Snow Patrol - any good?

Cafe Society
1

A year or so ago I saw Snow Patrol on SNL and they were pretty good. Now, apparently they have a new album and tour.

However, it was awhile back and I can’t remember if they were more a keyboard-influenced modern rock band such as Coldplay and Keane, or an emo-lite band such as Jimmy Eat World and All-American Rejects. Although I seem to remember them being a bit of both.

So, if you like those sorts of bands, what are they like and do you like them? (FTR, I like Keane and AAR, but not the former bands I mentioned [except A Praise Chorus, natch.)

2

I like Snow Patrol pretty well. They’re not going to change the world, and I think that this album isn’t as good as the previous one, but it’s worth a listen if you like Keane (I don’t know AAR).

3

The mark of a good band is that the non-radio tracks are better than the radio tracks.

The opposite of that is true for Snow Patrol. I enjoyed the songs I heard on the radio, picked up the record, and hated everything else.

All MHO, of course.

4

I picked up the last two albums on Amazon for cheap on a whim, because I’d heard a lot of stuff about them. The second to last album, Final Straw, I thought was much better than Eyes Open, but that’s not saying much. There’s a few interesting musical ideas, but on the whole, they’re pretty bland. Eyes Open is especially blah. After listening to the whole thing, I decided that the lead singer must have made a bet that he could do an entire album by singing less than 4 notes. All in all, I’d give it a pass.

5

My girlfriend has selected the song “Chasing Cars” (The one they play in Grey’s Anatomy) as her ring tone for me when I call. As cute as that may be, I’ve decided after cuing that song up many, many times to get the right section for a ringtone that Snow Patrol are agents of the great Satan of Boredom. Really, just shockingly bland and uninspired. Maybe that’s why Coldplay is so popular. It really does take a lot of talent to paint a picture using only one color.

6

Utterly unoriginal anthemic dross designed to get drunk cloth-ears singing along. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, U2 do it brilliantly, but Snow Patrol are just shit.

7

Meh…I think they had one good song; Spitting Games. Track 5 on Final Straw.

The rest of their stuff does absolutely nothing for me.

8

I bought a couple of their albums based on “Crashing Cars” and while I enjoy them fine, I readily admit that they are nothing unique or extraspecial.

I’m a sucker for good non-threatening pop music though!

9

“Cloth-ear” – regional expression? :confused:

10

Yes, usually cloth-eared. A pejorative term, denoting an individual whose ears don’t work properly due to being stuffed with cloth, and one that I’m probably using unfairly to refer to people who like a good drunken sing and go on endlessly about how “Snow Patrol are magic so they are” without realising that they are utterly pedestrian rip-off bollocks. Hey - they’ve got a Scottish connection (even though the band mostly haven’t) so they must be good! See Deacon Blue and other atrocities, passim.

I know I’ve just come across as a hopeless music snob, but I’ve had to hear a lot of their shit in the past few years due to the rather limited range of jukeboxes here, and I just felt like having a wee vent. Don’t get me started on Oasis…

11

I really like the song “Somewhere a Clock is Ticking.” That’s the only song I know of them.

12

No.

Hope that helps!

13

I thought the album Final Straw was very good. One of the best CD’s I bought all year when it came out. Their new album I don’t like so much, but I’m still a fan so I still listen to it. If you want to give them a chance go for Final Straw. If you like that, work backwards and try Songs for Polar Bears.

The last couple of albums I’ve bought:
The Killers, Hot Fuss
the deftones, (whatever the name of their new album is)
The Postal Service, Give Up
Popa Chubby, Stealing the Devil’s Guitar

Hope this helps.