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Snow Patrol: A Hundred Million Suns

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Polydor Ltd. UK
Released: 2008
Time:
 58:18
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): See Artists ...
Rating: ******.... (6/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.snowpatrol.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2008.12.05
Price in €: 13,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s

[1] If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It (N.Connolly/G.Lightbody/J.Quinn/T.Simpson/P.Wilson) - 4:19
[2] Crack the Shutters (N.Connolly/G.Lightbody/J.Quinn/T.Simpson/P.Wilson) - 3:20
[3] Take Back the City (N.Connolly/G.Lightbody/J.Quinn/T.Simpson/P.Wilson) - 4:40
[4] Lifeboats (N.Connolly/G.Lightbody/J.Quinn/T.Simpson/P.Wilson) - 4:41
[5] The Golden Floor (N.Connolly/G.Lightbody/J.Quinn/T.Simpson/P.Wilson) - 3:19
[6] Please Just Take These Photos from My Hands (N.Connolly/G.Lightbody/J.Quinn/T.Simpson/P.Wilson) - 4:25
[7] Set Down Your Glass (N.Connolly/G.Lightbody/J.Quinn/T.Simpson/P.Wilson) - 3:43
[8] The Planets Bend Between Us (N.Connolly/G.Lightbody/J.Quinn/T.Simpson/P.Wilson) - 4:18
[9] Engines (N.Connolly/G.Lightbody/J.Quinn/T.Simpson/P.Wilson) - 5:10
[10] Disaster Button (N.Connolly/G.Lightbody/J.Quinn/T.Simpson/P.Wilson) - 3:58
[11] The Lightning Strike: What If This Storm Ends?/The Sunlight Through the Fla (N.Connolly/G.Lightbody/J.Quinn/T.Simpson/P.Wilson) - 16:18
 

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Gary Lightbody – Vocals, Guitar
Jonny Quinn – Drums, Percussion
Nathan Connolly – Guitar, Vocals
Paul Wilson – Bass Guitar
Tom Simpson – Keyboards

Jacknife Lee - Guitar, Keyboards, Programming, Producer, Glass Harmonica, Mixing

James "Big Jim" Anderson - Tuba
John Barclay - Trumpet
Guy Barker - Trumpet
Richard Bayliss - Horn
Timothy Brown - Horn
Avshalom Caspi - Brass Arrangement
Evgeny Chebykin - Horn
Kira Doherty - Horn
Philip Eastop - Horn
Ian Fasham - Bass Trombone
James Jarvis - Choir Director
Jocelyn Lightfoot - Horn
Colin Sheen - Trombone
David A. Stewart - Bass Trombone
Pat White - Trumpet
Stephen Wick - Tuba
Dan Jenkins - Trombone

Sam Bell - Engineer, Editing
Tom McFall - Engineer
Philip Rose - Engineer
Cenzo Townshend - Mixing
Neil Comber - Mixing Assistant
John C.F. Davis - Mastering
Tilmann Ilse - Assistant Engineer
Karen Kelleher - Assistant Engineer
Owen Lewis - Assistant Engineer
Dave Emery - Mixing Assistant
John Ross - Photography
Hilary Skewes - Contractor
 

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s

2008 CD Geffen/Fiction 001215602
2008 CD Polydor 1785259
2008 LP Geffen 001226301

SNOW PATROL - A Hundred Million Suns - (Polydor/Fiction/Geffen Records). The album is preceded by the fantastic single "Take Back The City", which comes with a video shot in East London courtesy of acclaimed video director Alex Courtes (White Stripes "Seven Nation Army").  Gary Lightbody (vocals/guitars) says, ""I'm so proud of this record. Everybody played out of their skin. Garret (Jacknife Lee) continued his progression from maverick genius to one of the best producers in the world. Musically, lyrically and sonically the best record we've made"  The Grammy-nominated band's fifth studio album was recorded throughout the Summer of 2008 in Hansa Studios in Berlin (where Bowie recorded "Low," "Heroes" and "Lodger") and at Grouse Lodge deep in the Irish countryside. Written by Snow Patrol, the album was produced by Garret "Jacknife" Lee (Bloc Party, REM, U2).  Snow Patrol are one of the biggest selling UK bands this decade and A Hundred Million Suns follows up the 2006 Number One, seven-times platinum phenomenon Eyes Open which sold 2.1 million copies in the UK and over 1 million in the US. Eyes Open achieved platinum awards across the world from the US and Canada to Germany, Australia and beyond, selling over 4.5 million copies. Their single "Chasing Cars" has just received its 2 millionth download in the US.

Fifth album, following 2006's multi-million-selling 'Eyes Open', from the Northern Irish pop-rock quintet. Recorded in Germany and Ireland with Garret "Jacknife" Lee (U2, Bloc Party, REM) once more at the helm, the album sees them exploring a somewhat rockier, although still decidedly radio-friendly, direction than on the introspective 'Eyes Open'. As evinced by the single 'Take Back The City', the band's knack for writing catchy pop hooks remains intact.

Building on the success of 2006's EYES OPEN, A HUNDRED MILLION SUNS cements Snow Patrol's place as one of the premiere alternative pop-rock bands of the early 2000s. All the elements that made up the band's previous work--resonant-hooky melodies, ...    Full Descriptioncrisp arrangements, and a searching, expansive indie rock feel--are refined and elevated on this 2008 release. In addition to strong songwriting and carefully balanced sonic elements, A HUNDRED MILLION SUNS plays to Snow Patrol's ability to balance commercially minded pop with an indie rock ethos, as ballads like "Crack the Shutters" and the lush, groove-driven "The Golden Floor" prove. Polished and well crafted from beginning to end, the band's fifth full-length is arguably their strongest, and puts them in the running for indie pop-rock stardom.



The Snow Patrol we meet on A Hundred Million Suns is a band facing the same dilemma that Coldplay met on 2008’s Viva la Vida; having conquered the world with a rousing, melancholy brand of MOR indie, where now? On the surface, A Hundred Million Suns seems to suggest, nothing especially new: producer Jacknife Lee, who first worked with the band on 2003's Final Straw and went on to work with the likes of U2 and REM returns to the fold; and an opening brace of songs suggest that a successful formula - chiming guitars, gentle builds, and Gary Lightbody's quavering, tremulous vocal - persists. Still, “Take Back The City", a windswept, electronic-tinged rocker, rather does for this band what “Dakota" did for Stereophonics, proving that a spot of sleek, synthetic motorik is not beyond their grasp, and there's a new, bright optimism to Lightbody's lyrics that sets the likes of “The Planets Bend Between Us" in light relief to some of Snow Patrol's earlier work. If you want experiments, though, you'll have to wait until the closing “The Lightning Strike", a 16-minute track in three parts that investigates Phillip Glass-style minimalism and electronic beats with some aptitude.

Louis Pattison - Amazon.com



Nichts ist schwieriger, als dem riesigen Erwartungsdruck von Publikum und Kritikern nach einem großartigen Erfolg standzuhalten und ihn mit viel Glück zu meistern. Die Rede ist von Snow Patrol und ihrem neuen Longplayer A Hundred Million Suns, der sich an dem Hit-Album Eyes Open messen lassen muss, immerhin dem meistverkauften Album Englands im Jahr 2006. Dass die Band auch 14 Jahre nach ihrer Gründung stilistisch keinem festen Plan folgt, mag hierfür eher von Vorteil sein. Doch wer deshalb auf musikalische Überraschungen spekuliert, wird sich spätestens nach 11 Songs und rund 58 Minuten später die Vergeblichkeit dieses Wunsches eingestehen müssen. Und das, obwohl laut Tracklist ausgerechnet der allerletzte Song des Albums “The Lightning Strike“ allerschönste Hoffnungen weckt, mit seiner Pink Floyd’schen Länge von sage und schreibe 16 Minuten und einem Großaufgebot von Bläsern und Chor in den Credits. Doch bei genauem Hinhören entpuppt sich der Song als Mogelpackung, getreu dem Motto “Aus Drei mach’ Eins“ -drei Einzeltitel, die mit elektronisch sphärischen Übergängen zu einem einzigen Titel verschmolzen sind. Dass im letzten Teil (“Daybreak“) ‘hypnotische Krautrock Elemente mitschwingen‘ als Huldigung an die traditionsreichen Berliner Hansa-Studios, muss der Hörer zur angemessenen Würdigung im Vorfeld von Gary Lightbody höchstpersönlich erzählt bekommen, ebenso, dass die verwendeten Gitarrensounds an das dort entstandene Bowie-Album Heroes erinnern sollen. Dennoch ist “The Lightning Strike“ zweifellos Höhepunkt und krönender Abschluss von A Hundred Million Suns. Ansonsten präsentiert sich das Album eher von einer gemäßigten, harmonischen, man könnte auch sagen, gefälligen Seite. Auf Anhieb überzeugen können Songs wie “The Golden Floor“ mit einem charakteristischen Arrangement aus akustischer Gitarren und Drums, die Ballade “Set Down Your Glass“ und “The Planets Bend Between Us“. Den angestrebten Spannungsbogen, den sich die Jungs Snow Patrol von zwei so unterschiedlichen Aufnahmeorten wie dem ländlichen irischen Grouse Lodge und den Berliner Hansa-Studios versprochen haben, sucht man hingegen vergeblich. Als wahrer Grund wird intern auch eher kreative Stagnation in ländlicher Einsamkeit als Grund für den Ortswechsel in das pulsierende Stadteben angegeben. Obwohl insgesamt ein respektables Album, bleibt A Hundred Million Suns eine eindeutige Position bezüglich des künftigen musikalischen Reiseziels von Snow Patrol schuldig und kann damit lediglich vorläufiges Zwischenergebnis sein, das nach Fortsetzung verlangt.

Andreas Schultz - Amazon.de



If Final Straw introduced Snow Patrol to the mainstream and Eyes Open cemented the band's popularity, then A Hundred Million Suns is the group's ultimate bid for stardom, its slick production and sonic uplift designed to catapult Snow Patrol into the upper echelons of modern music. Like "Chasing Cars," the mega-single from Snow Patrol's previous album, tracks like "Take Back the City" and "If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It" are slyly repetitive — their hooks are cyclic, each comprising only a handful of notes, and their straightforward familiarity helps maximize the songs' singalong potential. But A Hundred Million Suns also features more curve balls than the band's past catalog, from "Lifeboats" (an icy love song with synthesizer glissandos and falsetto harmonies) to "The Golden Floor," whose handclap-and-stomp intro recalls the light hip-hop flavor of OneRepublic's "Apologize." This is where Snow Patrol sound best — at the intersection between marketable pop/rock and something more challenging, whether it's an unexpected arrangement or an interesting melodic turn. The band's appeal also owes a good deal to Gary Lightbody, who maintains his status as the least famous frontman of a very famous band. He's the boy next door, a musical Everyman who's just as average looking as Chris Martin and only half as desperately self-effacing. Looks may have little to do with an artist's music, but such appearances help ground Snow Patrol's music, even while "Take Back the City" and "Please Take These Photos from My Hands" reach for the same stars that U2 routinely grab. When A Hundred Million Suns focuses on music — not saccharine radio fodder like "Chasing Cars," but actual music, with twists and turns that haven't been mapped out by generations of likeminded balladeers — the album wholly warrants Snow Patrol's fame, presenting a band that aspires to pop/rock grandeur without developing the accompanying ego. As a result, this is the group's best work yet.

Andrew Leahey - All Music Guide


"Snow Patrol are all about big: echoing soundscapes; gargantuan guitar crescendos -- emotions that can be described only in terms of mythology and astronomy."

Rolling Stone (p.126) - 3 stars out of 5



"Snow Patrol doesn't seem as beholden to big hooks on album five, but they still keep things likably grand."

Spin (p.100) - 3.5 stars out of 5



"[T]he bulk of the album belongs to shivery numbers like 'If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It,' 'Lifeboats,' and 'The Golden Floor' -- heartswellers, all." -- Grade: B+

Entertainment Weekly (p.61)



Snow Patrol are all about big: echoing soundscapes; gargantuan guitar crescendos — emotions that can be described only in terms of mythology and astronomy. On the Irish rockers' latest, fresh off 2006's worldwide smash Eyes Open, frontman Gary Lightbody's lyrics keep returning to space-travel metaphors. One dreamy song is titled "The Planets Bend Between Us (For You)," another, "If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It." In "Engines," Lightbody coos, "Use me forever as rocket fuel... Love me like the silence of the turning earth." But Lightbody has an agile tenor, and the band distinguishes itself from the post-Coldplay pack with a flair for arrangements that almost justifies the grandiosity of 16-minute epics like "The Lightning Strike," in which Lightbody sings about — what else? — "the planet's last dance."

JODY ROSEN - Oct 30, 2008
Rolling Stone
 

 L y r i c s

If There's A Rocket Tie Me To It

Two weeks late like a surplus reprieve
I found a hair the length of yours on my sleeve
I wound it round and round my finger so tight
It turned to purple and a pulse formed inside

And I knew the beat since it matched your own beat
I still remember it from our chest to chest and feet to feet
The easy silence then was a sweet relief to this hush
Of ovens, aeroplanes and distant car horns

A fire a fire, you can only take what you can carry
A pulse your pulse, it's the only thing I can remember
I break you don't, I was always set to self destruct though
The fire the fire, it cracks and barks like primal music

I said I knew the beat 'cause it matched your own beat
It's become my engine my own source of heat
The sea between us only amplifies the sound waves
Every hum and echo and crash paints my cave.


Crack The Shutters

You cool your bedwarm hands down
On the broken radiator

When you lay them freezing on me
I mumble can you wake me later

But I don't really want you to stop
And you know it so it doesn't stop you

You run your hands from my neck
To my chest

Crack the shutters open wide
I want to bathe you in the light of day

And just watch you as the rays
Tangle around your face and body

I could sit here for hours
Finding new ways to be awed each minute

'Cause the daylight seems to want you
Just as much as I want you

Its been minutes Its been days,
I remember all I will remember

Happy lost in your hair
And the cold side of the pillow

Your hills and valleys
Are mapped by my intrepid fingers

And in a naked slumber
I dream all this again


Take Back The City

Take back the city for yourself tonight
Or I抣l take back the city for me
Take back the city for yourself tonight
Whoa

God knows you put your life in two a times
And it抯 both cradled you and crushed
But now it抯 time to make your own demands
Whoa

All these years later and it抯 killing me
Your broken records and words
Ten thousand craters where it all should be
Whoa

No need to put your words into my mouth
Don抰 need convincing at all
I love this place enough to have no doubt
Whoa

It抯 a mess
It抯 a start
It抯 a flawed work of art
Your city, your call
Every crack, every wall
Pick a side, pick a fight
Get your epitaph right
You can sing 憈il you drop
Cause the fun just never stops

I love this city tonight
I love this city always
It bears it抯 teeth like a light
And spits me out after days
But we抮e all gluttons for it
We know what抯 wrong and it抯 right
For every time it抯 been hit
Take back the city tonight

Tell me you never wanted more from this
And I will stop talking now
One perfect partner, one eternal kiss
Whoa

Take back the city for yourself tonight
Or I抣l take back the city for me
Take back the city for yourself tonight
Whoa

It抯 a mess
It抯 a start
It抯 a flawed work of art
Your city, your call
Every crack, every wall
Pick a side, pick a fight
Get your epitaph right
You can sing 憈il you drop
Cause the fun just never stops

I love this city tonight
I love this city always
It bears it抯 teeth like a light
And spits me out after days
But we抮e all gluttons for it
We know what抯 wrong and it抯 right
For every time it抯 been hit
Take back the city tonight

I love this city tonight
I love this city always
It bears it抯 teeth like a light
And spits me out after days
But we抮e all gluttons for it
We know what抯 wrong and it抯 right
For every time it抯 been hit
Take back the city tonight

I love this city tonight
I love this city always
I love this city tonight
I love this city always


Lifeboats

Hold on, hold on, let me get the words out before I burst
There's no truth at all, poking at the giant eyes of ancient gods
Cool hats have failed, now it's time for me to have my turn
Kiss me, kiss me, life is far too short to scream and shout

Flashed up in my wildest dreams, like red blood streams, stretch up like vast skies
The veins of you, the veins of me, like gold forest trees
Pushing through and on and in
Gliding like a satellite in the broken night
And when I wake you're there I'm saved
Your love is life piled tight and high set against the sky
That seems to balance on its own

Sing out sing out the silence only eats us from the inside up
I meant no harm but I only get to say these words too late
Wake up wake up dreaming only leads to more and more nightmares
Snap out of it you said it in a wy that showed you really cared.


The Golden Floor

Tell me that you want to dance
I want to feel your pulse on mine
Just treat me like a stolen glance
To yourself

A dark shape on a golden floor
A sleeping planet with a molten core
From above we'd cut a slow eight shape
And much more

I'm a peasant in your princess arms
Penniless with only charm
As we're leveled by the low, hot lights
And disarmed

I'm not afraid of anything even time
It'll eke away at everything but we'll be fine

I'm folded in the bread you made
You're cold until my body bathes
You in the heat I kept aside
All these days

I'm not afraid of anything even time
It'll eke away at everything but we'll be fine


Please Just Take These Photos From My Hands

The yellowed page of the books and books I'd forgotten that I had
These paperbacks they know their age they smell of weight and time that's resting warm
The opened box beside the endless box parade that haunts my house
Is fit to split with photographs that tell the wanderlust of years smashed on to years

When all this actual life played out
Where the hell on Earth was I?
I rack my brains but it won't come

Through water damaged bloodshot eyes
The fleeting triumphs, brazen lies
All seem to mingle into one

I read your name under words in your elegant hand you probably don't mean now
I fold the letter and think of a million and one things that I could have done different

When all this actual life played out
Where the hell on Earth was I?
I rack my brains but it won't come

Through water damaged bloodshot eyes
The fleeting triumphs, brazen lies
All seem to mingle into one

One gigantic fairy tale
Of friends I haven't seen in years
Drinking 'til the daylight hurts

You seem friendly who are you?
That's a lot of wine that we got through
We've made playtime look like work

Please just take these photos from my hands.


Set Down Your Glass

Just close your eyes
And count to five

Let's craft the only thing we know into surprise

Set down your glass
I painted this

To look like you and me forever as we're now

And I'm shaking then I'm still
When you're eyes meet mine I lose simple skills
Like to tell you all I want is now

You sing and I'm killed
I'm just not the same

As I was a year ago and each minute since then

My jumper tears
As we take it off

And you say you'll sew me good as new and I know you will

And I'm shaken then I'm still
When your eyes meet mine I lose simple skills
Like to tell you all I want is now

And I'm shaken then I'm still
When your eyes meet mine I lose simple skills
Like to tell you all I want is now


The Planets Bend Between Us

The winters mar the Earth
It's floor was frozen glass
You slip into my arms
And you quickly correct yourself
Your freezing speech bubbles
Seem to hold your words aloft
I want the smoky clouds of laughter
To swim about me forever more

I will race you to the waterside
And from the edge of Ireland shout out loud
So they could hear it in America
It's all for you

The shells crack under our shoes
Like punctuation points
The planets bend between us
A hundred million suns and stars
The sea filled in this silence
Before you sank those words
And now even in the darkness
I can see how happy you are

I will race you to the waterside
And from the edge of Ireland shout out loud
So they could hear it in a America
It's all for you

It's all for you [x5]


Engines

Only the faintest only the faintest glance buries you buries me
So fire your engine see if I give a damn we'll be dust instantly
Caught in a jet stream caught in a gorgeous howl all the world lost in noise
Use me forever use as rocket fuel I'll be air I'll be fire

You say you love me like the silence of the turning earth
You say you love me like the endless roar of modern of life
You say you love me like the laughter and the kissed back tears
You say you love me like the past the now the coming years

What will you remember what will you think of me after I say goodbye
Returning in bodies, plants and the sand you'll squeeze between shoeless feet

I know I love you like the silvered gold of dying days
I know I love you like an ancient history brought to life
I know I love you like the sunlit water on your skin
I know I love you like the million times I never said

I know you love me like the silence of the turning earth
I know you love me like the endless roar of modern of life
I know you love me like the laughter and the kissed back tears
I know you love me like the past the now the coming years


Disaster Button

A little after twelve
The function suite was full
Of people I had never seen before

Ripped up ticket stubs
Confettied on the floor
It dawned on me I'd seen it all before

Cool your beans my son
You look a fucking mess
No ones getting out of here tonight

Hit that button there
The one that just says wrong
We'll lose our minds to all our favourite songs

Throw forward to later
you look light on your feet
When you whirled in the room
I was nailed to my seat

I'm like a prisoner
getting ready to talk
I feel the blood in my hands
and the threat in your walk

And suddenly
it lifts the roof off the place
It puts a vault in my step
And a grin on my face

It can't contain me
but you'll need an army
To get me back in my box
Or snap the branches off me

A little after four
The function suite is dead
And I am just a ripped up ticket stub

But heres a helping hand
A voice that's far to close
And I am up and on my broken limbs

Throw forward to later
you look light on your feet
When you whirled in the room
I was nailed to my seat

I'm like a prisoner
getting ready to talk
I feel the blood in my hands
and the threat in your walk

And suddenly
it lifts the roof off the place
It puts a vault in my step
And a grin on my face

It can't contain me
but you'll need an army
To get me back in my box
Or snap the branches off me

And suddenly
it lifts the roof off the place
It puts a vault in my step
And a grin on my face

It can't contain me
but you'll need an army
To get me back in my box
Or snap the branches off me


The Lightning Strike

[I - What If This Storm Ends?]

What if this storm ends?
And I don't see you
As you are now
Ever again

The perfect halo
Of gold hair and lightning
Sets you off against
The planet's last dance

Just for a minute
The silver forked sky
Lit you up like a star
That I will follow

Now it's found us
Like I have found you
I don't want to run
Just overwhelm me

What if this storm ends?
And leaves us nothing
Except a memory
A distant echo

I want pinned down
I want unsettled
Rattle cage after cage
Until my blood boils

I want to see you
As you are now
Every single day
That I am living

Painted in flames
All peeling thunder
Be the lightning in me
That strikes relentless

[II - The Sunlight Through The Flags]

From here the caravans are kids toys
And I can hold them all in my palm
I watch the sea creep round the corner
It connects the dots from here to you
The sunlight burning through the loose flags
Painted high on white church walls
I chase my blood from brain to thumped heart
Until I'm out of breath for trying

Worry not everything is sound
This is the safest place you've found
The only noise beating out is ours
Lacing our tea from honey jars

These accidents of faith and nature
They tend to stick in the spokes of you
But every now and then the trend bucks
And you're repaired by more than glue

Worry not everything is sound
This is the safest place you've found
The only noise beating out is ours
Lacing our tea from honey jars

Why don't you rest your fragile bones
A minute ago you looked alone
Stop waving your arms you're safe and dry
Breathe in and drink up the winter sky

[III - Daybreak]

Slowly the day breaks apart in our hands
And soft hallelujahs flow in from the church
The one on the corner you said frightened you
It was too dark and too large to find your soul in

Something was bound to go right sometime today
All these broken pieces fit together to make a perfect picture of us
It got cold and then dark so suddenly and rained
It rained so hard the two of us were the only thing
That we could see for miles and miles

And in the middle of the flood I felt my worth
When you held onto me like I was your little life raft
Please know that you were mine as well
Drops of water hit the ground like God's own tears
And spread out into shapes like
Salad bowls and basins and buckets for bailing out the flood

As motionless cars rust on driveways and curbs
You take off your raincoat and stretch out your arms
We both laugh out loud and surrender to it
The sheer force of sky and the cold magnet Earth
 

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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