Eyes Open

Snow Patrol | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 9, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: A&M
• ASIN: B000F3UADO
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (192 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,123 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #16 in Home Improvement > Building Supplies > Building Materials > Doors > Garage Doors, Openers & Parts > Hardware

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Snow Patrol are frequently compared to Coldplay in the press, which seems strange as they write far better songs and do not appear to be quite so self-hating, nor as rich. Their delightfully dour little pop songs do touch on the melancholic side of things, but the lyrics are wonderfully slice-of-life descriptions. Singer/lyricist Gary Lightbody gives a shout-out to Sufjan Stevens when on the punchy "Open Your Eyes" he sings, "The anger swells in my guts." Perhaps a better comparison would be American indie-rock act Sebadoh? Regardless, this band continues to surprise. If you went to see this mixed Scottish/Irish group on tour after hearing their wistful, breakout third album Final Straw, you might have been a bit confused by the rock juggernaut confronting you. Eyes Open is their most straightforwardly rock record yet, and thanks in large part to producer Garret Lee, it's their best. If there was ever perfect music to get lost to while driving around confused about a relationship, this is it. --Mike McGonigal

Product Description

Snow Patrol release their eagerly awaited 4th studio album `Eyes Open' on May 1st. Following the 4 x platinum success of their breakthrough record `Final Straw', the band have made a phenomenal leap forward in every sense with their new album. With a lifetime of experiences accumulated over the last 2 years, including touring with U2, playing at Live8 and becoming one of the biggest bands in the country "Eyes Open" is a song writing tour de force, and takes the band to a whole new level. Highlights include first single `You're All I Have" (released on April 24th), the huge and anthemic `Chasing Cars", first debuted on the U2 tour and the staggering heartbreak of "Set The Fire To The Third Bar", a duet with Martha Wainwright.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 67 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful.... May 16, 2006

By Charles B. Miller

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this album on a whim because I liked Final Straw and thought I'd see what their new stuff sounded like. Initially I was a bit skeptical, but after a couple of repeated listens, I think that this actually exceeds Final Straw musically and in lyrics. This is not guitar pop or indie music...this is lush, beautiful, modern music. It's adult...complex and interesting.

There are some truly amazing tracks on this record. Some are reminiscent of (similar in style to) "Fix You" by Coldplay. My favorites include: Make This Go On Forever, Chasing Cars, You're All I Have, and Open Your Eyes.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars CD REVIEW: With hands, eyes, & ears open: Snow Patrol November 30, 2006

By S. Donovan Mullaney

Format:Audio CD

Indie kids added Snow Patrol to their mixes with the band's 1998 debut "Songs for Polar Bears," whose title references a previous incarnation of the group. How could you not love a Scottish indie band with chops big enough to cover "Crazy in Love" by Beyonce Knowles as a B-side?(Yes, the bootylicious singer from Destiny's Child and "Austin Powers.")

Snow Patrol relies on atmospheric, pop-tinged melodies, shimmering keyboards, and distorted guitars characteristic of the Glasgow alternative scene of the 1990s, overlaid with lead singer Gary Lightbody's floating tenor. The band's fourth disc, "Eyes Open", builds on the band's signature style.

Songs like "Make This Go On Forever", "Headlights on Dark Roads", and duet with Martha Wainwright "Set the Fire To The Third Bar" hypnotize with dark imagery and minored vocal chords. "You Could be Happy" and "Shut Your Eyes" lend a sense of acoustic purity to the album.(Both were recorded live in one session; you can hear chairs creaking, breathing, and feet tapping in both, but it just adds to the mood.)

The self-described "emotional knife-twisting" of Lightbody's lyrics is absent from the album's biggest single to date, "Chasing Cars." Like "Run", "Chasing Cars" is a deceptively simple love song filled with "garden[s] bursting into life" and "wasting time" with the one you love. "Cars" gets a lot of radio play across the FM band in Boston, from Emerson College's eclectic WERS 88.9 to Top 40-Music-In-A-Can Kiss 108.Whatever station it's played on, it's almost always followed by a moment of silence and the DJ saying "Wow, what a beautiful song."

True to form, "Eyes Open" starts with aggressive guitar riffs and builds to a rousing, uplifting finish. Repetition of a single chorus "tell me that you'll open your eyes" and increasing production layers in "Open Your Eyes" pull listeners willingly across "The Finish Line." This last track reminds us that finish lines are "good place[s] to start."

If there's any justice left in the music industry, "Eyes Open" should be a starting point for even better things from this talented quintet.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I absolutely have been waiting for this album December 8, 2007

By Garland

Format:Audio CD

I have to admit I am not all that familiar with this band. I heard one of their tracks on a movie I was watching recently and dediced to buy one of their cds. Without even knowing it....this is the cd I have been waiting for. I am just tired of listening to the same type of music and this band really does offer something different. The words, music and use of some instruments you wouldn't necessarily hear on a pop/rock album make it all the more worth listening to. I do love this album and will be looking forward to discovering more music from Snow Patrol. Thanks Snow Patrol for giving us such a great cd to enjoy.