The man who... (The Man Who - Travis)

Member Name: davepridd

Product:	The Man Who - Travis
Date:	07/07/00 (2 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great songs

Disadvantages: Best yet to come?

This album was one of the most unusual successes of 1999 with the charts being dominated by bland, produced pop groups. Travis produced a very nostalgic album with most of the music being based around acoustic guitar.

However, it is not hard to see why the group have become so successful as the songs have become instant classics due to the sensitive arrangements, very catchy tunes and Fran Healy's lyrics which can easily be related to. Indeed, he seems to ressemble Paul McCartney in many ways, thanks to his command of melody, and his high pitched, but very warm and expressive voice.

I would recommend this album to anyone because the songs are so good that they seem to be almost universally appealing, but although the group have a gentleness of touch, often employing piano or strings, the production is neither saccarine or twee.

Although it has been criticized for the lack of dynamic variation, I think that this is central to the appeal, as every track is enjoyable and never hard to listen to. My only criticism is that the new single 'Coming Around' is even better than most of the tracks here, and so it might be worth hanging on for the new album.

Summary: