Final Straw

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For the idiom, see Straw that broke the camel's back.
Final Straw
Studio album by Snow Patrol
Released 4 August 2003 (UK, Ireland)
2 February 2004 (UK re-release)
30 March 2004 (US)[1]
Recorded February 2003 at Britannia Row Studios
Genre Alternative rock, power pop, indie rock
Length 44:00
Label Fiction/Interscope
Producer Jacknife Lee
Professional reviews
Snow Patrol chronology
When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up
(2001)		 Final Straw
(2003)		 Eyes Open
(2006)
Singles from Final Straw
  1. "Spitting Games"
    Released: 15 September 2003
  2. "Run"
    Released: 26 February 2004
  3. "Chocolate"
    Released: 12 April 2004
  4. "Spitting Games (re-release)"
    Released: 12 July 2004
  5. "How to Be Dead"
    Released: 25 October 2004

Final Straw is the highly acclaimed third album by Snow Patrol, released in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland in 2003 and in the United States in 2004. The album is notable for bringing the band their first mainstream success outside of their native countries of Northern Ireland and Scotland.

The album was re-released in the UK in 2004 with two extra tracks[2], before being exported to the U.S. (without the bonus tracks). The album was also released on SACD and DualDisc with 5.1 Surround mixes.[3]

Contents

[edit] Recording and composition

Guitarist Nathan Connolly joined the band during the recording sessions. He did not contribute much, as the whole album had already been demoed. He commented that he found it easy to start writing and sharing his ideas with the rest of the band, as he had a good relationship with the band before being a member.[4] The album's music incorporates distorted guitar, feedback styles, and the vocals are gritty. The lyrics deal with the themes of relationships and politics. The band's sound on the album was described as being a "cross between the sullen folk of Nick Drake and the more punchy rock moments of Simple Minds and the Pixies.[5] Lightbody has said that him "finally learn[ing] to write a chorus" was the key to the album's success.[6]

Its music was along the same lines as the band's first two albums, and no attempt was made to change the sound to something more radio-friendly. The lyrics, all written by Lightbody are bleak. They speak about failing relationships and break-ups. They were inspired by his personal experiences. Quinn, his longtime friend, says that he knows who Lightbody sings about in those songs.[7]

[edit] Release

A limited 20,000 copies of the album were pressed and released, all eventually selling by word of mouth. The album was later re-issued.[8]

[edit] Track listing

All lyrics written by Lightbody, all music composed by Lightbody/Connolly/McClelland/Quinn except for tracks 7, 9, 11 by Archer/Connolly/Lightbody/McClelland/Quinn[9].

# Title Length
1. "How to Be Dead"   3:21
2. "Wow"   4:02
3. "Gleaming Auction"   2:04
4. "Whatever's Left"   2:39
5. "Spitting Games"   3:46
6. "Chocolate"   3:02
7. "Run"   5:54
8. "Grazed Knees"   2:55
9. "Ways & Means"   4:47
10. "Tiny Little Fractures"   2:28
11. "Somewhere a Clock is Ticking"   4:32
12. "Same"   3:54
UK re-release bonus tracks
# Title Length
13. "We Can Run Away Now They're All Dead and Gone"   3:15
14. "Half the Fun"   2:54
  • The AOL sessions feature frontman Gary Lightbody & lead guitarist Nathan Connolly being interviewed, and doing an acoustic rendition of "Run".
  • The dualdisc version does not include the UK bonus tracks.

[edit] Songs in popular culture

[edit] Personnel

Other personnel
  • Dan Swift - engineer
  • Jacknife Lee - producer, mixing
  • Phil Tyreman - assistant engineer
  • Ian Dowling - assistant engineer
  • Mike Nelson - mixing
  • Jeff McLaughlin - assistant
  • Chris Lord-Alge - mixing

[edit] Peak positions and certifications

Chart Provider(s) Peak
position		 Sales Certification
ARIA Charts ARIA — 70,000 Platinum[16]
Dutch Albums Chart NVPI 49[17] —
Dutch Backcatalogue Top 50 4[18]
Europe IFPI — 2,000,000 2× Platinum[19]
Ireland Albums Chart IRMA 1[17] 90,000 6× Platinum[20]
UK Albums Chart BPI 3[17] 1,500,000 5× Platinum[21]
Top Heatseekers Billboard 1[22] 618,000[23] Gold[24]
US Billboard 200 Billboard 91[17]
Organization Level Date[25]
RIAA - USA Gold 17 October 2008

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (1 May 2004). "Snow Patrol storms U.S. shores". Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc.) 116 (18): 10. ISSN 0006-2510. http://books.google.com/books?id=thAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10&dq=snow+patrol&lr=&as_brr=3&as_pt=MAGAZINES#v=onepage&q=snow%20patrol&f=false. Retrieved 31 October 2009. 
  2. ^ http://www.snowpatrol.com/discography/default.aspx?pid=3
  3. ^ http://www.snowpatrol.com/discography/default.aspx?&in=8
  4. ^ Jurilj, Igor (4 August 2009). "October 2009 Interview - Nathan Connolly (Snow Patrol)" (in Croatian). Muzika. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.muzika.hr%2Fclanak%2F22192%2Finterview%2Fnathan-connolly-snow-patrol-s-vremenom-postajemo-veci-bend-i-nemamo-straha-izaci-na-jednu-od-najvecih-pozornica-ikada.aspx&date=1 October 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2009.  Note: Translation can be found here.
  5. ^ Weingarten, Abby (3 September 2004). "Scotland's Snow Patrol jumps on gloom bandwagon". AccessMyLibrary. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-13235006_ITM. Retrieved 2009-10-19.  Appears as: "Using distorted guitar, feedback and gritty vocals, the band inserts lyrics with political and relationship themes." and "Comprised of Gary Lightbody (songwriting, vocals, guitar and keyboards), Nathan Connolly (guitar), Mark McClelland (bass and keyboards) and Johnny Quinn (drums), Snow Patrol has a sound that's a cross between the sullen folk of Nick Drake and the more punchy rock moments of Simple Minds and the Pixies."
  6. ^ Heawood, Sophie (30 October 2009). "Snow Patrol: 'We're not ready for greatest hits'". The Times. http://www.webcitation.org/5kvhEAV7s. Retrieved 2009-10-31. 
  7. ^ "That's Snow business". The Age. 25 July 2004. http://www.webcitation.org/5kskyWtQq. Retrieved 2009-10-29. 
  8. ^ Jelbert, Steve (13 February 2004). "The flaky success of Snow Patrol". The Times. Times Newspapers Ltd.. http://www.webcitation.org/5kCwW5mc1. Retrieved 4 January 2010. 
  9. ^ "Final Straw". Snow Patrol. http://www.snowpatrol.com/discography/default.aspx?pid=3. Retrieved 30 August 2009. 
  10. ^ http://www.tower.com/gran-turismo-4-original-soundtrack-cd/wapi/105944138
  11. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0789452/soundtrack
  12. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0760338/soundtrack
  13. ^ http://www.amazon.com/Wicker-Park-Various-Artists/dp/B0002MIBW0
  14. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436058/soundtrack
  15. ^ http://www.amazon.com/Last-Kiss-Original-Soundtrack/dp/B000G8NY54/
  16. ^ "ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2007 Albums". ARIA. http://www.aria.com.au/pages/httpwww.aria.com.aupagesARIACharts-Accreditations-2007Albums.htm. Retrieved 4 August 2009. 
  17. ^ a b c d "Snow Patrol - Final Straw". aCharts. http://acharts.us/album/13722. Retrieved 27 June 2009. 
  18. ^ http://dutchcharts.nl/weekchart.asp?cat=ab&year=2009&date=20090606
  19. ^ http://www.ifpi.org/content/section_news/plat2008.html
  20. ^ http://www.irishcharts.ie/awards/multi_platinum.htm
  21. ^ http://www.ukchartsplus.co.uk/ChartsPlusYE2008.pdf
  22. ^ title=Chart position on Top Heatseekers
  23. ^ "Brits Rock". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/artist/snow-patrol/306432#/news/brits-rock-1003877997.story. Retrieved 4 August 2009. 
  24. ^ "RIAA certification". http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=&artist=snow%20patrol&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=25. 
  25. ^ http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=&artist=snow%20patrol&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=25
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