Snow Patrol: Final Straw (2LP, 20th anniversary, deluxe edition, gold vinyl) [POLYDOR]

Why you'll love it

This deluxe edition adds a second disc of demos and B-sides, among them the never-before-heard "Tired," plus new liner notes from Gary Lightbody. Final Straw was the band's major-label debut and gave them their first mainstream success beyond Northern Ireland and Scotland.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Gold vinyl
• 20th anniversary edition
• 12 bonus demos and B-sides
• Silver metallic gatefold jacket
• Printed inner sleeves with new liner notes
• Pressed in the EU
• Lyrics included
• Stereo mix

About the album

Snow Patrol had two indie albums behind them when Fiction's Jim Chancellor asked for something bigger and bolder. Producer Jacknife Lee got them there at Britannia Row Studios in London, simplifying the songs and filling them out with strings, programmed drums and looping guitars, and Lightbody, by his own account, finally learned to write a chorus. Chancellor, Lee and the band picked 15 songs to work on from a pool of 24, and the strongest made the final cut.

"Run" is the big one, the song Chancellor called an enormous emotional rollercoaster, while "Spitting Games" and "Chocolate" bring the urgency and "How to Be Dead" opens on a drum machine. New guitarist Nathan Connolly joined during the sessions. The bonus disc digs out early demos of "Run," "Gleaming Auction" and "Grazed Knees" alongside B-sides such as "Post Punk Progression" and "Steal," with writing from Jo Whiley and Chancellor in the notes.

Every lyric on the album came from Lightbody's own break-ups, and drummer Jonny Quinn, his friend since school, says he knows exactly who each song is about. We'd suggest not asking him at parties.

Also at Kops: more Snow Patrol on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Listen

On Polydor / Fiction (cat# 5516056), a reissue of the 2003 album.