With its fifth album, Snow Patrol faces the challenge of following up “Chasing Cars,” the overplayed song that achieved massive success when it was featured on the second season finale of “Grey’s Anatomy” in 2006. While “A Hundred Million Suns” doesn’t deliver any similar anthems, the haunting melodies and lyrical content of this superb album demand attention.

In 2006, the band finally captured mainstream success with “Eyes Open,” which sold 4.7 million copies worldwide. Snow Patrol has found its niche with sweeping ballads and the occasional up-beat rock jam. In that respect, “A Hundred Million Suns” isn’t a complete departure from the band’s previous efforts, but it still stands alone in its grandiosity.

The album opens with “If There’s a Rocket Tie Me to It,” which stands out because of its compelling lyrics, “A fire, a fire, you can only take what you can carry / A pulse, your pulse, it’s the only thing I can remember.” Another stunner is the passionate second track, “Crack the Shutters,” in which front man Gary Lightbody describes awakening to the sun shining through his window and his lover by his side.

The album’s first single, “Take Back the City,” offers a more typical rock sound. It works as a lead single simply because it’s the kind of song Snow Patrol fans expect — a subdued rock song with heart.

“The Golden Floor” represents the group’s small departure from the slow jam it relied on with earlier albums by successfully using a fun, two-step beat to liven up the album’s mood. Another favorite is “Please Just Take These Photos From My Hands,” a heart-wrenching song about regret, in which Lightbody explores faded memories and forgotten friends until he can’t bear it.

Still, the album is not without some pitfalls. Toward the end, similar songs begin to run together. Songs like “Disaster Button” and “Set Down Your Glass” are easily forgotten and leave the listener wanting more.

For the record’s final song, Snow Patrol indulges with a three-part, 16-minute ballad, “The Lightning Strike,” that crescendos into the final section. The song, broken up by two instrumental breaks, is impressive in its ambition but really only hits its stride at the end, when most listeners have probably moved on.

The second disc, available only on the album’s deluxe edition, is a DVD with two documentary-style pieces. One follows the band into the studio, while the other goes backstage on tour. Neither clip is particularly noteworthy and will probably only interest the most die-hard of fans.

Though none of the tracks will eclipse “Chasing Cars,” “A Hundred Million Suns” represents a worthy follow-up to the band’s prior successes because of its rich lyrics and trademark soft-rock sound.