Search - Snow Patrol :: Final Straw

Europe is spoiled rotten....

Scot McGinn | Brookeville, MD | 01/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In todays era of soul-less corporate rock and cash-safe "attack of the clones", I've begun to look over the pond for my music needs. Bands such as Muse, Kent, Doves, and Idlewild (just to name a few) get regular spin time in my ear buds.A while back I got into the Reindeer Section, a side project of Gary Lightbody (creative force behind Snow Patrol) which incorporated a lot of euro talent on multiple tracks. The albums were a chance for Lightbody to experiment with some *safe* and *marketable* sounds, while retaining some integrity in the indie market by not carbon copying each track or sticking to a particular formula too closely (or marketing it to death). The Reindeer project, to me, was a simple attempt to get some people together and create some good music and, in my opinion, they succeeded nicely.Fast forward to today. Lightbody took all that he learned with Reindeer Section, what he thought worked, what he thought could be improved, and created Final Staw, the new Snow Patrol album. What he and his band created is a more "radio friendly" version of Snow Patrol, which will no doubt upset the long-term fans, however...and it needs to be said.....WOW! Radio-friendly never sounded so good.There are no "skip me's" on this cd. All tracks are solid. As others pointed out, some (like "Run") stand out as singles, but the other songs that are more radio-edgy stand out like polished gems. I think this band has grown a lot since Polar Bears and am glad I've been along for the ride."

BEST ALBUM!!!!

Kaitlin | Montgomery, Al, USA | 02/15/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Snow Patrol's latest album, Final Straw, is the best album I've heard in a long time. Their work on The Reindeer Section's "Your Sweet Voice" has the same soothing, catchy qualities as their work on this album. Standouts on the album are "How to be Dead," "Spitting Games," and "Chocolate." The haunting chouruses are hard to get out of your head, but they are not annoying and you never get sick of them, so you don't mind when they're stuck in your head. The CD has wide appeal- I believe you'll like it whatever your age and whatever kind of music you like. If you like the Scottish/Indie/Alt/Rock bands like Idlewild and The Reindeer Section, you'll love Snow Patrol's Final Straw. If I could buy any Snow Patrol CD, I'd buy Final Straw. Importing the CD is cheap- it costs around $16, and it only takes about 12 days to be shipped to the US, and it is definitely worth the wait. When I went to http://www.snowpatrol.net/ to hear sneak- previews of the album, I was definitely sold."

Album of the year so far

distortionghost | 11/03/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The promise showed by Snow Patrol through the paranoid rock of `Songs for Polar Bears' and bittersweet acoustics of `When It's All Over...' is perfected in this, their third album. While they've always been a fantastic live band, their recorded work has never had quite the power of their live shows - until now. Gary's songwriting is twice what it was before, perhaps as a result of sideproject 'The Reindeer Section' balancing his creative output these days. In the past their albums have been endearingly all over the shop but 'Final Straw' manages to combine the greatest variety of sounds in a coherant progression - even if its only a slight thematic or melodic link - from one song to another. As a result the cd plays beautifully, whether you listen right through or pick out individual tracks. All the songs are great so you'll be hooked to this album from the opening stutter of 'How to be Dead', through the phenomenal 'Run' to the beautiful closing duo of 'Somewhere a Clock is Ticking' and 'Same'. It's always been a shame that Snow Patrol are critically acclaimed yet underrated, but the release of this album just makes the fact they've not recieved as much press attention as many other irish bands recently all the harder to understand. Definitely album of the year! :)"