The Vertigo of Bliss

The album cover for The Vertigo of Bliss was designed by comic book artist Milo Manara. Despite raising some controversy, the artwork was praised by music magazine ShortList who named it in their list of "The 50 Coolest Album Covers Ever", explaining that the "erotic and controversial" cover "only endeared [Biffy] more to the small but loyal fanbase they were beginning to cultivate".[1] In an interview with ShortList, Neil said of the cover "we got quite a bad reaction to that artwork when it first came out [...] that was our first kind of lesson learned that perhaps not everyone shares your perspective on life, or what you value as art, because we were naive enough to be taken by surprise, and then I was naive enough that when people started saying, "Oh this is fucking schoolboy shit," I got really annoyed because I was like, "It's so not that - you're actually being schoolboy here by judging it on just a shallow level."[2]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Drowned in Sound	8/10[3]
The Guardian	[4]

Critical reception to Biffy Clyro's second album was generally positive. Sean Adams of Drowned in Sound wrote "[The band's] angular, lottery ball-bumbling popcore is special. So special that it seeps from the heart and strides from the speakers like a swimsuit model; glistening, all hair flicking and perfect smiles [...] ‘The Vertigo of Bliss’ is everything you want it to be and more. Promise. Spread the love, instil it into the hearts of all you know, give it time, and enjoy."[3] Writing for newspaper The Guardian, Betty Clarke awarded the album four out of five stars, calling it "inventive and sublime".[4] Praising singles "Questions and Answers" and "Eradicate the Doubt" in particular, Clarke praised the band for "juggling anger with adoration as they take indie sensitivity and embolden it with blistering rock fury", and said that the album "crackles with certainty".[4]

All lyrics are written by Simon Neil; all music is composed by Biffy Clyro.