Sunday (1994), Snow Patrol, and Circa Waves

Some bands are just lucky. There are those that score a record deal the week after they form and go straight to the top of the charts before they've played their tenth gig, but they're usually flash in the pan novelty acts who find themselves out of date as quickly as they found success. It's safe to say that Snow Patrol, who toiled for a decade in obscurity before they hit the big-time, are not one of those bands. Forming as Shrug while singer and guitarist Gary Lightbody, bassist Mark Mclelland and drummer Michael Morrison were all studying together at the University of Dundee, Snow Patrol began life as just another student-led indie band. They played gigs in pubs to very few people and releasing EP's that very few people ever bought, and it took them three years to sign to their first label. Their first album “Songs For Polarbears” was released in 1998 and after all that effort, the album tanked, though the critical notices it received were unanimously positive.

This was the also the case with their second album 2001's “When It's All Over You Still Have To Clean Up” which lead to the band being dropped by their record label. A hellish period of time followed, in which the band were playing gigs to less people than they played to when they formed. It's quite safe to say that what followed is one of the most inspiring come-backs in British rock history, and it's all down to a song that, at the time of its release, was already around four years old. While the band had struggled along, Richard Smerniki, a fan of the band who had gone to university with its members had gone on to become Polydor Records' Scottish A&R rep, and his brother Paul had gone on to manage Fiction Records. Once they became aware of the band's label situation, they sent some talent scouts over to the band's Glasgow headquarters to listen to some of their demos, and they were impressed enough to sign the band to Black Lion, a subsidiary of Polydor Records.

In 2003, their album “Final Straw” was released, and after its initial release proved to be a modest word of mouth success, the release of its second single, “Run”, shot the band into the stratosphere. A top five hit on the singles chart, it propelled the album into the upper regions of the charts, peaking at number three, and set up the band as one of the hottest rock bands in the country, nearly a decade into their career. Three further hit singles from the album, along with a stint supporting U2 on their wildly successful Vertigo Tour cemented their position as the next big thing in British rock. It would take them ten years to conquer their home country, but it would only take them a further three to make them one of the biggest bands in the world thanks to their timeless hjt single “Chasing Cars”. Needless to say, the band were still an enormous deal back home, and its parent album “Eyes Open” became the biggest selling album of the year in the U.K to show that, beating out stiff competition from Arctic Monkeys and Take That in the process.

To this day, Snow Patrol remain one of the world's most beloved rock bands. They've headlined festivals, sold out arenas, supported the world's biggest bands and seem set for stadium slaying dominance in the very near future. Over twenty years into their career, they're still at the very top of their game, and they come highly recommended.