Sound: Even if I am taking into account that this was some of the earliest work from Snow Patrol, the sound is very amateurish and sounds like it needs a lot of work, especially when compared to some of their most recent works ("Final Straw" and "Eyes Open"). As most bands are with their earliest works, Snow Patrol will have just been finding their feet and discovering which style of music best suits them. All this alternative style that they have produced on [B]Songs For Polar Bears[/B] sounds like someone has thrown a load of different compositions into a washing machine and let it spin. It isn't them at all. The best track, sound wise, has to be "Mahogany", which is a beautiful acoustic piece. The worst track for sound is, basically, any of the others that you choose. // 6
Lyrics and Singing: As always, Lightbody produces brilliant lyrics and vocals, but it is painfully apparant that he wasn't as experianced as he is now. Some of the vocals get very out of place in various songs and bring them down a little (along with the sound, as I have said). If I'm being reasonable, the vocals are the best thing about this album. The best vocals, for me, are on "Mahogany" (Again) and the worst are on "NYC", as there are only 4 different lines repeated over and over and over. // 8
Impression: If you're looking for classic Snow Patrol with beautiful lyrics, masterful guitars and bass with crisp production quality, this isn't it. I wouldn't waste your money on an album like this when you could buy "Final Straw" or "Eyes Open" for the same price, when you can listen to either of them albums over and over again and not get bored. I wasted £10 on this. Oh well, at least I got 1 or 2 good tracks off it. // 6
Mahogany is, I agree, the best on the album. Last Shot Ringing From My Ears is good as well, and if you're a collector, "Little Hide" is a great classic piece, as it contains the recording the message telling them to change their name because of a potential law suit against "Polar Bear".
It's good if you like abstract and dirty - you don't get abstract and dirty nowadays, everything's always cleaned up.