Fantastic Stuff

I've seen those reviews which complain that Eyes Open is a step backward from Final Straw and those that see it as a step forward. I agree with the latter wholeheartedly, this album is simply amazing. There are so many individual highlights here that also blend together so well as an album. I would think the vast majority of Snow Patrol fans will be very happy with this release.

Confused with some, but I like it a lot

I'm really not sure why there are so many bad reviews of this CD. I think its every bit as good as Final Straw but in a different way. Some fans and or critics just want a band to pump out the same old songs again and again and again. How boring that would be, so if you want the Final Straw pt.II you will not be getting it. What you will get are 11 well crafted songs that have that Snow Patrol sound with a different twist here and there. I liken it to the step Coldplay took from their first CD to their second. I know this is not Snow Patrols second CD but the progression from one CD to the other is there. Its a very enjoyable listen. For those who want bands to put out the same sounding CD after CD please start listening to those premanufactured boy bands cause thats the only thing they put out.

I don't see why people are complaining about this album so much.

Ok, so Final Straw had Run, one of the best songs I have ever heard with some of the best lyrics ever as well; however, Final Straw as a whole wasn't that great. I loved Run, How to Be Dead, and thought Same was pretty good too, yet other touted songs like Chocolate, Somewhere a Clock is Ticking, and Splitting Games weren't nearly as good as some said. Overall Eyes Open is much better album than Final Straw and so much better than When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up. Its pretty clear that Snow Patrol has gone really mainstream with album, but having listened to the album I don't view it as a bad quality. Critic's review have been just as praiseworthy as those have for Final Straw, both getting 4 out of 5 stars from AMG. Another complaint I read, lyrics. Just listen to Chasing Cars, really listen to it, read the lyrics, and you will see Snow Patrol can still write some pretty damn good lyrics. Instead of the redundant rhytms of When Its All Over, that also hurt parts of Final Straw, Eyes Open really switches it up, making it, in my opinion, the best Snow Patrol album yet. I think the main complaint is because Final Straw doesn't have a song like Run, it has Open Your Eyes which has a huge, absoleutly gigantic wall of guitars at the end like run, but without the lyrics of romantic distress and beautiful strings, but it is a great song nonetheless. My personal favorite is Chasing Cars, with lyrics just as good as those in Run or any other Snow Patrol song for that matter, and also with a much harder sound (its slow at first, but the guitars get turned up later).