Eyes Open

Eyes Open is the fourth studio album by Snow Patrol. Produced by Jacknife Lee, it was released in the UK on 1 May 2006, and 9 May 2006 in the US. It was the band’s first album without bassist Mark McClelland and the first to feature bassist Paul Wilson and keyboardist Tom Simpson. Recording for the album took place between October and December 2005 at Grouse Lodge Studios in Ireland, The Garage in Kent, and The Garden and Angel Recording Studios, both in London.

Six singles were released from the album, including top 10 hits “You’re All I Have” and “Chasing Cars”, the latter of which came to worldwide attention when it was featured during the season 2 finale of the American medical drama Grey’s Anatomy.

Eyes Open was the best-selling album of 2006 in the UK, selling 1.5 million copies. It was also the 15th best-selling album of the 2000s, and is one of the best-selling albums in UK chart history.

Eyes Open received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 67 out of 100 based 25 reviews, indicating “generally favorable reviews”.

The album hit number one in its 11th week on the New Zealand chart and reached 2× Platinum therefore shipping over 30,000 units. It also reached #1 in the ARIA Albums Chart, and was certified 3× Platinum on 8 January 2007 (for 210,000+ units shipped). It became the UK’s best-selling album of 2006, selling over 1.5 million copies at the end of the year, with a cumulative total of 1.8 million. Furthermore, it peaked at #1 in the Irish Albums Chart, where it went 7× Platinum.

The album sold 36,191 units in its debut week throughout the U.S., substantially improving from their first week sales of Final Straw. U.S. sales have totalled over 1,200,000 as of October 2008. In the UK, the album has sold over 2,333,000 copies, being certified 7× Platinum by the BPI.