Calm melodies and songs that could lullaby a baby to sleep isn’t the only thing Eyes Open entails. Although, tracks like You Could Be Happy could easily be on a Disney movie soundtrack, other tracks like, Headlights and Beginning To Get To Me are perfect for a drive home after work. Calm would be the key word to describe front-man Gary Lightbody’’s voice as well as the majority of the instrumentals. Not too strong or too weak, Lightbody’’s voice brings a lot to the music, and without it, this would be a different band.
Eyes Open can be compared to the Garden State soundtrack, full of relaxing indie rock songs that get stuck in your head when you are in a lethargic mood. If you are feeling upbeat, it would be wise to stay away from this album though, because most likely, it would just bring you down.
It is obvious that Snow Patrol embraces simplicity and looks at it as though it is its own art, head and shoulders above anything else. They may be taking this outlook too far at times; some tracks do get quite boring and are missing the necessary guitar hooks and sing-along choruses. But aside from this downfall, there is creativity in the simplicity. Make This Go On Forever proves to be an epic song with aspiring musical ideas, if this song’s traits are on the majority of their next album, it would prove Snow Patrol ‘s fame. Almost there, if Snow Patrol carves out their strengths and strays away from the simple approach, their next album could be something very big.
release date: Tuesday, May 9, 2006
