Travis....The men who can... Review on Man Who - Travis

When I first heard ''The Man Who'', a few months back, it sounded vaguely familiar to a Scottish Band called ''Emrace'' (minus the heavy accent); who have now slipped into oblivion. On further rumination I found that Travis had also derived inspiration from Oasis, Radiohead and James. For a band with a dismal debut album,Good Feeling, which slipped without a trace, their second album released in 1999 had a far more respectable showing, catapulting the band to fame & fortune along with making these guys the frontrunners of Britpop.

Though each track on this album deserves merit, special mention must be made for the widely successful ''Driftwood'' track. Bands are generally `remembered' for some outstanding tracks, and Travis is no exaception. The simplistic guitaring combined with Fran Healy's catchy ''Rivers turn to ocean/Oceans tide you home/Home is where the heart is/But your heart had to roam'', and with some double bass thrown in for good measure, makes up for good listening. This is soon followed up with ''Turn'', which has Healy's voice rising above the din with resounding effect. Another gem in this album is ''Luv''; the sullen lamenting harmonica in between the phrases ''It's just a chance we took/Having never ever planned to fall in love, Luv'' makes you reach out for the phone to re-assure your loved one that you're not going anywhere. ''She's so strange'' talks about a young lady, whose nonchalant lifestyle combined with an indifference for society at large evokes admiration. The guitaring is exceptional in ''Waiting to reach you'' and compensates significantly for the somewhat abstract https://lyrics. Talking about guitars, there's some stupendous steel guitar riffs in ''The Fear'' blended immaculately with the accoustic and bass. Healy outdoes himself in ''Last Laugh of the Laughter'' with his croony, melodic voice, complemented by a nice piano and some good backing vocals. It makes you reflect as it affirms the inevitable fact that all good hings in life has to come to an end. I must also warn you, the soothing tunes can also lull you to sleep if you're already groggy at the end of the day.

''Why does it always rain on me'' talks about fate and bygone days of glory.

The last track....''Slideshow'' is fabulous with it's lyrics ''Theres a slideshow, so slow, flashing through my mind'' along with good accoustics....but theres a twist. The song ends with nearly 2 mins of blank space...then a rugged song follows with an aggresive guitar riff...which rivals that of radiohead. I'm still contemplating over the significance of this. As soon as I figure it out, you'll be the first to know.