Snow Patrol, who are again first in the UK after 18 years

It’s been 18 years since Snow Patrol were on everyone’s ears.

With three studio albums under their belt, it was in 2006 that the band from Dundee, Scotland, hit the mark. After achieving fame in the UK as part of the post-Britpop movement with their first major label album, 2003’s “Final Straw”, which was led by the single “Run”, three years later the band led by Gary Lightbody released the work that propelled them to international success. The album was “Eyes Open”, which featured the single “Chasing Cars”, a song that became a hit around the world thanks to its appearance in the finale of the second season of “Grey’s Anatomy”. The album, which also featured other hits such as “Hands Open” and “Open Your Eyes”, reached number one on the UK album charts, also becoming the best-selling album in the UK of 2006 with 1.5 million copies sold. As well as being one of the biggest-selling albums in UK chart history, “Eyes Open” also charted at number fifteen on the best-selling albums of the 2000s.

Eighteen years after the success of “Eyes Open”, Snow Patrol have once again conquered the number one spot in the UK album charts, compiled by the Official Charts Company. A week after its release, the band’s new album, “The Forest is the path” (here is our review), has reached the top of the charts.

“We are over the moon, it’s our first No. 1 album in 18 years and we are so happy! Thank you so much to everyone who bought it and streamed it, and to everyone who helped us make it, and to everyone who has helped us over the last 30 years,” the band said.

After several lineup changes, with Gary Lightbody now being the only original member still present, Snow Patrol consists of the frontman, Johnny McDaid and Nathan Connolly.

The band’s adventure began around 1994, under the name of Polarbear. It was in 1997 that the group decided to rename themselves Snow Patrol. Their first two studio albums, “Songs for polarbears” (1998) and “When it’s all over we still have to clear up” (2001), released by the independent record label Jeepster Records, did not have commercial success. It was after signing with Polydor Records in 2002 that the British band began to move towards success.

In the eighteen years between one prime and the next, between “Eyes Open” and “The Forest Is the Path”, Snow Patrol released three other studio projects, “A Hundred Million Suns” (2008), “Fallen Empires” (2011) and “Wildness” (2018) which – despite stopping at the last two spots on the podium of the British charts – were able to satisfy both critics and the public, confirming the band’s potential.