Album: Snow Patrol

The rise to prominence of Snow Patrol, after two indifferently received albums were followed by the stadium-friendly Final Straw, speaks volumes about the state of "alternative" rock, which seems to be contracting to a generic rump of faintly uplifting, faintly consoling, faintly melancholy, leadenly delivered anthemic bombast, the prog-rock de nos jours. Athlace, Embrete, Snowplay, Cold Patrol - even as you listen to them, these bands seem to blend into one another, becoming one big sing-along chorus desperate for one's sympathy. In the case of Eyes Open, it means song after song in which the singer Gary Lightbody frets over some ripple or other in a relationship, either regretting a transgression, pleading for forgiveness, making urgent assurances of his devotion, or wishing his ex-lover well. "Is it too late to remind you how we were/ Not our last days of silent screaming blur?" he asks at one point; at another, he wonders, "Why would I sabotage the best thing I have?" Borne along by the earnest, thrumming guitars and keyboard ostinatos, this is stadium-sized glum-rock that has the irritating effect of making the listener feel slightly guilty by association, but slightly consoled as well.

DOWNLOAD THIS: 'Hands Open', 'Set the Fire to the Third Bar'