"Many of Horror" is an

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 ...

song written by

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 ...

of Scottish 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 ...

for their fifth studio album '' Only Revolutions''. The song was released as the fourth single from the album on 18 January 2010. The song was recorded at Ocean Way Recording, Hollywood, California and mastered at Masterdisk. The lyrics of the song concern Neil's wife and family.

Jacknife Lee Garret "Jacknife" Lee is an Irish music producer and mixer. He has worked with a variety of artists, including the Cars, U2, R.E.M., the Killers, Robbie Williams, Snow Patrol, Bloc Party, Two Door Cinema Club, AFI, the Hives, Weezer, One Directi ...

, who previously remixed "

Silhouettes A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...

" for the Biffy Clyro and

Sucioperro ; ) are a Scottish people, Scottish rock music, rock band from Ayr, South Ayrshire, formed in 2002. History ''Random Acts of Intimacy'' The band's debut album, ''Random Acts of Intimacy'', was released in June 2006 on the Captains of Industry ...

side project

Marmaduke Duke Marmaduke Duke are a Scottish conceptual rock duo from Ayrshire, Scotland, comprising Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro and JP Reid of Sucioperro. Within the band, the pair perform under the pseudonyms The Atmosphere and The Dragon respectively. Acco ...

, recorded a remix for the song.

Matt Cardle Matthew Sheridan Cardle (born 15 April 1983) is an English pop singer. He was born in Southampton and grew up in Halstead, Essex. Cardle has been involved in music since his early teens and has been a member of two different bands; Darwyn and S ...

, winner of the 2010 series of ''The X Factor'', recorded a studio version of the song under the title "When We Collide" and released it as his debut single, after having performed it in the final of the competition. Biffy Clyro fans launched an internet campaign to get the original track "Many of Horror" to the festive charts, with fans joining a Facebook campaign urging people to buy Biffy Clyro's original single rather than Cardle's cover version. This resulted in the Biffy Clyro version reaching number 8 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, its highest position ever, and Cardle's version became the UK Christmas number 1. The song is featured on the deluxe edition

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

to the film '' Transformers: Dark of the Moon'' and is played during the end credits. It was also used by

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

as the song for their closing montage of their

2014 Ryder Cup The 40th Ryder Cup matches were held 26–28 September 2014 in Scotland on the PGA Centenary Course at the Gleneagles Hotel near Auchterarder in Perth & Kinross. This was the second Ryder Cup held in Scotland; it was previously at Muirfield i ...

coverage on 28 September 2014.

Critical reception

Critical reception of "Many of Horror" was generally positive. Jamie Fullerton of ''

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 ...

'' called "Many of Horror" a "perfect rock ballad". Tim Newbound of ''

Rock Sound ''Rock Sound'' is a British magazine that covers rock music. The magazine aims at being more "underground" and less commercial, while also giving coverage to better-known acts. It generally focuses on pop punk, post-hardcore, metalcore, punk, e ...

'' described it as "beautifully serene" and stated it balances out more aggressive songs on the album. Jason Birchmeier of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

described the song as "mellow". Thom Gibbs of

Drowned in Sound ''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums. History ''D ...

was critical of the song, calling it a "so-so ballad" and describing it as "too

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

Music video

The official

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song was directed by

Andy Morahan Andrew Douglas Morahan (born 11 August 1958) is a British commercial, film and music video director. He is the son of director Christopher Morahan and the half-brother of actress Hattie Morahan. Married to Joanna Lewis, he has two children. Vi ...

Track listings

CD single 14FLR41CD # "Many of Horror" – 4:21 # "Toottoottoot" – 4:16 7-inch blue vinyl 14FLR41 # "Many of Horror" – 4:21 # "Lonely Revolutions" – 2:32 7-inch red vinyl 14FLR41X # "Many of Horror" – 4:21 # "Creative Burns" – 2:33 iTunes digital EP # "Many of Horror" – 4:21 # "Toottoottoot" – 4:16 # "Lonely Revolutions" – 2:32 # "Creative Burns" – 2:33

Credits

* Artwork (Cover design, photography) – Stormstudios * Music – Biffy Clyro * Songwriter (Song lyrics) – Simon Neil * Producer – Biffy Clyro, Gggarth (tracks: 1)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Matt Cardle version

In 2010,

, the winner of the seventh series of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'', released a cover of "Many of Horror" as his winner's single, although his version was re-titled "When We Collide". It was made available as a digital download on 12 December 2010 shortly after the show had ended. A physical

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

was released on 15 December 2010.

Background

In December 2010, Cardle stated that "I know there are some Biffy fans that are like, 'What have you done to that song?'...It's a great song. I'm hoping that I've done it justice." Referring to the

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

campaign to make the original version of the song number 1 in the chart, Cardle said, "If that happens then great - it's a great song".

Critical reception

Critical reception of Cardle's version of the song was mostly positive although many reviewers noted they preferred the original version. Nick Levine of

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

praised Cardle's vocals, stating he delivered "the violence-tinged lyrics with an appealing sense of intimacy, navigating the inevitable key change with ease and really smashing it on the final note". Rachael Patan of Femalefirst.com and The Beat Review applauded the song choice with the latter stating "his untimely cover of Biffy Clyro’s 'Many of Horror' is a very clever and risque thing to do and we applaud him for that". Fraser McAlpine of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

Chart Blog, was much more negative. He stated, "on the evidence of this song, he sure as hell can't sing." Unrealityshout.com agreed, stating "I actually find it very hard to listen to such a heroically valiant vocal from the Biffy Clyro clan get turned into a whimpering, reedy, falsetto-ridden snoozefest".

Chart performance

On 16 December 2010, "When We Collide" debuted at number one on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

, where it stayed for five weeks. It has since become the fourth best-selling song in the history of the chart. On 19 December, it charted number one in the

, beating " What's My Name?" by

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

featuring

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

and "

Surfin' Bird "Surfin' Bird" is a song performed by American surf rock band The Trashmen, containing the repetitive lyric "the bird is the word". It has been covered many times. It is a combination of two R&B hits by The Rivingtons: "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" and "The ...

" by

The Trashmen The Trashmen were an American rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, in 1962. The original line-up of the group featured guitarists Tony Andreason and Dal Winslow, bassist Bob Reed, and drummer Steve Wahrer. Along with Col ...

to 2010’s Christmas number one, whilst the Biffy Clyro original of "Many of Horror" re-entered the chart at number eight. With sales of 815,000, it was the second best-selling single of 2010; the number one being " Love the Way You Lie" by

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

featuring

, which sold 854,000 copies during 2010. In June 2012, It became the 123rd single to sell a million copies in the UK, and the fourth by an ''X Factor'' contestant, after

Shayne Ward Shayne Thomas Ward (born 16 October 1984) is an English actor and singer. He rose to fame as the winner of The X Factor (British series 2), the second series of ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor''. His debut single, "That's M ...

's "

That's My Goal "That's My Goal" is the debut single by British singer Shayne Ward, the winner of the The X Factor (British series 2), second series of ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor''. It was released as his winner's single on 21 December 20 ...

Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved nationa ...

's "

Bleeding Love "Bleeding Love" is a song recorded by English singer Leona Lewis for her debut studio album ''Spirit'' (2007). It was written and originally recorded by Jesse McCartney, and was co-written and produced by Ryan Tedder. The song was released as t ...

" and

Alexandra Burke Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke (born 25 August 1988) is a British singer, songwriter and actress. She won the fifth series of the British television series ''The X Factor'' in 2008, and has been signed to Epic Records, RCA Records and Syc ...

's "

Hallelujah ''Hallelujah'' ( ; he, ''haləlū-Yāh'', meaning "praise Yah") is an interjection used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Hebrew Bible (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, and four tim ...

". "When We Collide" is the 124th best selling song of all time in the UK and it is the 4th best selling single of all time in Ireland. It has sold 1,010,000 copies in the UK as of December 2015.

Music video

The official music video for Cardle's version of the song was also directed by Andy Morahan.

Track listings

* Digital download # "When We Collide" - 3:38 # "Matt's Thank You Message" - 0:14 * CD single # "When We Collide" - 3:38 # " Just the Way You Are" (''X Factor'' performance) - 2:26 # "

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is a 1957 folk song written by British political singer-songwriter Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, who later became his wife. At the time, the couple were lovers, although MacColl was still married to his ...

" (''X Factor'' performance) - 2:37 # "

Nights in White Satin "Nights in White Satin" is a song by the Moody Blues, written and composed by Justin Hayward. It was first featured as the segment "The Night" on the album ''Days of Future Passed''. When first released as a single in 1967, it reached number 19 ...

" (''X Factor'' performance) - 2:17

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Many Of Horror 2009 songs 2010s ballads 14th Floor Records singles Biffy Clyro songs Music videos directed by Andy Morahan Matt Cardle songs The X Factor (British TV series) Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Scotland UK Singles Chart number-one singles Pop ballads Rock ballads Songs written by Simon Neil Song recordings produced by Garth Richardson Syco Music singles 2010 debut singles Christmas number-one singles in the United Kingdom