The Lightning Strike
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"The Lightning Strike" is a song from
alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...
band Snow Patrol's fifth album '' A Hundred Million Suns'', and appears as the last track on the album. The lyrics to the song were written by lead singer
Gary Lightbody Gareth John Lightbody (born 15 June 1976) is a Northern Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Snow Patrol. He has also founded the musical supergroups The ...
and the music was composed by Snow Patrol. The song is composed of three smaller songs and, at sixteen minutes and eighteen seconds, is the longest the band has released yet. The song has an elaborate live performance where a specially made animation is played simultaneously as the band performs the song. Most of the video features origami, which is the main artwork for the album and its singles. The song received a mixed reaction when the album was released, and though the band were praised for playing it live, the general feeling was that it wasn't a right choice, with one critic calling it "self-indulgent" but forgivable.


Conception and composition

In an interview with ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
'', lyricist Gary Lightbody revealed the song was conceived after he was caught in a heavy storm one night in Glasgow: "I was pretty terrified – 150-mile-an-hour winds, trees falling down. But we went outside the house, and it was also just thrilling. There was this howling wind, but it felt like silence, as if our senses were being too bombarded to cope with what was going on. So the record was born out of that feeling, of two people having a protective shell around each other. I'm not saying there's not darkness in there still, but it's happening from outward factors more than inward. Maybe things are terrifying, but they're beautiful, too. The world is extremely surprising". In August 2008, Lightbody joked about the song in a press release on the band's website, which revealed the track-listing for the then unreleased album: "The last song is sixteen-minutes long and by far the longest we've ever done. Don't be frightened though, it's great. Although, for now, you'll have to take my word for that and I'm pretty biased I have to say". At the time of the release of the album, SP.com posted a section featuring Gary Lightbody discussing the new songs, which was initially a Lightbody interview to RTÉ. The interview revealed that the song was initially three different songs. However, the band felt that they "worked so well together it was obvious they belonged in one place". m


Recording and production

The three songs are "What If This Storm Ends?", "The Sunlight Through the Flags", and "Daybreak". "What If This Storm Ends?" was recorded at Olympic Studios in London and features brass choir. The second part, "The Sunlight Through the Flags", is set on the west coast of Ireland and was recorded at Grouse Lodge, Co. Westmeath, Ireland. According to the wishes of producer
Jacknife Lee Garret "Jacknife" Lee is an Irish music producer and mixer. He has worked with a variety of artists, including the Cars, U2, R.E.M., the Killers, Robbie Williams, Snow Patrol, Bloc Party, Two Door Cinema Club, AFI, the Hives, Weezer, One Dir ...
, the third and last part, "Daybreak", was recorded at
Hansa Tonstudio Hansa Tonstudio is a recording studio located in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin, Germany. The studio, famous for its Meistersaal recording hall, is situated approximately 150 metres from the former Berlin Wall, giving rise to its former nickna ...
s in Berlin, where
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
recorded '' "Heroes"'' in the '70s and U2 recorded ''
Achtung Baby ''Achtung Baby'' () is the seventh studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 18 November 1991 on Island Records. After criticism of their 1988 release ''Rattle and Hum'', U2 shifte ...
'' in the '90s. Lightbody commented that "Daybreak" "was really affected by Hansa" and "has that Krautrock hypnotic sway to it, and "Heroes"-type guitars swooning over the top", and it made a fitting end to the album. The band specifically chose to keep the song the last track on the album. In an interview, Lightbody said "We felt like it hopefully leaves you wondering "what's next?", making you want more". In an interview to ''Glide Magazine'', Nathan Connolly spoke of the band's desire to not sound like their earlier work, but still maintain their "melody and honesty". The song grew out of the band trying to progress musically. Connolly also felt that the song requires repeated listening to grow on a person, like acquired taste.


Release history

The song initially appeared on the album versions of ''A Hundred Million Suns''. On various
online music store A digital music store is a business that sells digital audio files of music recordings over the Internet. Customers gain ownership of a license to use the files, in contrast to a music streaming service, where they listen to recordings without ...
s including the iTunes Store, the song is labeled "album-only", making it inaccessible for individual purchase. A live
MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
, recorded during the UK & Ireland Arena Tour of February–March 2009 was gifted to fans as a free download on every ticket purchase for the Reworked Tour of November–December 2009. Each ticket came with a special code that enabled the download. In light of its usage in the '' Epic'' trailer, on 25 February 2013, "The Lightning Strike (What If This Storm Ends?)" was released as a stand-alone single. Furthermore, on 9 March 2013, the band announced on social media websites such as Facebook that they had released the accompanying channel. The stand-alone "What If This Storm Ends" was released on the 2013 Snow Patrol compilation, ''
Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...
''.


Track listing

#"What If This Storm Ends?" – 5:10 #"The Sunlight Through the Flags" – 4:17 #"Daybreak" – 6:51 ;2013 "What If This Storm Ends?" download single #"What If This Storm Ends?" – 4:10 ;2013 "What If This Storm Ends?" US Promo CD-single #"What If This Storm Ends?" – 4:10 #"What If This Storm Ends? (Edit)" – 3:34


Music video


Live-performance version

"The Lightning Strike" has an elaborate live performance, with the band playing the song in the backdrop of a projection screen, on which a specially made video is played simultaneously; , at the
Pinkpop Festival The Pinkpop Festival is an annual music festival held at Landgraaf, Netherlands. It is usually held on the Pentecost weekend (''Pinksteren'' in Dutch, hence the name). If Pentecost falls on an early date in May, the festival is held later in Jun ...
at Megaland,
Landgraaf Landgraaf (; li, Lankgraaf ) is a municipality in southeastern Limburg, Netherlands, forming part of the Parkstad Limburg agglomeration. ''Snow World'' is the largest indoor ski piste in Europe. Population centres * Nieuwenhagen * Schaesberg ...
, the Netherlands, is available via the band's
VEVO Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...
YouTube channel. The idea for the video was conceived by Gary Lightbody. Snow Patrol's tour video director
Blue Leach Blue Leach is a video director. He is the winner of the 2009 TPI Video Director of the Year Award. He has recently directed shows for the Taking Back the Cities Tour for Snow Patrol. Other recent projects include R.E.M., directing the live album ...
collaborated with production company Atticus Finch to create the video, which represents Lightbody's idea to represent the world as origami. Finch brought Undabo Studios into the project to "help develop an origami style of modeling and texturing" that appears on the album artwork for ''A Hundred Million Suns''. The video's theme uses a colorful visual language; the birth and development of a star, a spiralling galaxy, and its millions of pieces, which flow smoothly into each other; the formation of space, birds, animated rockets, satellites, fishes, havens, oceans, boats, cities, landscapes, rainbows, cars, and planets and many other visual impressions. The "CGI origami" gig features the band members themselves performing as origami figures. The video was made using
Autodesk Softimage Autodesk Softimage, or simply Softimage () was a 3D computer graphics application, for producing 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling, and computer animation. Now owned by Autodesk and formerly titled Softimage, XSI, the software has been predomina ...
and took about three months to make. It consists of 24,000 frames of animation and is played of a 60×40 ft. projection screen in live performances for the first 6 minutes, which then moves to LED screens suspended behind the band. Director Blue Leach later won the "TPi Award" in 2009 for his work with Snow Patrol, amongst others.


Full animated version

Th
full sixteen-minute animated video
for "The Lightning Strike", which was previously unavailable saw its official release as a part of '' Up to Now'', the band's third compilation album. The video can be found on the bonus DVDs of the
Digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case ...
and
box-set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...
releases of the album.


"What If This Storm Ends?" animated version

A for the "What If This Storm Ends?" was uploaded by the band onto YouTube. Like videos for live performances, the video features an elaborate animation involving origami.


Reception

The song received a generally mixed reception at the time of album release. '' Spin'' called it "dramatic". ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' was quite positive about the song, saying "the band distinguishes itself from the post-Coldplay pack with a flair for arrangements that almost justifies the grandiosity of 16-minute epics like "The Lightning Strike"".
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
' response was very positive. Reviewer Ross Langager called the song "a 16-minute, three-movement celestial metaphor of operatic grandeur and overwhelming beauty". He further praised the song, saying: "Linked together by alike synthesizer bedrocks of gradually increasing warmth and brightness, the song-cycle progresses from silver-lined dark clouds to hints of dawn before finally settling on a lovely, sun-drenched morning. But even when faced by such an inexorable process of hopefulness, Lightbody has to temper the surge of light: "Slowly the day breaks/Apart in our hands"". ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
s Andy Gill, however, had mixed feelings about the song. He said that the song was an attempt to "broaden the band's style". He called it ambitious and felt that "its incorporation of minimalist techniques, glockenspiel, brass colouration and shoegazey guitar textures" made the song "lengthy". He made comparisons with Coldplay, calling the band "self-absorbed" but said Snow Patrol were "more bearable". On the other hand,
Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...
's Joshua Love reviewed the song negatively, writing that it seemed as if the band was "striving to be taken more seriously", by "stringing together three ponderous, already-overlong songs and calling the impenetrable result a 16-minute stand-alone epic "The Lightning Strike"". He further wrote that the band's wasn't talented enough to do justice to "these newer, more artful ambitions".


Live-performance reception

Critical reception of the live performance has been generally mixed as well, though the band has been praised for playing it.
Contactmusic.com Contactmusic.com is an online magazine of cultural criticism based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, and ...
reviewed a Snow Patrol concert at the M.E.N. Arena on 7 March 2009. Though it called the song "ambitious by anyone's standards" and praised the animation calling it "impressive", it felt the song wasn't the best choice for an encore. WalesOnline's Paul Rowland wrote a review of the gig at
Cardiff International Arena Cardiff International Arena (formerly known as Cardiff International Arena & Convention Centre and later, for sponsorship reasons, Motorpoint Arena Cardiff) is an indoor exhibition centre and events arena located in Cardiff, Wales, and was ope ...
the next day. He praised the song, calling it a "three-movement epic". He reported that, though the song was a welcome change in the encore, some fans did not appreciate it and headed home: "After all, they'd already heard "Run", and the traffic's awful this time of night". The same happened at a free gig at iTunes Festival 2009 at
The Roundhouse The Roundhouse is a performing arts and concert venue situated at the Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England. The building was erected in 1846–1847 by the London & North Western Railway as a roundhous ...
in London. In ''The News'', Chris Jefferies reported that the band had to play the song to a "half-empty crowd", but had praise for the band saying "there is much, much more to this band". Durham21's Ian Church covered the next gig on 10 March at the
Metro Radio Arena The Utilita Arena Newcastle (formerly the Newcastle Arena, Telewest Arena and Metro Radio Arena) is a large indoor arena in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Owned and operated by ASM Global and sponsored by Utilita Energy, it hosts mu ...
. He reported that for the encore, a large semi-transparent sheet was dropped in front of the stage, to project the animation. He said that it was "surprising" the band chose to play the "practically unknown" song, but reported that "it somehow managed to capture those watching" but a few fans were left complaining about the song choice. Journal Live also covered the concert, with Helen Dalby writing that it was "interesting" and "different" for the band to play the song, but she wasn't "entirely sure it quite worked". She felt the song might have worked if it was played earlier in the set. ''
Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...
s Amira Hashish covered the last concert at
The O2 The O2 is a large entertainment district on the Greenwich peninsula in South East London, England, including an indoor arena, a music club, a Cineworld cinema, an exhibition space, piazzas, bars, and restaurants. It was built largely withi ...
and wrote a positive review about the performance of the song, though she felt to song(s) was "lesser known"; but, she felt the band brought them to life and, though it was "a little self-indulgent", the band could be forgiven. James Cabooter of Daily Star, who covered the show at Bloomsbury Theatre wrote that the newer material (including "The Lightning Strike") was deeper and more mature sonically.


Chart performance

"What If This Storm Ends?" reached the top 400 on iTunes shortly following its release.


Live performances

The
Taking Back the Cities Tour The Taking Back the Cities Tour was a concert tour by Scottish/Northern Irish alternative rock band Snow Patrol. It was launched in support of the group's 2008 album ''A Hundred Million Suns''. The band visited numerous arenas internationally f ...
has generally featured "What If This Storm Ends?" as an encore. The full song has usually not been played, but it has been known to make appearances; it finally made its live debut during the UK & Ireland Arena Tour, where it was played regularly. It also made appearances during the following European leg, though it was not played on all dates. The song was not played during the shows with the band supporting
Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University ...
on the
Viva la Vida Tour The Viva la Vida Tour was the fourth concert tour undertaken by British rock band Coldplay. It was launched in support their fourth studio album, '' Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends'' (2008), becoming a massive commercial and critic ...
and U2 on the
U2 360° Tour The U2 360° Tour was a worldwide concert tour by rock band U2. Staged in support of the group's 2009 album ''No Line on the Horizon'', the tour visited stadiums from 2009 through 2011. The concerts featured the band playing "in the round" o ...
.


Personnel

;Snow Patrol *
Gary Lightbody Gareth John Lightbody (born 15 June 1976) is a Northern Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Snow Patrol. He has also founded the musical supergroups The ...
 – vocals, guitar, backing vocals * Nathan Connolly – guitar, backing vocals * Paul Wilson – bass guitar, backing vocals * Jonny Quinn – drums *
Tom Simpson Thomas Simpson (30 November 1937 – 13 July 1967) was one of Britain's most successful professional cyclists. He was born in Haswell, County Durham, and later moved to Harworth, Nottinghamshire. Simpson began road cycling as a teenager ...
 – keyboards ;Other personnel *
Jacknife Lee Garret "Jacknife" Lee is an Irish music producer and mixer. He has worked with a variety of artists, including the Cars, U2, R.E.M., the Killers, Robbie Williams, Snow Patrol, Bloc Party, Two Door Cinema Club, AFI, the Hives, Weezer, One Dir ...
 – producer, mixing *
Cenzo Townshend Vincenzo Capellini Townshend (born 28 October 1963) is an English record producer, mixer, and audio engineer, and has worked with artists and bands including the Rolling Stones, a-ha, Kaiser Chiefs, U2, Snow Patrol, Florence and the Machin ...
 – mixing *John Davis – mastering *Avshalom Caspi – brass arrangement *Mo Hausler – brass, choir recorder *Phil Rose – brass, choir recorder * Exmoor Singers of London – choir *James Jarvis – choir director *Evgeny Chubykin – horns *Jocelyn Lightfoot – horns *Kira Doherty – horns *Philip Eastop – horns *Richard Bayliss – horns * Timothy Brown – horns *Colin Sheen – trombone *Dan Jenkins – trombone *David Stewart – bass trombone *Ian Fasham – bass trombone *Guy Barker – trumpet *John Barclay – trumpet *Mark Law – trumpet *Pat White – trumpet *James Anderson – tuba *Stephen Wick – tuba ;Undabo Studios *Doug Kennedy – director, key creative, animation, composition *Simon Brown – key creative, animation, modeling *Chris Whittle – modeling *Ed Olive – additional modeling *Nick Hales – additional modeling, character animation *Chris Millsy – character animation *Darren Cullis – additional character rigging *Hearl Hutchinson – additional character animation ;Atticus Finch *Chris Richmond – creative director *Jim Waters – producer ;Splinter Films *
Blue Leach Blue Leach is a video director. He is the winner of the 2009 TPI Video Director of the Year Award. He has recently directed shows for the Taking Back the Cities Tour for Snow Patrol. Other recent projects include R.E.M., directing the live album ...
 – director *Emer Patten – producer


In popular culture

The full song was used in "Don't Cry for Me, Albuquerque", an episode of ''
In Plain Sight ''In Plain Sight'' is an American drama television series that premiered on the USA Network on June 1, 2008. The series revolves around Mary Shannon ( Mary McCormack), a Deputy United States Marshal attached to the Albuquerque, New Mexico, offic ...
'', in 2009, while the first part of the song, "What If This Storm Ends?", appeared in a 2011 trailer for the war movie ''
Act of Valor ''Act of Valor'' is a 2012 American action film produced and directed by Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh, and written by Kurt Johnstad. Starring Alex Veadov, Roselyn Sánchez, Nestor Serrano and Emilio Rivera, as well as active duty U.S. Navy SEAL ...
'', starring real-life
Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting s ...
s, and in the trailers to the 2013 animated film '' Epic''. It was also used in season 8 of ''
One Tree Hill One Tree Hill may refer to: * "One Tree Hill" (song), a 1987 song by U2 referencing One Tree Hill, New Zealand volcanic peak * ''One Tree Hill'' (TV series), a 2003–2012 American drama series named for the U2 song ** ''One Tree Hill'' (soundtr ...
''.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lightning Strike 2008 songs Snow Patrol songs Song recordings produced by Jacknife Lee Songs written by Gary Lightbody Songs written by Paul Wilson (musician) Songs written by Nathan Connolly Songs written by Jonny Quinn Songs written by Tom Simpson (musician)