Snow Patrol's Eyes Open long-player - pictured - is officially the biggest-selling UK album of 2006, so far. Since its release in May, the album has shifted 1.2 million copies on these shores.
That's four-times platinum. Should we be impressed?
The album has outsold the likes of Arctic Monkeys' Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (second, so far) and, y'know, other albums. Like Razorlight's one, whatever that's called. Will it remain the biggest-seller of 2006 come the year's end, though? Probably - although they're very The Popular, we can't see Take That shifting over a million copies of their Beautiful World 'tween this week and December 31.
Snow Patrol are on tour as you read this - if you're attending any of the dates below, don't bother buying Gary and mates a drink. They can probably just about afford their own...
November
TONIGHT Bournemouth BIC
28 Birmingham NIA
29 Manchester Evening News Arena
30 Newcastle Metro Radio Arena
December
14 Manchester G-Mex
15 Manchester G-Mex
16 Glasgow SECC
18 London Wembley Arena
19 London Wembley Arena
21 Belfast Odyssey Arena
22 Dublin Point
23 Dublin Point
there is no God.
if someone had told me in 2001
that Snow Patrol would have the biggest selling algum of the year in five years, and would be doing two nights at Wembley, i'd have laughed / spat in his face.
This is ridiculous.
i still remember
seeing them open for seafood in 2002.
was that at the electric ballroom?
cos that was an AWESOME show from all four bands involved.
Eyes Open still makes me weep tears of despair.
I'm not ashamed to like this album
And I'm seeing them at Wembley. But I'm more excited about the support: Elbow and Fields especially.
well maybe this means youre not really into music
this is depressing news isn't it?
Dan, did you hear that?
They opened for Seafood and four years later they had the year's best selling album!
If we have a similar run of fate we'll rule the charts in 2010.
kill me if this happens
actually don't. But confiscate my cakes.
I was at that Seafood / Snow Patrol / Jetplane Landing / Rock Of Travolta gig at the Electric Ballroom. A "classic" so to speak.
yeah, it was
it's pretty much still the best gig i've ever been to.
Could you imagine
if Seafood had been picked up by Polydor back then?!!!! Wonders what would have become of them! So glad they didn't in a way, Polydor would have dropped them like spuds when Dave got ill.
I saw them support
Ash in 2000. Colour me suprised.
They were tedious even then
It was just a double shame that the Hackney Ocean charged so much for beer I couldn't drink myself into unconsciousness
I didn't like the
Hackney Ocean at all. The security staff were evil. I was taking my 13 year old cousin and I had phoned ahead to make sure it was ok. They said it was fine if they were accompanied by an adult, when I got there they wouldn't believe I was 18. It took ages to convince them, even with ID!
Me too
And they were shite, as were Seafood.
I find this quite suprising
maybe I've had my Eyes Shut (Lol) all year but I don't recall seeing Snow Patrol being hyped all over the place or getting that much exposure, in comparison to say Arctic Monkeys, Razorlight or Kooks.
Are they really that huge?
I agree,,,,,
I'm not sure i even knew they had an album out this year! Who actually bought it??
AND snow patrol are still a support band in my mind - not a biggest albuum of the year band!
"Who actually bought it??"
1.2 million
i want...
...names!
I like this album
They're f*cking massive
at this moment in time. I still think that they're a pretty decent act and the last two albums were pretty good. I reckon Final Straw is probably my favourite out of them all. I also remember buying Songs for Polar Bears the week it came out and I still love it. I think the first time I got to see them was in 2000 when they supported Reef. Also playing were co.uk. Good gig.
They were on that there
"American Music Awards", of which I only watched 15 minutes (honest) it was utter tosh. Anyway apparently they are massive in the U.S. since 'Chasing Cars' was played on that programme Grey's Anatomy (on C5 over here) and millions of dumbass Americans decided to download it...
I saw them...
support the sleepy jackson a couple of years ago, just about the time that 'Run' was massive. Never in a month of Sundays did I think they would get this big.
After the gig, they were handing out snow patrol matches, with 'light up, light up' on the back (see what they did there?). I wonder if they are worth something now, seeing as they have got massive.
i just hope
this doesnt mean that martha wainwright's future tours will be full of twats
you'd hope not....
because Martha Wainwright is amazing, especially live. I haven't actually heard the song she done with snow patrol, whats it like?
It's a bit morbid
to be honest.
i think it's brilliantly dark
her voice freaks me out. in a good way.
Strangely
i thought they'd moved out of the limelight a bit on this album. Didn't think it was selling that great... how wrong was I?!
Not overly massive fan of this album. Final Straw is great and When Its All Over... is a hidden gem.
Fair play to them. Its not like they've sold out or anything. Aand its better than Westlife having the biggest selling album
agreed
agreed, fair play to them, I saw them play at aldershot westy when Final Straw first cam out (ie before "Run") and everything kept breaking down. Sent us all back to the bar for 10 minutes while they sorted everything out. Seemed like decent types.
it depends on your definition of 'selling out' i guess
if it's "to change one's sound to appeal to a wider audience", then i reckon they have.
the songs used to be about being inadequate and in love and fucking everything up, but Eyes Open about being in love and everything being all shiny and soppy and cool.. and where's the bass distortion? 'Hands Open' is good though, cos it sounds like their older kinda stuff.
V festival headliners
Next year then!
new song
i really like there new song...who ever the women singing in that song is she has a really good voice and deserves much more than just singing with snow patrol...im secretly impressed about snow patrol tho shhh
That would be
Martha Waitwright.
...
and fair play to them for giving martha some well deserved exposure
Bits of this album are OK, I think
Not sure if it warrants a purchase, though.
Good on 'em anyway.
Fair do's I spose
Don't think it's any good mind, middle of the road fodder for the masses, so no wonder it's been a consistent and huge seller.
When It's All Over is their masterpiece, and they were so much fun when I saw them open for Ash @ Hackney Ocean in 2001, mainly cuz of the banter between Gary, their then bassist and the crowd.
Staggering that they can sell-out Wembley tho.
I think their success has a lot to do with industry types being scared shitless of their manager too!!!!
Who's their manager?
I'm a huuuge Snow Patrol fan, mainly because of the two albums pre final straw & final straw itself. Not sure about eyes open tho, it's all went a little too maintreamy. But, gary's voice is amazing & they are fantastic live, especially @ home in Belfast! They have stuck with the middle of the road formula that brought them sucess but it's only a matter of time before their more alternative, genuis re-emerges mark my words!
"more alternative, genius"?
they were hardly mike patton before they signed to interscope. they made serviceable indie-pop stuff, thats about it
Maybe not Mike Patton alternative then
But different from the mainstream stuff they've suck with for safety's sake! I know what you mean IrishMagpie if they were a new band with only this album to offer I wouldn't have noticed them but 'Songs for polarbears' &' when it's all over we still have to clear up'are fantastic & final straw had sprinkles of amazingness. Though, I do think Iain Archer's song writing input contributed alot to previous albums Gary can have a one track mind sometimes, how many bloody relationships can one man screw up & deeply regret, hehe
Anway their first ulster hall gig in november 04 & their last one in may this year were AMAZING, two of the best gigs I've ever been to! I'm not sure how they'll translate in the odyssey but in small venues they are out of this world! I think they still have alot to offer!
I saw them at Vital in August
The only pre-Final Straw song they played was An Olive Grove Facing The Tree. So, it was quite underwhelming...
Then again, it was a festival, do they play old songs on their tours?
Saw vital on the telebox
the other night seemed ok, but I think the atmosphere @ the Ulster Hall was what made their gigs there so amazing! They do a few old songs on their tours but I think they're aware that the vast majority of their fanbase just want the sing along tracks from eyes open & final straw, actually think I'm being a bit harsh on final straw tho, overall it's a pretty amazing album
I think alot of their success is b/c of Gary's voice, whether you like their style or not you can't deny it's bloody amazing!!!
P.S IrishMagpie, do you think there's any chance of bloc party adding belfast to their dates? Just got an email saying they had updated but turns out they added bournmeth & guilford, meh.
oh ffs
WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!?!?!
*sobs*
Eyes Open is a crap album
You're All I Have, Set The Fire and You Could Be Happy are the only tunes worth a listen.
Their worst album imo
I'm really not sure whether I like Snow Patrol at the moment. Parts of Final Straw are good, and there are maybe two good songs on the new album, Hands Open, and the new one. Their debut was great though, and I'm yet to get the one that everyone is raving about....
This actually isn't bad news
The latest Snow Patrol album is actually very good. Certainly hundreds of times better from that pile of shite throwaway Razorlight record. And probably better than the Arctic Monkeys album. So I think this is surprisingly good news.
This surprises me.
I don't know anyone who owns it. I haven't heard anyone mention it, I haven't seen it advertised much. It hasn't been particularly prominant in record shop displays. The singles haven't been particularly succesful have they?
Crikey
i know they are uberpopular and everything but doesn't this go to show that there just haven't been that many HUGE albums this year?
i remember Peelie playing "Ask Me How I Am" and thinking it was quite pleasant really. i think the difference from back then to now is that back then they actually SOUNDED like a band signed to Jeepster.
arenas
they play arenas in america now, this leaves me baffled
this video shows how most music fans think about snow partol
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1406096235
The ultimate irony
is that the band you just posted are even worse than Snow Patrol...
I actually still
Think that this is a good album.
Shall be there in Glasgow to see them at the SECC - bit of a step up from the Barfly gigs of old, but it should be fun.
Good luck to them, no?
I forgot to mention though
that the artwork is bloody disgusting, which lost them a sale of the 12" in my case. ::)