The Samford Crimson

Issue date: 11/12/08 Section: Expressions

Snow Patrol's new album, "A Hundred Million Suns," was released on Oct. 28. The album boasts quality rock anthems and ballads bound to appear in the soundtracks of independent films later this year. [Click to enlarge]

There are bands, like Radiohead or Sigur Ros, who push the limits of music with every release. These bands are important to musical progression, but they make it very easy to forget about the bands that consistently make good straightforward rock/pop albums.

With the Oct. 28 release of its new CD, "A Hundred Million Suns," Snow Patrol continues building on its catalog of good, straightforward rock n' roll.

While the last CD, "Eyes Open," was their greatest commercial success to date, the disc lacked a sense of diversity, and at times it seemed contrived. It was almost as if the album was written with the intent of ending up on the latest Zack Braff movie soundtrack.

"A Hundred Million Suns" sees Snow Patrol move back into crafting both great rock anthems, like "Take Back the City" and "If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It."

It also sees the creation of Snow Patrol's greatest ballads to date. Songs like "Lifeboats" and "The Golden Floor" are destined to be on some Indie movie soundtracks this year, but that fact surprisingly doesn't take away from the beauty and creativity on the tracks. The driving beat of "The Golden Floor" is beautifully haunting and begs to be listened to on repeat.

One of the greatest complaints critics seem to have with Snow Patrol is that singer Gary Lightbody sometimes has difficulty getting out of one mood or that his vocal inflection stays very repetitious during songs such as last year's hit "Chasing Cars."
It would be difficult to make this complaint about a majority of the tracks on "A Hundred Million Suns."

There are times when it sounds as though Lightbody is going to continue his tradition of not changing his vocal inflections on songs, such as "The Golden Floor," but then out of nowhere he does.

It doesn't end up being anything extraordinary, but in the context of Snow Patrol and the music the band make, it gives "A Hundred Million Suns" a much more genuine and mature feel than previous efforts.

"A Hundred Million Suns" is easily the most genuine and diverse album Snow Patrol has released in its decade as a band.

Lyrically Snow Patrol has come a long way. Yet with the cheesiness of several of the songs there seems to still be room for improvement.

The lyrical content of the songs doesn't ruin any of the tracks, but tracks like "Crack the Shutters," which is beautiful from a musical standpoint, could have been fantastic had it not been for the lyrical choices.

If you have liked, enjoyed, loved or even tolerated Snow Patrol in the past, "A Hundred Million Suns" is worth picking up.

Unlike "Eyes Open," which had the tendency to get old after a few spins, Snow Patrol has added enough diversity and life to keep listeners coming back.

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