Snow Patrol - A Hundred Million Suns (Polydor)

So what of Snow Patrol, erstwhile twee cult indie also-rans turned planet-shagging, stadium filling superstars? The early indications seemed to be that they too were trying to reinvent themselves. A Thousand Million Suns was recorded at Berlin's Hansa studios, where legendary albums by David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed were recorded, and there were whispers of dance beats, lyrical departures and songs broken up into three parts, a la Vida La Vida.

It may not surprise you to learn though that A Hundred Million Suns sounds very like Final Straw or Eyes Open. The same elements that propelled those two albums into millions of homes are present and correct - yet when songs as ubiquitous as Run, Chasing Cars and You're All I Need have proved so successful, you can't blame the band for refusing to mess with a winning formula.

The first few tracks in particular could quite happily sit on the band's last album. Take Back The City is the obligatory Snow Patrol anthem, big and epic but sounding strangely empty. Crack The Shutters is the unusual sound of a happy Gary Lightbody, the man we're so used to moping about his lost love now singing about "your hills and valleys are mapped by my intrepid fingers" and admiring the naked form of his new lady. It's a bit icky, truth be told, but it's nice to hear him happy for once.

There's more rousing anthems in the shape of Please Just Take These Photos From My Hands and Disaster Buttons, yet the album is a lot more successful when some subtlety is brought in. Set Down Your Glass cuts down the bombast and sounds a hell of a lot better for it - a simple, twinkly heartfelt ballad in the mould of the band's best moments, Set The Fire To The Third Bar or You Could Be Happy.

In fact, given some time, there's more experimentation here than would appear at first listen. The Golden Floor has scattered beats running through it to pleasing effect, while the 16 minute closing track The Lightning Strike is pretty astonishing, featuring choirs, a brass section and weird little piano motifs that recall the band's hero Sufjan Stevens (especially in the song's second part The Sunlight Through The Floor).

Lyrically, the central motif appears to be love, although there are dark hints at Lightbody's much publicised personal problems in Disaster Button. The Planets Bend Between Us (which will probably be this album's most successful track commercially) has the intriguing chorus of "I will race you to the waterside and from the edge of Ireland shout out loud, so they could hear it in America" which raises the unfortunate image of a bunch of Sun readers gathered on the White Cliffs of Dover yelling 'up yours Delors'. It is, however, an undeniably touching number.

A Hundred Million Suns isn't a bad album - in fact, in parts, it's rather good. It's just that to find those good parts, you have to wade through acres of very average filler. If they can be persuaded to ditch the arena-friendly anthems and further explore the more experimental side hinted at here, then Snow Patrol could well release a truly great album. In the meantime, this is just another Snow Patrol album - which will either have you reaching for your wallet or shrugging your shoulders with indifference.

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