Travis in general

Last year was undoubtedly the year of 'Travis'. 99 saw their meteoric rise from unknown indie band to one of the biggest British bands around. Should you feel the need to dispute this, I present the evidence of second album 'The Man Who' spending over a year in the top twenty, and multiple weeks at number one, numerous top-ten singles, two Brit awards - amongst others - and lead-heavy MTV rotation. I bought 'The Man Who', and it's a great album. Eleven beautiful, trembling pop songs - if you count the stunning hidden track ' Blue Flashing Lights', the undisputable highlight. ' The Man Who', unlike 'Parachutes', ...  Read the complete review

Notice that this opinion isn’t put under the “The Man Who” section, and surprisingly, unlike many other things I do, that is for a reason. Because, really this article isn’t about “The Man Who” at all. Looking back, Travis has really opened gates for new bands. The explosion of popular, new indie bands on the scene has been immense (Badly Drawn Boy, Coldplay, Muse, JJ72 e.t.c), and without wanting to make a massive generalisation, it is mainly down to Travis. The commercial success of “Why Does It Always Rain On Me?” really was a springboard for later acts. The whole enchantment and myth that surrounds it is ...  Read the complete review

Travis “The Invisible Band” Preview, by Jason Prasad Travis’ third outing “The Invisible Band”, is one of the most eagerly awaited albums of this year and it’s due for release in the UK on the 11th June. The Glaswegians previous two albums have now sold well over 3.5 million copies, with “The Man Who” album totalling an incredible 2.4 million alone, not to mention two Brit Awards for Best Album and Best British Group. Needless to say, Travis have not been idle since the long, drawn-out success of “Why Does it Always Rain On Me“, less than two years ago. Tour after, tour have seen our ...  Read the complete review

This has to be one of the best bands to hit the charts for a long time. They are just so talented. I was fortunate to see them live, and you expect them not to sound as good as they do on thier album, but I would say they were even better live. They are a very easy listening band, with easy to listen to lyrics. They have meaning behind them too. I think their best song is "Why Does it always rain on me" Its a very catchy tune, and once you have heard it, its makes you feel good, even though it is a sad song? Weird, but true. They also do very interesting videos, which make you watch til the end out of curiosity. "Turn" is a prime example. ...  Read the complete review

There can be no sidestepping, The Man Who is a great album and the band Travis are skillful musicians, and Fran has possibly the best voice in British music at present. But they are another band who allow their influences to shine through in their music. It is all well and good to slate Oasis for their obvious Beatles credits but all bands across all genres are now faced with a dilemma of running out of new ideas and areas of music. Some have used traditional songwriting techniques and adapted their styles to include technology. While others use technology and adopt typical song writing techniques but we still hear the same old set of riffs churned out. ...  Read the complete review