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JennYSnow Patrol - A Hundred Million Suns Album Review
November 14th 2008 02:57
Genre: Alternative Rock
Length: 58:12
Label: Polydor/A&M
Two years after their mega-hit album Eyes Open, Snow Patrol have returned with another great album titled A Hundred Million Suns. The record takes their previous work one step further, cementing their reputation as one of the best Irish bands out there (I refuse to call them “the next Coldplay” like many people seem to do).
The album starts with the builder If There's A Rocket Tie Me To It, a song which slowly rises in intensity before completely breaking out. The first thing I noticed is that Gary's voice is a lot more calmer and clearer than previous albums. That track reminded me of their hit “Run” which was on the Final Straw album.
The second song, Crack The Shutters, is probably my favorite of the album. Similar to “Chasing Cars,” it's a song about love that will probably get the same if not more success than "Chasing Cars." The chorus is just beautiful as Gary sings:
"Crack the shutters open wide
I want to bathe you in the light of day
And just watch you as the rays
Tangle up around your face and body
Finding new ways to be awed each minute
Cause the daylight seems to want you
Just as much as I want you"
The first single, Take Back The City, is another builder which starts with an acoustic guitar. In my opinion, Crack The Shutters would've been a better first single but then again “You're All I Have” was released before “Chasing Cars,” so what do I know? An effort has been made on the songwriting with verses having a ABA rhyme pattern while the chorus is AABB. I didn't really notice the pattern until I read the lyrics, so it really doesn't feel forced at all.
Take Back The City Video
Please Just Take These Photos From My Hands is one of few high-tempo songs of the album, and it is placed right between a bunch of slow songs. It's a great song though. It reminded me of "In My Arms."
Lifeboats, The Golden Floor, Set Down Your Glass, and The Planets Bend Between Us are all slow songs that surround Please Just Take These Photos From My Hand. All of them have an acoustic guitar as the lead instrument (with a piano accompanying the guitar on The Planets Bend Between Us), which really shows how Snow Patrol have expanded their sound. Out of the four songs, The Golden Floor is probably the one that's a little more upbeat thanks to the drums. After listening to all four though, I couldn't help but sigh in contentment.
I didn't really like the ninth track, Engines. Its rhythm really rubbed me the wrong way. It became more tolerable after a couple more listens, but I still don't like it.
Disaster Button is another builder type of song. The instrumental grows during the verses to erupt in the chorus. This song was a bit weird because the chorus is actually longer than the verses, but it's still a good track.
The album concludes with an epic 16-minute long track called The Lightning Strike. It's divided in three parts, all of which could stand on their own as individual songs. The first part is What If The Storm Ends, probably the best of the three. The second is Sunlight Through The Flags, a piano-driven track which reminded me of The Thomas Crown Affair soundtrack which was also piano-heavy. Finally, the third part, Daybreak, is the longest of the three, clocking in at 6:15 to finish up the album.
To sum it up, Snow Patrol came up with another great album. A 4.75/5 for me, it's not up there with the classics but it gets the job done. As I'm writing this the Montreal Canadiens are getting pounded by the Boston Bruins, so I'll leave it at that. I'll post another review this weekend to make up for the lack of posts during these past couple of weeks.
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