Released: 2021

Genres: Alternative Rock, Alternative Dance, Hard Rock

The Musiquarium’s Typhoons Review Score: 7.5 out of 10

Following their sophomore album, How Did We Get So Dark, which did little to distinguish itself from their debut, Royal Blood shake things up a bit with Typhoons, going into a dance rock direction.

I saw Royal Blood open up for Queens of the Stone Age on their Villains tour in 2018 and the album in which it was supporting was produced by Mark Ronson, taking the band in a dancier direction. It seems as though that influence had rubbed off on Royal Blood, allowing them to tweak their formula for their next record.

Trouble’s Coming goes head-to-head as the duo’s signature song with their breakout hit Out of the Black, displaying a successful injection of dance elements into their drum and bass rock sound. Tracks like Oblivion, Limbo and the title track all do this dance sound justice as well.

Josh Homme (of the aforementioned Queens of the Stone Age) produces Boilermaker, which has a notably different production style from the other tracks, but still fits the overall theme, as well as the bonus tracks, Space and King. The closing song, All We Have Is Now is just piano and vocals; it ultimately feels quite misplaced.

I think I enjoyd Typhoons more than a lot of other people did, though it’s still not quite a classic. I find the drum and bass combo limited in scope, but this is still some decent meat and potatoes modern rock. Josh Homme should have also produced the entire album, but perhaps there was a reason he did not. Still, Typhoons is more interesting than its predecessor and more of a success than a failure.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view Royal Blood on Discogs.

Back to the 2021 Album Guide or the Royal Blood Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard