Snow Patrol were originally formed in early 1994 by University of Dundee students Gary Lightbody, Mark McClelland, and Michael Morrison under the name Shrug, and after performing gigs at the university and surrounding pubs, they released their first EP 'The Yogurt vs. Yoghurt Debate' in 1995. The following year they changed their name to Polarbear to avoid issues with any American bands that were also named Shrug, and shortly afterwards, drummer Michael Morrison left the group after suffering a breakdown. In mid-1997, Polarbear released a three-track EP, 'Starfighter Pilot', on the Electric Honey label, but after this they again renamed themselves, this time to Snow Patrol, because of a naming conflict with another band named Polar Bear, fronted by ex-Jane's Addiction bassist Eric Avery. After the name-change the band joined independent label Jeepster, who intended to replicate approach they had with Belle & Sebastian, who had become popular by word of mouth, without heavy promotion. The band were happy to be associated with an indie label, because it provided them greater independence than a major label would, and their debut album, 'Songs For Polarbears', was released in 1998, after the band had relocated to Glasgow. It was a critical success but did not make any impact commercially, although they did win the "Phil Lynott Award For Best New Band" from Irish music magazine Hot Press.
In 2001, while still living in Glasgow, the trio followed up with their second long-player 'When It's All Over We Still Have To Clear Up', but once again its critical success did not translate into sales. The band began to work harder and tour more, sleeping on fans' floors after concerts, and pretending to be members of Belle & Sebastian to get into nightclubs. After the commercial failure of the second album, Snow Patrol began to realise that the label's lax attitude towards management and record promotion was likely holding them back, and in a decision that was declared "brainless" by Hot Press magazine, Jeepster dropped the band in 2001. This left the door open for some major labels to show an interest in the group, but despite Lightbody being confident they would get signed to another label quickly, the music scene in the UK had turned its attention to American bands, and British groups were not getting signed. Lightbody, bored at this point, assembled The Reindeer Section, a Scottish supergroup, and found a record label to release the project's recordings, while Snow Patrol continued to write and rehearse new material. Guitarist Nathan Connolly, previously a member of the band File Under Easy Listening, moved from Belfast to Glasgow to join Snow Patrol in the spring of 2002, and through a fellow student at the University Of Dundee, who had since gone on to become Polydor's Scottish A&R representative, talent scouts from the label approached the band in Glasgow to listen to their demos.
A deal was made, and their third album 'Final Straw' was released on 4 August 2003, under Black Lion, a subsidiary of Polydor Records. Its music was along the same lines as the band's first two albums, and no attempt was made to change the sound to something more radio-friendly, but the time was right for their style of indie-pop, and the release of the record in the US in 2004 saw it sell more than 250,000 copies, as well as becoming 26th-most popular album in the UK of that year. In mid-2005, during a two-year their tour to support 'Final Straw', the band played with U2 as an opening act on their Vertigo Tour in Europe, as well as playing a short set in London at the worldwide benefit concert Live 8. On 16 March 2005, McClelland left the band, with Lightbody citing conflicting relationships within the band, and he was replaced by former Terra Diablo member Paul Wilson, with longtime touring keyboardist Tom Simpson also becoming an official member of the band. With 'Final Straw' producer Jacknife Lee returning, the band released their new album, 'Eyes Open', in May 2006, with the first UK single, 'You're All I Have', coming out a week earlier, and the US having 'Hands Open' as their introduction tot he album.
However, after the track 'Chasing Cars' was featured during an emotional scene in the second-season finale of the American medical drama 'Grey's Anatomy', it forced it's way into the charts on downloads alone, eventually peaking at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart when it was officially released as a single. By November, 'Eyes Open' had become the best-selling album of 2006 in the UK, selling 1.5 million copies, and is still one of the best-selling albums in UK chart history. 'Chasing Cars' was nominated for Best Rock Song at the 2007 Grammy Awards, and for Best British Single at the 2007 Brit Awards. Recording for the follow-up to 'Eyes Open' was to begin in Autumn 2006, with Jacknife Lee returning a third time for production, and 'A Hundred Million Suns' was released on another Polydor subsidiary, Fiction, in 2008, followed the next year by a compilation album titled 'Up To Now', featuring tracks from their fifteen-year history, plus three new songs, including 'Just Say Yes', which was track written by Lightbody, and earlier recorded by Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger and X Factor star Diana Vickers. In 2009, Snow Patrol stated they would enter their "next phase" with the release of their sixth album, and so fans were to keep an open mind regarding the new material.
'Called Out In The Dark' (remixed by Fatboy Slim) was released for radio airplay on 21 July 2011, as was the lead track of an EP which came out two months later. The parent album 'Fallen Empires' was released on 14 November 2011, alongside second single 'This Isn't Everything You Are', with a launch party held at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire. A greatest hits compilation entitled was released in May 2013, but a few months later it was announced that Simpson would be leaving the band. The follow-up to 'Fallen Empires' was initially due for release in 2016, but Lightbody first had to overcome a bout of writer's block, and so 'Wildness' did not actually appear until May 2018. In November they released the EP 'What If This Is All The Love You Ever Get?', but apart from another compilation album, 'Reworked, which came out in 2019, nothing was hheard from the group until Lightbody announced in September 2023 that Quinn and Wilson had decided to leave. Snow Patrol would be continuing as a trio of himself, Connolly, and McDaid, and a new album is supposed to appear in September this year, so while we wait for that, here is a reminder of the band at their best, with a collection of non-album b-sides from the first decade and a half of their career.
Track listing
Disc I - 1998-2004
01 Sticky Teenage Twin (b-side of 'Little Hide' 1998)
02 Limited Edition (b-side of 'Little Hide' 1998)
03 Jj (b-side of 'Little Hide' 1998)
04 My Last Girlfriend (b-side of 'One Hundred Things You Should Have Done In Bed' 1998)
05 T.M.T. (b-side of 'One Hundred Things You Should Have Done In Bed' 1998)
06 I Could Stay Away Forever (b-side of 'One Hundred Things You Should Have Done In Bed' 1998)
07 When You're Right, You're Right (b-side of 'Velocity Girl' 1998)
08 Raze The City (b-side of 'Starfighter Pilot' 1999)
09 Riot, Please (b-side of 'Starfighter Pilot' 1999)
10 In Command Of Cars (b-side of 'Ask Me How I Am' 2000)
11 Talk To The Trees (b-side of 'Ask Me How I Am' 2000)
12 Monkey Mobe (b-side of 'One Night Is Not Enough' 2001)
13 Workwear Shop (b-side of 'One Night Is Not Enough' 2001)
14 Steal (b-side of 'Spitting Games' 2003)
15 Brave (b-side of 'Spitting Games' 2003)
16 Post Punk Progression (b-side of 'Run' 2004)
17 You Are My Joy (b-side of 'How To Be Dead' 2004)
Disc II - 2006-2014
01 The Only Noise (b-side of 'You're All I Have' 2006)
02 Perfect Little Secret (b-side of 'You're All I Have' 2006)
03 Play Me Like Your Own Hand (b-side Of 'Chasing Cars' 2006)
04 It Doesn't Matter Where, Just Drive (b-side Of 'Chasing Cars' 2006)
05 Warmer Climate (promo single 2006)
06 I Am An Astronaut (b-side of 'Open Your Eyes' 2007)
07 Signal Fire (single from the soundtrack to the film 'Spider-Man 3' 2009)
08 The Afterlife (b-side of 'Take Back The City' 2008)
09 Cubicles (b-side of 'Crack The Shutters' 2008)
10 In A Dream I Saw Satellites (b-side of 'If There's A Rocket Tie Me To It' 2009)
11 My Brothers (b-side of 'Called Out In The Dark' 2011)
12 Plastic Jesus (b-side of 'This Isn't Everything You Are' 2011)
13 I Won't Let You Go (single from the soundtrack of the film 'Divergent' 2014)
