Songs for Polarbears
Songs for Polarbears | ||||
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Studio album by Snow Patrol | ||||
Released | 31 August 1998 | |||
Recorded | 1996 | |||
Studio | Chamber Studios, Edinburgh | |||
Genre | Indie rock | |||
Length | 49:49 | |||
Label |
Jeepster (UK) Never Records (US)[1] | |||
Producer | Jamie Watson | |||
Snow Patrol chronology | ||||
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Singles from Songs for Polarbears | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
PopMatters | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pitchfork Media | (8.1/10)[4] |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Songs for Polarbears is the debut album by the indie rock group Snow Patrol, released on 31 August 1998 in the UK and 12 October in the US.[6]
The album charted at #143 in the UK and did not sell well upon its initial release. However, its re-release eventually went Gold in the UK.
Background
The band was listening to a diverse range of music at the time, with majority of it being American rock like Pixies, Soundgarden and Dinosaur Jr.. Other acts included My Bloody Valentine and Super Furry Animals' first album Fuzzy Logic.[7] All these influences resulted in a musically diverse album that incorporated styles like hip hop, drone and Pavement-style indie rock.[8] The album title is a reference to the band's previous name Polarbear.[9]
Gary Lightbody said once in an interview with RTÉ's No Disco: "A Newcastle fanzine wrote the album as, buy Songs For Polarbears and get Sebadoh's III, My Bloody Valentine's Isn't Anything and The Breeders' Safari for free. And I was like, 'Ouch, that hurts. They're making us out like we were copying some American bands.'"
Track listing
All lyrics written by Gary Lightbody, all music composed by Gary Lightbody and Mark McClelland.
UK Version | ||||||||||
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No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
1. | "Downhill from Here" | 3:23 | ||||||||
2. | "Starfighter Pilot" | 3:19 | ||||||||
3. | "The Last Shot Ringing in My Ears" | 4:26 | ||||||||
4. | "Absolute Gravity" | 2:45 | ||||||||
5. | "Get Balsamic Vinegar...Quick You Fool" | 3:27 | ||||||||
6. | "Mahogany" | 2:46 | ||||||||
7. | "NYC" | 4:27 | ||||||||
8. | "Little Hide" | 2:41 | ||||||||
9. | "Make Up" | 2:12 | ||||||||
10. | "Velocity Girl" | 4:37 | ||||||||
11. | "Days Without Paracetamol" | 3:32 | ||||||||
12. | "Fifteen Minutes Old" | 3:08 | ||||||||
13. | "Favourite Friend" | 2:46 | ||||||||
14. | "One Hundred Things You Should Have Done in Bed" | 2:11 |
US Version (Additional tracks) | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
15. | "I Could Stay Away Forever" | 4:28 | ||||||||
16. | "Sticky Teenage Twin" | 2:08 | ||||||||
17. | "Holy Cow" | 1:54 | ||||||||
18. | "When You're Right, You're Right (Darth Vader Bringing In His Washing Mix)" | 3:31 |
- "Marketplace" (3:48) is included as a hidden track after "One Hundred Things You Should Have Done in Bed" on both versions.
2006 re-release (Bonus tracks) | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
15. | "Sticky Teenage Twin" | 2:08 | ||||||||
16. | "Limited Edition" | 2:33 | ||||||||
17. | "Jj" | 1:47 | ||||||||
18. | "My Last Girlfriend" | 2:59 | ||||||||
19. | "T.M.T." | 2:51 | ||||||||
20. | "I Could Stay Away Forever" | 4:28 | ||||||||
21. | "When You're Right, You're Right (Darth Vader Bringing In His Washing Mix)" | 3:31 | ||||||||
22. | "Raze the City" | 4:20 | ||||||||
23. | "Riot, Please" | 2:52 |
- All bonus tracks originally appeared as B-sides to the singles released from "Songs for Polarbears".[10]
Personnel
- Snow Patrol
- Gary Lightbody - vocals, guitar, keyboards, drums on "Riot, Please"
- Mark McClelland - bass guitar, keyboards
- Other personnel
- Richard Colburn - drums, keyboards on track 2
- Isobel Campbell - vocals on track 7
- Fraser Simpson - guitar on track 11[11]
Peak positions and certifications
Chart | Provider(s) | Peak position |
Sales | Certification |
---|---|---|---|---|
Irish Albums Chart[12] | IRMA | 90 | — | |
UK Albums Chart[13] | BPI | 143 | 100,000 | Gold[14] |
Organization | Level | Date[14] |
---|---|---|
BPI - UK | Silver | 3 February 2006 |
BPI - UK | Gold | 15 June 2007 |
References
- ↑ "Snow Patrol - Songs for Polarbears (US Version)". Interscope. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
- ↑ Allmusic review
- ↑ PopMatters review
- ↑ Pitchfork Media review
- ↑ Rolling Stone review
- ↑ "Songs for Polarbears". Snow Patrol. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
- ↑ Zimmerman, Kevin (9 March 2005). "Snow Patrol". BMI. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
- ↑ Syairi Ramly, Adly (9 July 2004). "Join this Snow patrol". AccessMyLibrary. The Malay Mail. Retrieved 2009-10-19. Appears as: "The musical diversity that ranges from hip hop beats to guitar drone to Pavement-esque indie rock that can be heard on the album is strong enough of a reason to make them a cult favourite."
- ↑ Bailie, Stuart (3 February 1999). "Licensed to chill". Hot Press. Retrieved 4 January 2010. Appears as: "Once they were called Shrug, and more recently, Polarbear, which was changed when another, similarly titled act started getting a bit frosty. Hence the title of the album."
- ↑ "Snow Patrol album reissues". Jeepster. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
- ↑ Personnel details
- ↑ "Snow Patrol - Albums". Irish Charts. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
- ↑ Chart Log UK
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Certified Awards Search". BPI. Retrieved 26 August 2009. Note: Need to manually search for 'Snow Patrol'
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