Royal Blood by Royal Blood (2014) was the rock duo’s debut studio album and was produced by the band with Tom Dalgety. The album, which won the Brit Award for MasterCard British Album of the Year and the NME Award for Best Album, is a thundering rock album of pure quality and proves that quality is more vital than quantity when it comes to great work with the echo of vibrating sound coming from bassist and lead vocalist Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher. A stunning and enjoyable listen.
Let’s take a look at each track individually:
Out Of The Black
The opening number is a throbbing and thunderous track which is exhilarating and instrumentally limitless. The edge and attitude in Kerr’s vocal delivery is perfection. A wonderfully constructed opener which sets the tone for the rest of the album.
Come On Over
An edgy, subtler track compared to some of the other tracks on the album but still brimming with hard-hitting rock and varied instrumentals which flow into each other with ease.
Figure It Out
Kerr’s vocal is very narrative-like on this track. The instrumentals flow gloriously into each other with perfect ease and it is a dynamic and cohesive number.
You Can Be So Cruel
Catchy and wonderfully pieced together. Still hard-hitting but one of the more subtler tracks on the album compared to others and brilliant.
Blood Hands
One of my favourite tracks on the album I think this track has a very classic rock feel which I love. It is timeless and Kerr’s vocal is perfect: narrative-like and full of edge and attitude. The instrumentals go perfectly with the vocals and it is just a job well done all round. Love it.
Little Monster
Again Kerr’s vocal is very narrative-like on this track which is always a great quality in any vocalist. The instrumentals are beautifully varied and sound striking and textured.
Loose Change
Another of my favourite tracks on the album, Loose Change has sprawling expanding instrumentals complimenting that storytelling quality in Kerr’s vocal. Layered, rhythmic and relentlessly brilliant.
Careless
The instrumentals are brilliantly crafted and are arranged beautifully around Kerr’s vocal. Great job.
Ten Tonne Skeleton
Another favourite of mine from the album, this is headbanging perfection in all it’s glory. I love the edge in Kerr’s vocal and it is a stunningly crafted song also in terms of instrumentals with soaring, fresh and piercing instrumentals rounding off a song filled with lyrics of attitude and defiance and a great hook that is guaranteed to swim around in your brain long after you have heard the track.
Better Strangers
A fantastic closer, Better Strangers is quite subtle compared to some other tracks on the album but is still hard-hitting and has a catchy chorus. Clever and effortless.
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