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The Big Roar - The Joy Formidable
The Big Roar Image
Metascore
77 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 24 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.0 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 6 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Summary: This is the debut full-length album on Atlantic for the Welsh trio and continues to be a cacophony of rock riffs and pop sensibility.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 24
  3. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. No Ripcord
    Feb 11, 2011
    90
    The welsh trio have taken their time to reach this point, but with The Big Roar they have taken their opportunity with great style, producing what I think is a mature, clever and exceptionally listenable record from start to finish--and that's a mighty thing.
  2. Rock Sound
    Feb 11, 2011
    90
    The eagerly anticipated album from London based indie-rock three-piece The Joy Formidable far exceeds all expectation.
  3. NOW Magazine
    Mar 31, 2011
    60
    It's dizzying, and you'll want off at times, but you'll likely ask to ride again.

See all 24 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. Twinhammers
    10
    This is not a versatile album, in the sense that you won't be given a whole lot of breathing room, but The Joy Formidable succeed in out-muscling the tattooed guitar bands who undeservedly carry that reputation. And before you think them another possible product for frat-house drunkards, take note that "The Big Roar" handles its big roar with more elegance, agility and grace than we are accustomed to hearing from electric instruments. And who would be ballsy enough to start an album, let alone the sets of their current tour, with an anthem, "The Everchanging Spectrum of a Lie", that pushes nearly eight minutes? But after, there is no letdown. The Welsh trio has the energy and the smarts to continue their pulsating adrenaline rush for another forty. The loud and aggressive guitars and bass are pillowed atop such lovely ambiance that a full play-through leads to a feeling not unlike a waking dream. So it can be forgiven if, at the end of the album's closing stunner "The Greatest Light is the Greatest Shade", you choose to re-submerge into their imagined world rather than, once again, taking on your own.… Expand
    • 1 of 1 users said yes
  2. Hackskeptic
    9
    The hardened, accelerated riffs and floor thudding bass rhythms bear a resemblance to their early 90s influences, but with Ritzy Bryan's powerful melodies there's an ambitious aesthetic that encompasses Indie/pop. The amalgam of slow burning intensity and primal, explosive head numbing power is pitched just right, and is fully realized on the magnificent "Whirring". http://hackskeptic.com… Expand
    • 1 of 1 users said yes

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