Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	67/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
The A.V. Club	A
Entertainment Weekly	B+
The Independent
Los Angeles Times
NME	4/10
Pitchfork Media	4.9/10
PopMatters	9/10
Rolling Stone
Spin

A Hundred Million Suns is the fifth album by Northern Irish alternative rock band Snow Patrol. The album was written by Snow Patrol and was produced by longtime producer Jacknife Lee, who has previously produced albums for Bloc Party, R.E.M., and U2. The songs were recorded through the summer of 2008 in Hansa Studios in Berlin and Grouse Lodge Studios in Ireland. The album was released in Ireland on 24 October 2008, on 25 October in Australia, on 27 October in the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe and in the US on 28 October.

"There were so many lines with big penstrokes through in my notebook."

The band wanted to make an album more quickly than they had done the last time. By the time Snow Patrol ended their Eyes Open Tour, Lightbody had approximately 220 songs written on GarageBand. During the recording process, the band narrowed them down to approximately 30 songs, of which about 20 were eventually recorded. Apart from Lightbody, Nathan Connolly and Paul Wilson too had written songs. The band listened to albums from artists like Fleet Foxes, Wolf Parade and Sigur Rós during the process.

In an interview after the Eyes Open Tour, it became known that the band wished to record their next studio album amidst "sun-drenched" surroundings. Band members Quinn and Simpson mentioned Hawaii and Brazil as possible locations. The album was finally recorded in two studios, Hansa Studios in Berlin and Grouse Lodge Studio in County Westmeath, Ireland through the Summer of 2008, with producer Garret "Jacknife" Lee. The album was a departure from Snow Patrol's earlier productions. Lightbody said he wanted to make a record cheerful as compared to their previous albums. Instead of describing a relationship's end, the record was written in perspective of a relationship that is working. The band members took additional lessons before starting the recording. They have described the album as their best to date. Lightbody commented that he encountered a writer's block while writing the album. He further explained: On previous albums, his focus was on his past mistakes, though this time he had forced himself to write about being in love without sounding clichéd. The lyrics did not come naturally to him, and although the songwriting sessions were distressing, he has said the lyrics were "honest". The recording sessions were hampered by bats invading the studio at dusk, when they'd fly around constantly outside the windows. Lightbody said that he once found one in his room.

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