Snow Patrol Albums

Gary Lightbody and Mark McClelland met as students when they were both studying at Dundee Uni . The two of them put together a band, and soon were performing gigs in the local area. The band's first name was 'Shrug', soon followed by 'Polar Bear', then finally 'Snow Patrol'. During this period Jonny Quinn joined as the drummer.

In 1998 the group signed to the Jeepster label. Later that year, their debut album, Songs for Polar Bears was released in the UK to wide critical acclaim.

The band's second album arrived in 2001. Titled When It's All Over We Still have to Clear Up, the record succeeded in building the image and reputation of the band in the UK. Soon after guitarist Nathan Connolly joined the group.

For their third album, Snow Patrol moved to Polydor Records. Released in 2004, Final Straw became their most successful album to date. Favorite tracks from the LP include Chocolate, Run and Spitting Games. The same year founder-member Mark McClelland (bass) left, to be replaced by Paul Wilson. The line-up was further strengthened when Tom Simpson (keyboards), who had toured extensively with the group joined on a permanent basis.

The group's fourth album, called Eyes Open, came out in 2006. Of all the Snow Patrol albums, this is most peoples' favorite, with its deluge of memorable tracks, including You're All I Have, Hands Open, Chasing Cars and Set the Fire to the Third Bar. The band went on an extended tour of the US, building their fanbase Stateside. In fall 2006 the band became the first UK act in over 13 years to make the top 5 of the Billboard 100 Singles chart, with the superb track (which featured on the smash hit TV series Grey's Anatomy), Chasing Cars. Not surprisingly the album itself has hit platinum both sides of the Atlantic.

Snow Patrol's next album, entitled One Hundred Million Suns was released in 2008. This unremarkable album largely failed to reach the previous highs from the band.