Snow Patrol 'Take Back The City'

Chart Peak: 6
YouTube

'Take Back The City' was the first hit single to be released from the boy's {sic} new album A Hundred Million Suns... Their incredibly successful last album Eyes Open went 7 times platinum selling over 2.1 million copies in the UK and more than 1 million units in America

Although A Hundred Million Suns was Snow Patrol's fifth album, they were to all intents and purposes in a comparable position to the Kaiser Chiefs releasing their third album, although they'd actually sold slightly more of their previous album than the one before it. Like the Kaisers they made the Top 10 with the album's first single and couldn't manage Top 40 with any of the others (though the difference is that they've managed other hits since) which seems emblematic of the times. It also says something of 2008 that this is the one single from Now 71 that I actually bought, but as I bought it digitally I have nothing to photograph.

To some extent this track is a reshuffle of familiar Patrol motifs: the massed acoustic guitars, the high harmonies on the chorus, the tangled guitars, the quiet electronics and the off-mic outro (a direct crib from 'Spitting Games') but it's in the service of something a bit fresher, a love-letter to Gary Lightbody's hometown of Belfast. Though specific references are avoided (and the video was actually shot in London) it's evident even from the song that he wants to reclaim the city from its negative image and the fear of violence ("For every time it's been hit/Take back the city tonight"). Fittingly the song was used earlier this year as the theme to a campaign to get locals and tourists back into Belfast after the rioting over the flag at City Hall. But you don't have to be from Northern Ireland to like this - indeed I've never been - because one of the great strengths of Snow Patrol is their ability to be emotionally open even with fairly traditional rock music, in a vulnerable rather than chest-beating way. That's why you can empathise and imagine that this song is about any home town you like - even I can relate to this as a Londoner, a city that's one of the least-maligned in the world of course but one that is sometimes frustrating and has of course been attacked by terrorism over the years. I think it's the fact that it's shy of becoming a full-on anthem, the way it's written by a human with mixed feelings, that paradoxically gives it strength.

Also appearing on: Now 57, 64, 65, 66, 67, 74
Available on: A Hundred Million Suns

Snow Patrol 'Open Your Eyes'

Chart Peak: 26

YouTube

Snow Patrol's album Eyes Open has gone 5 times platinum since its release isn May 2006. 'Open Your Eyes' is the 4th single to come from the album... The band are looking forward to playing a plethora of big festivals over the summer, including headline spots at T In The Park, Oxygen and V Festival.

It's not often that I can claim any kind of bragging rights, but I would like it to be put on the record that I was buying Snow Patrol records in the 20th century. I even saw them live (introduced by Ricky Gervais of all people) back when they only had one album's worth of material to play. And then suddenly, after about five years of my thinking them one of the most underrated bands in the country, they suddenly got big. And yet for me they were still a bit underappreciated, having apparently passed from obscure cult act to mainstream fixture it wasn't cool to like without passing "Go" (though doubtless they did collect £200). You might expect me to disown the later major-label stuff, but no, I bought Eyes Open the week it came out and though it was never more than my fourth favourite of their albums it has some great moments, including possibly my favourite track of their entire career, 'Set The Fire To The Third Bar'.

Having got the special edition album with the bonus DVD (not really worth the extra money, in truth) I can cite Gary Lightbody's sleevenote as proof of their intent to make this present track "an ever-building, rolling landscape", featuring more than forty performers between the choir, the string orchestra and the original band members. The idea was apparently to build up tension on a single chord for four minutes and then resolve it in the final two... the only trouble is, it doesn't work. Lightbody has a very pretty voice and the early part of the song is nice enough to listen to: in fact it's far too nice and the tension just doesn't build so there's nothing to release at the end. Over this length of time, it sounds as bland to me as all their music does to some people. I wasn't enthused about this as a single at the time and I haven't really changed my mind.

What's possibly most interesting about this inclusion is what it shows us about the direction Now! albums had to look in the download era. The single had peaked in February so it's unlikely that this it was expected to become a bigger chart hit: it seems to be here because, despite my reservations, it was a big airplay hit from a massive album and clearly was genuinely popular.

Also appearing on: Now 57, 64, 65, 67, 71, 74
Available on: Eyes Open