Eye-opener On Patrol: Next Stop Coldplay's Stratosphere

If they haven't already, Snow Patrol are about to find out that the pressures of success can be every bit as oppressive, draining and potentially hazardous as those of failure.

Their fortunes were transformed by the two million selling Final Straw, a last throw of the dice for a band who, before it was made, had no money, no label and seemingly no future.

Now their future is alive with all sorts of possibilities - they have done the ground work for an assault on America, and the next, tantalisingly reachable goal back home is an ascension to the stratosphere occupied by U2 and Coldplay.And it is in that context that their new album Eyes Open (Fiction, out tomorrow) has to be judged - they have expectations to fulfil, a vast new fan base to satisfy, a career trajectory to maintain.

Its gestation was difficult. Founder member and bass player Mark McClelland left before recording began with all sorts of rumours of a major falling out with Gary Lightbody, and it has taken more than a year from the first recording sessions to eventual release.

The band - with McClelland's replacement Paul Wilson, and keyboard player Tom Simpson now a full-time rather than just touring member, both on board - holed up in Dingle, and wrote and recorded everything virtually from scratch with producer Garrett 'Jacknife' Lee.

The results are undoubtedly impressive, and all those new fans they picked up with Final Straw won't be disappointed. Gut instinct says it is probably just not quite as good as Final Straw, but essentially it is more of the same, well-honed stadium rock built on the twin strengths of the simplicity and directness of the music and Lightbody's appealingly open and vulnerable lyrics.

The songs generally divide into two types, both of which they execute expertly - nagging upbeat, mid-tempo rockers, and slower, more deliberate efforts that usually build inexorably into some tumultuous crescendo.

Yet further down the line, maybe even the next album, you suspect they'll have to give us something new, and pull some new rabbits from their hat. Encouragingly, there are a few hints here (particularly the Martha Wainwright duet Set The Fire To The Third Bar) that they have it in them to do just that.

For now, though, they have undoubtedly given it their best effort and (generally) left well alone. The really big league beckons - only time will tell if Eyes Open is the key to unlock the door to the promised land.

Source: sundaylife.co.uk