Travis - The Boy with No Name
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Free Music Notes for The Boy with No Name
Free Music Review: back to the basics!
Hit: 4 Stars
"The Boy With No Name" sees Travis return to familiar territory. After taking a somewhat dark and foreboding turn with their last studio release "12 Memories," we are now back to the more uplifting tunes and harmonies of "The Man Who" and "The Invisible Band." Fran Healy has an incredible voice and knack at hitting those impressive falsettos that really get you, and on standouts such as Battleships, we are treated to Fran at his best. I was blown away by the vocals on this great song. My Eyes, I guess, was written for his newborn child. Catchy song, and will stick w/ you just like Battleships. Closer is another winner, as are Eyes Wide Open and Out in Space. Travis is back in their well defined, and comfortable niche with this new cd. And I for one hope they stick to it. Some bands get away with experimentation and broadening their sound, but most bands only fall off the charts by doing so. Travis has done well by releasing a cd that sticks to what they do best!Free Music Review: Refreshing / Deep / Real!
Hit: 5 Stars
I haven't heard a group this refreshing since forever! I listen to them over and over, I'm completly hooked on them! I love them! I've turned them on to a lot of my friends. They're going to be big, real big!!! You'll see!!!
Love you guys Travis!
Beth & the AZ Wiseguys!
Free Music Review: Bold & Beautiful.
Hit: 4 Stars
It's been a while. Four and a half long years, now, since their last studio album, and almost a decade since they bounced onto the scene with 'Good Feeling'. That debut had them down as the next big Brit-pop band and erstwhile Oasis chums / prodigies, even if the rest of the world hardly noticed their obvious talent. It was only the breakthrough "Why Does It Always Rain On Me" a couple of years later that launched them into the mainstream. Two albums and a collection later they have freed themselves of any expectant hype and can return to making sweet music. They always have done of course, and you really shouldn't be put off that this is a CD that both you and your mum can enjoy. For goodness sake, your Gran may do too.
Be warned that it's an album likely to get under your skin - in a good way that is. Something that seems so unlikely when you play it through for the first time, as it is so perfectly unassuming. Starting off with barely a whimper that is the intro to "3 Times And You Lose" it is the antithesis of going in with all guns blazing. But the track nurdles around with a listless pleasure, and harmonies that waft in the breeze. Uncannily simple, and marvellously crafted without really trying.
The "Lust For Life" beat behind "Selfish Jean" gives it a more obvious pop feel, and somewhat flyaway at that. But it's a worthwhile tempo change that would otherwise leave the album too samey. "Closer" really shouldn't be a such a strong song as it has an almost dreary quality to it, yet still a strong melody and easy hook doesn't let you down. A more complex rhythm makes "Big Chair" beautifully different, and even then you'll be humming along to a song that you feel you've known all your life - on the first listen.
Real credit to taking a leaner approach to production also. "Battleships" is a gem of a song of relationships gone wrong, and it could have turned into a grandiose Keane-esque, multi-layered extravaganza in the wrong hands. Instead it is kept clean and simple, where the words are allowed to shine and not sink. "Eyes Wide Open" has more of a plodding, ballsy quality, squeezed into a tight and very handy 3 minute track.
Travis do have a trademark sound that is "Writing To Reach You" or "Flowers In The Window", which is that easy, relaxed folkiness, often with the odd banjo plucked in for good measure. That soundprint is rarely far from this album, with "My Eyes" the latest amalgam of that style.
"Under the Moonlight" is deceptively good song, and yet another why you wonder why it's not been done before. "Out In Space" has a chillier simplicity, whilst the final "New Amsterdam" is a perfect homage to what is now New York. Talking of a "park that is Central" may be a tad contrived, but the unsophisticated view of what is outwardly so complex, sums up their ethos for the whole album.
Subtlety is often confused with growing old in music, and it's definitely the former here. They bounded around in their "Tied to the 90's" days youth but now have established a real understanding of what they are doing, giving them far more confidence to understate their case.
A certain Scottish music guru famously called Coldplay "bed-wetters", and the same criticism could be wielded at Travis of this CD (if you don't actually listen to it that is), though the Glasgow originated Fran Healey & Co would be more likely to punch such detractors out cold. Besides, it's not true. To deliver simplicity this beautiful is both bold and beautiful.
Free Music Review: The only thing invisible is...
Hit: 4 Stars
British band Travis referred to themselves as "the invisible band" on their breakthrough release of the same name. Maybe there's some truth to that, for even when they were listed as up-and-comers on the then emerging network MTV2, their albums never really sold very well. It's too bad because their latest release The Boy with No Name is pretty darn good.
Listeners should be pleased with smooth tracks like "Three Times and You Lose" and "New Amsterdam", as well as more romantic fare like "Closer" and "Under the Moonlight". And "Out in Space" has to be one of most well-engineered songs I have ever heard, especially because even though that catchy drumbeat only exists at the beginning of the song, it feels like you're actually seeing them in concert. I also wonder what version of the album I have because the edition I own has a thirteenth track, "Sailing Away", which is also good (anyone for Napster?).
The only problem with Travis is that a lot of their songs are structured the same. Not that they use the same subject matter or even the same music or vocal stylings, but many of the songs have the second chorus just repeated until the end of the song, with an occasional ten to fifteen-second break. I know that a lot of artists structure songs that way, but a bridge every now and then wouldn't hurt. I also could have done without Fran saying "I heart everything about you" at the beginning of "Big Chair", but that can be easily ignored. The Boy with No Name is definitely worth picking up.
Anthony Rupert
Free Music Review: Hooks Served Sweet & Moody
Hit: 4 Stars
Jangling guitars transport one through another bittersweet song suite. Fran's singing grows ever more substantial. Great band delivers yet again.