PREVIEW & BUY THE CD HERE
PREVIEW & BUY THE DELUXE CD HERE
PREVIEW & BUY THE VINYL HERE

Fallen Empires is less a sharp turn than a gentle veer: Electronic bits rap softly at the door of “I’ll Never Let Go” and “The Symphony,” while a South Central L.A. gospel choir visits “The Weight Of Love” and a couple of other songs. But Snow Patrol’s core hasn’t changed, and that’s just as well. Each song is still anchored by Gary Lightbody’s earnest—some would argue far too earnest, and they wouldn’t be entirely wrong—lyrics, his vocals front and center on every track. Empires has the requisite huge ballad that swells into a power-ballad (“This Isn’t Everything You Are”), the quiet, contemplative ballad (“The Garden Rules”), and the dark-side-flirting rocker (“Fallen Empires”).

At the risk of damning the whole enterprise with faint praise, Fallen Empires is absolutely solid, with variations in quality almost imperceptible. On the Snow Patrol continuum, it’s less satisfying than 2003’s fantastic Final Straw, but a step up from 2008’s A Hundred Million Suns.  There’s no song in particular that sounds like it’ll tip the band back into the wider public’s eye, except perhaps the maudlin, eager “Lifening,” which could play over a great romantic movie scene. But maybe, as evidenced by the band’s everyman approach, that’s exactly what these guys want: the freedom to make the best middle-of-the-road rock possible. It’s not where you want to spend all of your listening time, but it’s comforting at worst and occasionally fantastic. — Onion A.V. Club

Tags: cdnew releasesvinylwhats playing