Snow Patrol - A Hundred Million Suns review

If there was one word to describe this album it would be ‘epic’. A Hundred Million Suns shows us how Snow Patrol are just getting better as they go with more immense songs that almost jump up and down in your stereo and that bring tears to your ears. Opening track, ‘If There’s A Rocket Tie Me To It’ grabs your attention with the slow start and then the build up that Lightbody and co. always do so well. Debut single ‘Take Back the City’ fits in well with the rest of the album and slower tracks such as ‘Lifeboats’ and ‘The Golden Floor’ remind us of the older Snow Patrol days of ‘When It’s Over We Still Have to Clear Up’ but also add something a lot more new and fresh to the mix. ‘Please Just Take These Photos From My Hands’ kills any opinions that these guys are just another generic indie/rock band, with a punchy chorus and the excitement felt while Lightbody sings his heart out and the guitar riffs clearly drive this song. If you’re looking for another ‘Chasing Cars’, you definitely won’t find it on this album; but in its place you will find ‘The Planets Bend Between Us’. This song is what really makes this album so ‘epic’ – heartfelt lyrics filled with imagery and a slow but moving melody show how important music really is to this band. Sixteen minute long final track ‘The Lightning Strike’ is certainly something new and interesting for Snow Patrol but they pull it off well and make it the perfect ending to a brilliant album. The Snow Patrol boys have clearly put a lot of work into this album and they’re going to have a tough job when the time finally comes to start working on the next one - but we know they can do it.


You can check out Snow Patrol at www.myspace.com/snowpatrol
'A Hundred Million Suns' is now available on Polydor.