Track Listing

1. Never Gonna Fall In Love
2. Ask Me How I Am
3. Making Enemies
4. Black And Blue
5. Last Ever Lone Gunman
6. If I'd Found The Right Words To Say
7. Batten Down The Hatch
8. One Night Is Not Enough
9. Chased By...I Don't Know What
10. On/Off
11. An Olive Grove Facing The Sea
12. When It's All Over We Still Have To Clear Up
13. Make Love To Me Forever
14. Firelight

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5414 in Music
• Released on: 2001-03-12
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced

Amazon.co.uk Review
Mad for sadness? Then Northern Irish four-piece Snow Patrol could be the band for you. Fully paid-up members of the generation of youthful Brit-rockers--see also JJ72 and Muse--Snow Patrol twin their histrionic-heavy guitar-fuzz to the vulnerable, reed-thin vocals of a teen-angstified frontman. But ignore lead singer Gary Lightbody when he hisses that he's "never gonna fall in love again" on the opening track of the same name; When It's All Over We Still Have To Clear Up is an album about giving your heart away, feeling it break and desperately trying to reassemble it before the next emotional meltdown. Perversely, some of this record's greatest moments find amps turned down and emotions laid desperately bare: the acoustic "Make Love To Me Forever" and the love-laid-to-rest lament of "If I'd Ever Found The Right Words To Say". But that's not to say that the ballsy pop songs--see "Ask Me How I Am", the sound of a harmony-laden Sebadoh playing hip-hop through a detuned radio--don't make the grade. And when it's all over? They may have been casualties in the Wars Of Love, but as Lightbody whispers "we won't get much sleep" on the closing "Firelight", you know that--like you--Snow Patrol are ready to flip the record and live it all again. --Louis Pattison

Q Magazine, April, 2001
...pretty special...

Mojo, March, 2001
...an album of warmth, sadness, rough edged charm and one of the highlights of the year so far...

Customer Reviews

Not poo
Like many of the other this albim's other reviewers I was initailly disappointed by this album but after giving it a little time came to appreciate it greatly. It seems that the main problem with this collection of songs is that they have either not been recorded or produced very well and in many instances you have to strain your ears to catch Gary Lightbody's lyrics. Often a catchy bassline is only almost discernable and the whole thing lacks a clarity of sound.

However for all this the basslines ARE catchy and Lightbody's Lyrics ARE worth straining for. You can just imagine that if the band had recorded some of these songs recently that they could easily be anthems as potent as 'Run' or 'Signal Fire'.

I have to say that this is probably my favourite Snow patrol album as it often has a charming simplicity (see 'make love to me forever') that more recent albums, and especially 'Eyes Open have', lacked prefering to go for the more gung-ho approach. Tracks to look out for particularly ar 'On_Off', 'Last Ever Lone Gunman' and 'Making Enemies' although many more including the title track are more than worthy of consideration.

Like I say, a grower, but more than worth the effort.

And They Really Do Need to Clean This Up
Snow Patrol made it big with Final Straw, which is understandable as that is an amazing album. Just before the release of the follow up album Eyes Open I bought Songs for Polarbears and this, When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up.

A friend had let me hear "Ask Me How I Am" so I knew I would like that song, but the rest of the album was dribble. I gave the album a second chance and fell in love with "An Olive Grove Facing the Sea" a hypnotic song near the end.

But one question remains, is an album really worth buying for two tracks? Songs for Polarbears is great, Final Straw amazing and Eyes Open another classic album, it's just a shame this fell short.

its a grower
i bought this album without hearing it because i loved final straw and eyes open, and to be honest the first time i listened to it i was really disappointed. i thought it was slow and uninspiring and had a real feel of 90's indie music about it, however a couple of weeks later i listened again and found there were a few songs on it that i really liked, and after playing it a few more times i now really like it. its one of those albums that grows on you and sounds better the more you hear it, and while at first i thought it was a poor effort from snow patrol i now realise that this album is the foundation on which some of their later masterpieces are built on. definitely worth getting.