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Product Description
Review
Snow Patrol’s sixth studio album is billed as a change in direction – but don’t get flustered. While Fallen Empires contains a few new musical tricks, it would be an exaggeration to label this a revolution in sound.
Snow Patrol are often mentioned in the same breath as Coldplay, and it’s not surprising: both bands grew up with U2 dominating their horizons, and both have been inspired by their gutsy, catchy pop. Fallen Empires betrays this love of U2, and in particular their 1991 LP Achtung Baby: in come synths, thrusting bass lines and a hint of electronica. The opening pair of songs here – I’ll Never Let Go and Called Out in the Dark – wear this influence on their sleeves readily.
The trouble is that these two songs are flimsy at best. Called Out in the Dark is the lead single, yet is a pure mistake of style over substance: a song that has the traditional Snow Patrol shape, dominated by Gary Lightbody’s vocal, but where the guitars have been binned just for the sake of it, just to try something ‘new’. It sounds too try-hard and trite.
Get these cuts out of the way, though, and Fallen Empires settles down and improves. Yes, the title-track is pure Bono and company, but now there is passion and conviction in the delivery, Snow Patrol allowing a propulsive rhythm to burgeon and turn threatening. The piano-led ballads arrive, and the band relaxes: this is their forte. This Isn’t Everything You Are, The Garden Rules and Those Distant Bells are indisputably great pop songs, full of sparkle and warmth.
Best of all, however, are the moments when Snow Patrol blend the two approaches together, combining their own aesthetic with an Achtung Baby adoration. New York and In the End are the massive, sweeping songs that form the heart of Fallen Empires. These are the songs you can envision in the stadiums; the songs that show Snow Patrol could just as easily be as big as Coldplay and, yes, U2. It’s here where Fallen Empires nails it, and where their fans will start drooling. --Mike Haydock
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CD Description
Fallen Empires is the sixth studio album from Snow Patrol, a band who have sold over 11 million albums and been responsible for some of the most instantly recognisable songs in the past decade, including "Run", "Chocolate" and "Chasing Cars". Former albums have been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, Grammys and MTV Europe Music Awards, with Final Straw landing the band an Ivor Novello Award in 2005.
The album was recorded in the iconic The Joshua Tree National Park in south-eastern California. In October 2010, the band drove out into the desert with their guitars and one or two rough song ideas. A week later, their writing session at Rancho De La Luna Studios had laid the foundations of the tracks that would comprise Fallen Empires. Over several months, the five piece--singer Gary Lightbody, guitarist Nathan Connolly, bassist Paul Wilson, drummer Jonny Quinn and keyboardist, Tom Simpson--began a musical road trip around California. They recorded tracks at Eagles Watch, a topsy turvy house in Santa Monica with widescreen windows and panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean. Backing vocals were drawn from the LA Inner City Mass Gospel Choir in Compton, south central LA. Later, tracks were mixed at the studio owned by longterm collaborator, Garret "Jacknife" Lee--a hacienda tucked away in Topanga Canyon, the one time hippy commune and former home to Neil Young and Woody Guthrie.
Along the way, R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, US singer Lissie and Queens Of The Stone Age guitarist, Troy Van Leeuwen all popped by to lend a guitar part here, a lyric idea there. Meanwhile, Snow Patrol's new adventures seeped into every note on Fallen Empires. The result is an album that promises to redefine the band as an altogether more ambitious, more expansive, creative force.
The album was recorded in the iconic The Joshua Tree National Park in south-eastern California. In October 2010, the band drove out into the desert with their guitars and one or two rough song ideas. A week later, their writing session at Rancho De La Luna Studios had laid the foundations of the tracks that would comprise Fallen Empires. Over several months, the five piece--singer Gary Lightbody, guitarist Nathan Connolly, bassist Paul Wilson, drummer Jonny Quinn and keyboardist, Tom Simpson--began a musical road trip around California. They recorded tracks at Eagles Watch, a topsy turvy house in Santa Monica with widescreen windows and panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean. Backing vocals were drawn from the LA Inner City Mass Gospel Choir in Compton, south central LA. Later, tracks were mixed at the studio owned by longterm collaborator, Garret "Jacknife" Lee--a hacienda tucked away in Topanga Canyon, the one time hippy commune and former home to Neil Young and Woody Guthrie.
Along the way, R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, US singer Lissie and Queens Of The Stone Age guitarist, Troy Van Leeuwen all popped by to lend a guitar part here, a lyric idea there. Meanwhile, Snow Patrol's new adventures seeped into every note on Fallen Empires. The result is an album that promises to redefine the band as an altogether more ambitious, more expansive, creative force.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
DVD (ReWorked gig highlights from Royal Albert Hall) is worth this by itself!
15 Nov 2011
By Mark Smith
Format:Audio CD
Wow. If you have a choice get this CD+DVD combination! ... and for £2---£3 more than the vanilla CD it's a bargain. In fact on it's own it would be worth the purchase... if it was available on it's own!
Unlike most combinations the DVD is unrelated to the present album. Instead it is about 65minute highlight (the best songs) from the ReWorked tour. It was filmed at arguably the best acoustically and visually concert venue in London - the Royal Albert Hall in late 2009. For those who weren't there / haven't heard or seen it it features songs from the previous 6 albums reworked acoustically and featuring classic instruments - including (and the reason for the RAH venue recording) the enormous (and I mean enormous) organ (about 5x10metres at the back of the RAH)... the audio of which is used on Dark Roman Wine and the sound (I was there) shakes you to your core! Impressive stuff! A few songs (Run) don't work in that maybe you miss the version you know and love - but 7 out of the 11 or so tracks are amazing with Chasing Cars getting an amazing reworking that'll leave you singing along (in your head at least) and toe-tapping away!
Audio is uncompressed stereo or a nice 5.1 mix!
Possibly the only unfortunate thing is that this was never released on it's own as I'm sure the whole gig would have been filmed! The full set runs nearly 2h30mins and contains 26 tracks!).
It's also a peeve of mine that they again only included a few tracks on the previous concert (Take Back the City) on the Up To Now DVD! Why not a full live concert DVD. Surely a band that have sold nearly 10 million albums have enough fans to have a concert DVD that's more recent than 2005 (before the big hits of Run, Chasing Cars and others!
Anyway, the CD, othere'll review it better than me so all I'll say is Mr Lightbody is an amazing song writer so it'd get several stars if he was reading the lyrics :)
Unlike most combinations the DVD is unrelated to the present album. Instead it is about 65minute highlight (the best songs) from the ReWorked tour. It was filmed at arguably the best acoustically and visually concert venue in London - the Royal Albert Hall in late 2009. For those who weren't there / haven't heard or seen it it features songs from the previous 6 albums reworked acoustically and featuring classic instruments - including (and the reason for the RAH venue recording) the enormous (and I mean enormous) organ (about 5x10metres at the back of the RAH)... the audio of which is used on Dark Roman Wine and the sound (I was there) shakes you to your core! Impressive stuff! A few songs (Run) don't work in that maybe you miss the version you know and love - but 7 out of the 11 or so tracks are amazing with Chasing Cars getting an amazing reworking that'll leave you singing along (in your head at least) and toe-tapping away!
Audio is uncompressed stereo or a nice 5.1 mix!
Possibly the only unfortunate thing is that this was never released on it's own as I'm sure the whole gig would have been filmed! The full set runs nearly 2h30mins and contains 26 tracks!).
It's also a peeve of mine that they again only included a few tracks on the previous concert (Take Back the City) on the Up To Now DVD! Why not a full live concert DVD. Surely a band that have sold nearly 10 million albums have enough fans to have a concert DVD that's more recent than 2005 (before the big hits of Run, Chasing Cars and others!
Anyway, the CD, othere'll review it better than me so all I'll say is Mr Lightbody is an amazing song writer so it'd get several stars if he was reading the lyrics :)
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This album is getting some surprisingly mixed reviews here which is a shame. I am not the biggest SP fan, BUT this album does feel like they were on a roll when writing and recording it. I even think this could be their 'Sargeant Pepper' moment - it's that consistently strong if a little dark and gloomy at times. Tracks like 'This isn't everything you are', 'Fallen Empires', 'New York' and 'Called out in the dark' are both anthemic and somewhat menacing. Snow Patrol are almost becoming the thinking man's Colplay, but still seem to play second fiddle to them.
However, compared with Coldplay's somewhat overproduced Mylo album, this album is rich in texture and style. 'Fallen Empires' for example is like being hit between the eyeballs with something heavy - it's just very powerful stuff. Is there a 'Chasing Cars' on here? Well no, but there are plenty of close to moments when you feel Gary Lightbody is a fine songwriter and lyricist. 'New York', for example, contains a load of great lyrics about loneliness ... 'if you were here instead of...'.
So, it's definitely not an album to get out at a party but then we have plenty of stuff like that around. This is more deep and meaningful and very welcome for that.
However, compared with Coldplay's somewhat overproduced Mylo album, this album is rich in texture and style. 'Fallen Empires' for example is like being hit between the eyeballs with something heavy - it's just very powerful stuff. Is there a 'Chasing Cars' on here? Well no, but there are plenty of close to moments when you feel Gary Lightbody is a fine songwriter and lyricist. 'New York', for example, contains a load of great lyrics about loneliness ... 'if you were here instead of...'.
So, it's definitely not an album to get out at a party but then we have plenty of stuff like that around. This is more deep and meaningful and very welcome for that.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By J. Vidler
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Although it has a sadder tone to previous albums, it still manages to pack a punch. The choruses are very catchy and his lyrics are as always, very good. "This Isn't Everything You Are" is a standout track, but the others are very close by, "Garden Rules" and "In the End" are personal favorites.
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4.2 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A sound that captivates
I first heard Snow Patrol at the G8 live concert on TV. For whatever reason the lyrics and music fits my taste and I just enjoy the band. Read more
Published 10 days ago by The Earl of Kinberley
3.0 out of 5 stars
Value for money
Good but not there best! Certain tracks we like but would not recomend to my friends, not a disaster though especially for the cost.
Published 1 month ago by Terry Hopkinson
4.0 out of 5 stars
Impulse buy and growing on me
Having previously enjoyed Snow Patrol's other albums I bought this as a drunken buy, as you do. While its not up full of crowd pleaser type tracks its certainly a nice listen. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Tablix
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another great buy.
Great buy as are all Snow patrol CD's. Can listen to this any time of the day or night, however you are feeling.
Published 2 months ago by Lesley Leavy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love it!
Ordered this as a present and it arrived on time. they are very pleased with the CD say it sounds great thanks
Published 3 months ago by Jay Bee
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Geat Buy
I bought this for my brother for a christmas present as he saw them a number of years ago at V festival and hhe LOVED the CD. Thank you so much a great buy.
Published 3 months ago by Stella Burrows
5.0 out of 5 stars
great album
great album and some great tracks on here, its a must have album for all true snow patrol fans, highly recommended
Published 3 months ago by kevin budgen
5.0 out of 5 stars
fallen empires
The item was sealed and the delivery was fast enough. My wife liked it very much. This version CD + DVD was better than the 1 cd version.
Published 3 months ago by Ciclope
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Excellent Album from a superb band
I have all their albums, and was not disappointed with this one, some tracks quite different from their usual style, but hugely enjoyed listening to this Cd. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Glen Mitchell
5.0 out of 5 stars
fallen empires
i already had the excellent cd but i must say that the dvd is superb - Snow Patrol at their best
Published 5 months ago by biko
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