Anyway, I have mixed feelings about Snow Patrol. While they
have been around for several years, I focused my analysis on their most current
album “Fallen Empires” because artists and bands develop so much in a single
career (I mean just look at the Beatles!). I am rather tired, so I didn’t have
time to listen to the album in its entirety but I picked out some of their
top-chart songs to look at.
Overall, I think Snow Patrol is a pretty polished band. The
vocals in all of their songs sound soft and tender. This works well for them
because in the happier pop-like songs it adds a level of innocence and energy. When
they sing their sadder tunes, the soft vocals enforce the melancholy mood and
makes me connect with the song. In this aspect, they are very endowed artists.
They have really developed their skill set to an internationally recognized and
cherished stage. Through listening to a few of their newer songs, I noticed
that the vocals are not the only great aspect about this band. They also have
consistent talent-filled countermelodies. If this is accomplished through a
guitar/bass background or a slow piano sound, it ultimately adds depth to their
songs.
Another thing that this band does very well, and something
that I haven’t seen a lot in current music, is their versatility.
Unfortunately, I think this extreme versatility creeps on the verge of
inconsistency. While a lot of things remain consistent, their songs sound very
different from one another. At times, I can hear vocal similarities with
certain vocal ticks but for a majority of the songs, it could be a completely different
band performing.
While this band sounds a lot like a polished version of
Coldplay, certain qualities about their music doesn’t appeal to me. Although I enjoy
a complete “story” for a song, Snow Patrol seems to overdo this a bit. They have
a little too much introduction for my taste. It takes about a minute and a half
in each song for them to actually reach a point where other instruments
(besides the original basic sounds in the background) are added and meshed into
the song. From that point, their songs generally are good, but it is
painstakingly laborious to reach that point. I had to summon up all my will
just to prevent myself from fast forwarding to the main chorus.
Now, I’m not saying this band is bad. They have a tenderness
and lyrical depth that appeals to me. I think this entire “alternative rock”
genre is a new thing that I have discovered that fuses together some solid
sounds. While I don’t believe Snow Patrol is as good as other bands/artists I’ve
analyzed (like Imagine Dragons or Alex Clare) they definitely are a talented
group.
I’ll just quickly post some songs about them below so that
you can check them out yourself. The first song I’ll post is “Called Out In The
Dark”. It starts with a pretty catchy electric bass sound and basic snare beat.
You can see what I was talking about in that it has a slow start, though. After
a minute and twenty seconds, it begins to pick up. Vocal fluctuations along
with guitar and synthesized countermelodies in the background pick up the pace
of this song nicely. Check it out. It’s actually pretty awesome:
The next song is “New York”. This song has a very forlorn and
melancholy sound. The music video makes this about ten times worse. The simple
soft vocals at the beginning with charged and deliberate piano introduces a
very emotionally powerful song. Be moved, go check this song out:
“In The End” is another one of their recent hits.
False-setto mixed with vocal ticks adds variety in this song in the company of
a fast-paced driving beat and bass. It is kind of contradicting because the
vocals are smooth and almost crooning, while the countermelody alone is almost
hard rock. Check it out:
As I continue to listen to this band, I keep discovering new
things that are great! While I have some nitpicky things against their sound,
Snow Patrol definitely has a multitude of strengths.
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