Travis-lite (The Boy With No Name - Travis)

Member Name: belailie

Product:	The Boy With No Name - Travis
Date:	26/01/09 (17 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: two stand out tracks

Disadvantages: only two good tracks

Oh Travis, where have you gone? I have loved them since the very first listen of "All I Wanna Do Is Rock", have seen them live 3 times in their first few years and have most of their early singles, and hoped for a return to form after the disappointing previous album. Boy, I was disappointed. Fran Healy has one of the most beautiful voices in indie music, and i can't fault it on this album, but the music, tunes and words are just falling short. Selfish Jean is a great tune, fun lyrics and brilliant turns of phrases but is just too reminiscent of Queen's "Killer Queen" to me. The only other track i liked on the album was "My Eyes" which shows off Healy's voice to great effect and is the only track that goes any way to touching my heart like the Travis of old. Beyond these two tracks, it's a case of Travis lacklustre. For those who think "why does it always rain on me" is their best song, then this is probably going to be rated as an alright, same old same old album. some of the songs will no doubt be played on some ITV programme about a group of thirtysomething friends but in terms of "proper" music, this just doesn't cut it. I'm still hoping that one day, Travis will release another album that brings back some of the vibe, energy and enthusiasm as "Good Feeling" along with some of the beauty of "The Man Who" but as the quality and vibrancy of the albums decreases as the years go by, i'm feeling less and less optimistic. When they are good, Travis are really, really good. But when they are bad, well, it's just mediocre.

Summary: still waiting a travis return to form.