If Final Straw introduced Snow Patrol to the mainstream and Eyes Open cemented the band's popularity, then A Hundred Million Suns is the group's ultimate bid for stardom, its slick production and sonic uplift designed to maintain Snow Patrol's place in the charts.
Like "Chasing Cars," the mega-single from Snow Patrol's previous album, tracks like "Take Back the City" and "If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It" are slyly repetitive -- their hooks are cyclic, each comprising only a handful of notes, and their straightforward familiarity helps maximize the songs' singalong potential.
But A Hundred Million Suns also features more curve balls than the band's past catalog, from "Lifeboats" (an icy love song with synthesizer glissandos and falsetto harmonies) to "The Golden Floor," whose handclap-and-stomp intro recalls the light hip-hop flavor of OneRepublic's "Apologize." This is where Snow Patrol sound best -- at the intersection between marketable pop/rock and something more challenging, whether it's an unexpected arrangement or an interesting melodic turn.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | If There's a Rocket Tie Me to ItNathan Connolly | Snow Patrol | Play | 04:19 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 2 | The Lightning Strike | Snow Patrol | Play | 16:18 | 37 MB | 103 MB |
| 20 mins | 47 MB | |||||
| 20 mins | 132 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jim Anderson | Additional Personnel, Tuba |
| 2 | John Barclay | Additional Personnel, Trumpet |
| 3 | Guy Barker | Additional Personnel, Trumpet |
| 4 | Richard Baylis | Additional Personnel, Horn |
| 5 | Sam Bell | Audio Engineer, Editing, Engineer |
| 6 | Timothy Brown | Additional Personnel, Horn |
| 7 | Avshalom Caspi | Arranger, Brass Arrangement |
| 8 | Evgeny Chebykin | Additional Personnel, Horn |
| 9 | Neil Comber | Mixing Assistant |
| 10 | Nathan Connolly | Composer, Guitar, Member of Attributed Artist, Vocals |
| 11 | John Davis | Remastering |
| 12 | John C.F. Davis | Mastering |
| 13 | Kira Doherty | Additional Personnel, Horn |
| 14 | Phillip Eastop | Additional Personnel, Horn |
| 15 | Dave Emery | Mixing Assistant |
| 16 | Ian Fasham | Additional Personnel, Trombone (Bass) |
| 17 | Tilmann Ilse | Assistant Engineer |
| 18 | James Jarvis | Choir Director, Conductor |
| 19 | Dan Jenkins | Additional Personnel, Trombone |
| 20 | Karen Kelleher | Assistant Engineer, Audio Engineer |
| 21 | Mark Law | Additional Personnel, Trumpet |
| 22 | Jacknife Lee | Audio Production, Guitar, Harmonica, Harmonica (Glass), Keyboards, Mixing, Producer, Programming |
| 23 | Owen Lewis | Assistant Engineer, Audio Engineer |
| 24 | Gary Lightbody | Composer, Guitar, Lyricist, Member of Attributed Artist, Vocals |
| 25 | Jocelyn Lightfoot | Additional Personnel, Horn |
| 26 | Mark McClelland | Composer |
| 27 | Tom McFall | Audio Engineer, Engineer |
| 28 | Jonny Quinn | Composer, Drums, Member of Attributed Artist |
| 29 | Philip Rose | Audio Engineer, Engineer |
| 30 | John Ross | Photography |
| 31 | Colin Sheen | Additional Personnel, Trombone |
| 32 | Tom Simpson | Composer, Keyboards, Member of Attributed Artist |
| 33 | Hilary Skewes | Contractor |
| 34 | Snow Patrol | Primary Artist |
| 35 | David Stewart | Additional Personnel, Trombone (Bass) |
| 36 | David A. Stewart | Trombone (Bass) |
| 37 | Cenzo Townshend | Mixing |
| 38 | Pat White | Additional Personnel, Trumpet |
| 39 | Stephen Wick | Additional Personnel, Tuba |
| 40 | Paul Wilson | Composer, Guitar (Bass), Member of Attributed Artist |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |