was produced by the band, with help from engineer Neak Menter. The band traveled to Los Angeles to mix it with producer

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 ...

, who had worked with bands such as Mew,

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

Foo Fighters Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...

and

Glasvegas Glasvegas are a Scottish indie rock band from Glasgow. The band consists of James Allan (vocals), Rab Allan (lead guitar) and Paul Donoghue (bass guitar), with Swedish drummer Jonna Löfgren joining the group in 2010 until her departure in 2020 ...

. The first single from those sessions, "I Don't Want to See You Like This", was released in the autumn of 2010. The Japanese release of the album contains three exclusive bonus tracks.Joy Formidable, The - The Big Roar on Discogs
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Critical reception

''The Big Roar'' has received mostly positive reviews. The album currently has a 77 out of 100 on the review aggregate site

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 ...

, which indicates "generally favorable reviews."The Big Roar: Reviews

. Retrieved on 10 June 2011. Reviewer Mike Haydock of

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

praised the album, calling it "a fantastic debut".Haydock, Mike
Review of The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar

. Retrieved 10 June 2011 Lisa Wright of ''

'' also gave the album a positive review, writing, "''The Big Roar'' is the kind of epic-yet-intimate debut that does exactly what its title makes out in the most tactful of styles; an LP that ultimately delivers on every count on the four years of promise leading up to it".Wright, Lisa
Album Review: The Joy Formidable

. Retrieved 10 June 2011 In another positive review, '' Clash'' wrote of the album: "Bolt on an undeniably zealous execution, a set of simple yet well-written songs, add an element of confident adventure via some experimentation and diversity and the rebirth of indie may just have found its leading protagonists".The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
Clash. Retrieved 10 June 2011 In a more mixed review, Stuart Berman of

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

criticized the album for being excessive, writing, "There's no denying the Joy Formidable's passion, vigor, and pop smarts; it would just be easier to appreciate those qualities if The Big Roar didn't so often sound like a big blur".The Joy Formidable: The Big Roar

. Retrieved 10 June 2011 Jason Keller of '' Now Magazine'' agreed, writing, "The immediate criticism about this long-in-the-making debut... is that there’s too much big, as the title suggests".Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
Now Magazine. Retrieved 10 June 2011.

Track listing

Personnel

;The Joy Formidable * Ritzy Bryan – Vocals, guitar * Rhydian Dafydd – Bass, vocals (10) * Matt Thomas – Drums ;Production *

– Mixing, producer * Neak Menter – Mixing, producer ;Design personnel * Rhydian Dafydd - Illustrations * Jeremy Cowart – Photography * Danny North – Photography * Alex Kirzhner – Layout

Charts

References

External links

Official band website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Roar, The (Album) 2011 debut albums Atlantic Records albums The Joy Formidable albums