Review Summary: While it is a rocky listening experience, Up To Now proves that Snow Patrol have more to offer than "Chasing Cars".
Though many people are familiar with the band Snow Patrol, their introduction to them probably came in the form of the popular ballad, Chasing Cars, when it became rather big in 2006. But as fans of the band know, there’s much more to this band than that song – a great deal more – and as this compilation demonstrates, Snow Patrol has come a long way since their initial beginnings.
Up To Now is a collection of the band's hits, a few tracks from their earlier offerings, and a few new songs as well. Disc one starts things off sugary sweet for listeners: it houses four of the band’s most well written singles right in a row. “Chocolate” may very well be the band’s best song; a tale of hope and new beginnings that resides with listeners despite its sparse instrumentation. “Just Say Yes” acts as this compilation’s lead single, and unfortunately, it falls flat. The hook and the lyrics presented are filler-ish and boring compared to the other singles from the band that are found here, and the song could have easily been a b-side to the band’s most recent album,
A Hundred Million Suns. The live edition of “Run” caps off the first disc. Gary Lightbody’s vocals have noticeably aged since the song’s initial recording nearly seven years ago, and the instrumentation is presented in an orchestral manner: strings and possibly an organ can be heard behind the singer. To be honest, without the distortion in the chorus -along with the inclusion of the rest of the band - this live edition of the song seems a little too naked when listened to.
The second disc follows the format of the first: hits, old songs, and new songs. “Run”, “Signal Fire”, and “Open Your Eyes” are possibly the best things here. “Signal Fire” was the lead single from the
Spiderman 3 soundtrack and displays some of the band’s best songwriting. Initial listens come up short, but slowly the unconventional nature of the hook in the song’s chorus plants itself in the listener’s head. There are two more new songs on this disc: “Dark Roman Wine” and “Give Me Strength”. The prior follows the format of the live edition of “Run” from the first disc, featuring a weary Lightbody singing over sparse instrumentation that begs the question: where is the rest of the band? “Give Me Strength”, on the other hand, displays some of the band’s missed songwriting that toughed much of
Eyes Open. The song starts acoustically with strings and houses an infectious chorus that can stand with some of the band’s best. Disc two ends on a live edition of “Chasing Cars”. The song works more effectively than the live edition of “Run” that came before it. Lightbody really captures the emotional impact of the song with his restrained and melancholy performance.
It should be noted that while the hits found on the two discs come with the expected sugary hook or love-sick lyrics, the inclusions that the band has placed from days prior to
Final Straw demonstrate just how far Snow Patrol has come. Though the fans may disagree with me, the tracks from the band’s first two albums are pretty horrible: Lightbody is not experienced in his duties, the band sounds too low and restrained in the mix, and the songwriting is generally rather lacking. That being said, the songs from those albums get the job done of displaying the progression Snow Patrol has undergone in last twelve or so years to where they are now.
Up To Now gives an honest portrait of the band: it contains the good times and the bad times. The singles found here are generally good tracks, and it is a shame that “Chasing Cars” often overshadows them. The three new tracks and those pulled from the band’s indie label albums do not happen to live up to the same level of quality; therefore, listening to this compilation is a rocky and inconsistent affair. You have to give them points for honesty though: the band doesn’t hide their meager beginnings, and if you want to get to know the band, what better place to look than
Up To Now.
