« Back to Top Level | Travis

Travis - The Man Who (1998)

Track listing:
  1. Writing To Reach You 3:42
  2. The Fear 4:13
  3. As You Are 4:12
  4. Driftwood 3:32
  5. The Last Laugh Of The Laughter 4:17
  6. Turn 4:21
  7. Why Does It Always Rain On Me 4:22
  8. Luv 4:48
  9. She's So Strange 3:10
  10. Slide Show 3:39

Notes

After their successful debut album of murky pop, Travis seemingly felt a need to tinker with the formula. The product of this change is The Man Who, a quiet album filled to the brim with atmospheric and introspective ballads. Acoustic guitars and tranquil melodies rule here, as this release is an entirely different affair than the band's revved-up debut. Fortunately for Travis, this disc became a massive U.K. hit, spawning no less than five hugely successful singles. The album highlight is "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?," a sweeping singalong that took England by storm and became one of the biggest hits of 1999. However, despite the public's warm embrace of this album, fans of the "old" Travis may be disappointed. Gone are the arena-ready stompers and the dirty, grimy singalong pop that comprised Good Feeling. Instead, what is left is merely adequate; The Man Who offers pleasant background music, but no truly gripping moments. It's lite-rock for late 1990s Britain that's, unfortunately, easily forgettable. [The U.S. release of this album, which came almost a year after its initial release, contains three bonus tracks.]