Mad for sadness? Then Northern Irish four-piece Snow Patrol could be the band for you. Ignore lead singer Gary Lightbody when he hisses that he's "never gonna fall in love again" on the opening track of the same name; When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up is an album about giving your heart away, feeling it break, and desperately trying to reassemble it before the next emotional crackup. Some of this record's greatest moments find amps turned down and emotions laid desperately bare, such as the acoustic "Make Love to Me Forever" and the love-laid-to-rest lament of "If I'd Ever Found the Right Words to Say." But that's not to say that the ballsy pop songs--see "Ask Me How I Am," the sound of a harmony-laden Sebadoh playing hip-hop through a detuned radio--don't make the grade. And when it's all over? They may have been casualties in the wars of love, but as Lightbody whispers "we won't get much sleep" on the closing "Firelight," you know that--like you--Snow Patrol are ready to flip the record and live it all again. --Louis Pattison
確かに大化けしたfinal straw,eyes open と比較すると個々の楽曲のキャッチーさは少ないが、だからといってこのアルバムの価値を下げるものではない。何度も聴いてしまう名盤と言える。グランジ特にsonic youthの影響を少々の実験性に感じるが、これを消化して前述のアルバムに消化されていったのだと思うと彼らの奥深さを感じる。
snow patrolの音楽性を理解するには、このアルバムは必聴すべきアルバムだろう。
on/offは現在に繋がるメロディラインとアレンジを感じることができる一品。
never gonna fall in love againはリフレインの中に凶悪さをひた隠しつつ、優しさを絡めていくロックソング