All I Wanna Do Is Rock (Good Feeling - Travis)

Member Name: AllyPally1991

Product:	Good Feeling - Travis
Date:	13/08/08 (24 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good sound

Disadvantages: lacks lyrical depth

Ok, I'm writing about this album 11 years too late, but better late than never!

Travis are a 4 piece indie rock band from Scotland, who have gained fame for their catchy lyrics and timeless tunes. "Good Feeling" was the debut album by the band, an album which I feel they have not yet topped. It is much heavier and rockier than the subsequent releases, and surrounds such universal topics that its impossible not to love them.

I got into Travis quite late, around 2003, mainly because I was a very pretentious teen who felt she was too cool for a band like travis before 2003! My mum's had this album, however, since the day of its release, so I figured I'd give it a listen, since I was taking her to see their 'best of' tour for her birthday.

The raw, unedited sound of this album is actually amazing. The songs are completely varied in strength and speed, although the cover of the album isn't the best (If that is Fran Healy's come hither look, I am surprised he managed to get married!)

Songs like "U16 Girls" and "Happy" really stand out on this album. "U16 girls is about a man who keeps attracting underage girls and then getting yelled at by their mothers. Normally this would be such a controvertial and intimidating topic that it wouldn't work, but the power of the instruments help drown the controversy in the good tune and vocals. "Happy" is a lot less controversial, and is just a good fun track which could put a smile on the most moody person in the room.

Songs like "Good Day To Die" show a much deeper and emotive form of Travis, and for me the lyric;
"And your head is a brick wall
And your heart is a football
And your eyes broken windows
When you cry it's a good day"
is really powerful and unusual, with possibly an over-reliance on metaphors.

"Tied To The 90s" is one of the songs on the album which really has not stood the test of time. Its a good song and the "hey" shout is really addictive, but one of the disadvantages of putting a date in the title of the track is that it's immediately outdated when that date finishes, in this case the end of the 90's.

The slow songs on the album are crushed either side of "Happy" which I think was a bad move in terms of listening, because "More Than Us" in particular is a good track, but after such a happy track you don't really want to listen to a depressing, slow track.

"The Line Is Fine" and opening track "All I Wanna Do Is Rock" are both really good tracks, which have power and are identifiable. I think that "All I Wanna Do Is Rock" is one of the most powerful songs on the album, and of course it was the song which helped catapult the band into stardom.

If you like bands like Keane, Starsailor, Oasis, The Verve, Coldplay, Stereophonics, Richard Ashcroft, then you should try and get your hands on a copy of this album - the travis on show here are so far from the bland albums that they have released recently.

Summary: Fantastic debut, but travis have never since lived up to their potential