The Man Who

Every song on this album is what i hear when i think of riding in the back of the car while my dad drives us home in late October of 2006 and its 4 pm, kinda dark and raining and the car doesn't have a aux so we have to listen to NRJ Radio and they are playing the 11th most played song of the week and i am listening and feeling miserable because i have to do my math-homework when i get home because i have a test tomorrow and all i can think of is that the song thats on the radio is so bland that it makes me anxious even though i don't even really have a music taste yet because i am 9 years old but what i do know is that this aint it

Listening to this was like eating saltine crackers dipped in skim milk.

Where do I start with this dumpster fire? This is the type of music you listen to when you have no strong opinions about music. It's music for people whose idea of a bad day is that Starbucks got their mochacchino order wrong. Jangly, sad bastard shlock that desperately wants to be Radiohead. I hate that this band exists and if you enjoy this type of music, your taste in music sucks.

The man who bored the world

This is like if Coldplay or early Radiohead didn’t have a knack for good songwriting.

The answer to the question, "What if Keane had a Bends-era Radiohead phase and did very little to hide it?"

The musical equivalent of the colour beige.

Another entry in the beloved music catalog “601 Albums You Must Listen To Before You Die And Also 400 Bad Britpop Albums From The 90s”

No one’s saying that this album is better than Born in the USA, right? Just that I like it a lot more. I had to rate today based on how much I loved relistening to this album that I had on almost constant rotation for a few months in 1999. I know every word and can still sing along. I still love some of the moments that happen throughout; a moment in Luv when Fran Healy’s voice seems to crack a little with emotion. Or maybe not. Maybe I’m just being 16 again and hopelessly romantic. Either way, I enjoyed this too, too much.

just kinda soft rock stuff, kinda catchy background music and nowhere near as gay as coldplay. 3/5

No, please remove this album from the list.

“What’s a wonderwall anyway” is a pretty funny line

Wild how clearly influenced by Ok Computer this record is. I feel like Travis owes Radiohead a billion dollars just based on the song "As You Are" alone. This isn't bad but it's like that meme where mom tells you we have Radiohead at home. This is the Radiohead at home. Update: Holy shit, even "The Last Laugh of the Laughter" (dumbass title) is literally just ripping off "Paranoid Android." This is egregious!

A timeless sombre soft indie collection made for miserable Scots by miserable Scots. Love it. Almost every track is a stand out including miserable secret track.

Sounds like every young adult series’ music.

No longer content to mimic Oasis, Britpop bands of the late 90’s turned their eye to aping Bends and OK Computer-era Radiohead. I’m applying The Rule (TM) here: If you haven’t heard anyone talking about an album in 20 years, you don’t need to hear it before you die.

The man who what, Travis? The man who what? It's been 22 years and we still don't fucking know, damn it.

Perfect in every way. Used to listen to this constantly in the first few months of our marriage.

Tasteful, gentle, soporific. I was expecting proto-indie-filler, with completely forgettable tunes, and it was marginally better than that. But I never need to hear this album again in my life. The production is a little bit edgier and interesting than I expected (thanks, Nigel Goodrich), but at best, at its most hard-rockin', this comes across as OK Computer Lite. Actually, I'm just listening to the coda of As You Are, and this is the worst case of Thom Yorke wannabe-ism I have ever heard. I don't hate this, as it is custom made to be un-hatable, but it has no grit at all.

Amazing album all the way through. Tons of great tracks with big sound. "Turn" especially. Sounds of the 90s which were refined from their first album. Secret song is also a surprising but great addition to the album

Discount Radiohead. Not bad, but why is it here?

Attractive voice with quiet acoustic guitar motifs. A bit boring, but still enjoyable to listen to.

The production on this album is incredible. The songwriting... less so. Which is kind of a shame, really. Godrich and Hedges are genius-level producers and I hate to see their talents wasted on such a bland and frankly boring album.

This is nothing.

A weak attempt at a Beatles facsimile, which I found was not uncommon in the 90's. Oasis did similar productions, and I would argue they did it with more passion and balls. Nothing flat offensive about the album, it was just relentlessly forgettable.

Hahahahahahahaha I actually liked this. I really love the song "Writing To Reach You" and thought the rest of it was genuinely good. I listened to this twice. Did you know that my first concert was Coldplay? I actually cried when I went, I cried so hard because I was so overwhelmed that I was in the same building as Coldplay. I was 11 and that was probably the last time in my life I was genuinely very happy. I have a soft spot for all this whiny ballady turn of the millennium Radiohead-knockoff garbage because that was my very first steps into being a rocker! My equivalent of someone else's Slipknot or System Of A Down or something. I was a truly boring and innocent kid and if I had any edge at all it was only because poor social skills and growing up too fast forced me to fit in better with freaks. Anyway. Travis is one of those bands that started out being praised but would get lumped in with stuff like Coldplay as bad supermarket mom music. This album is somewhere in the middle of early Radiohead and late Oasis. Some of it is chef's kiss melancholic supermarket music and some of it is truly absolute garbage that I kind of forgot how bad it was ever since rap and EDM claimed rock's throne of being the Western world's elevator music. It's very late '90s. That's fine for me. I just truthfully like Gen X mom music slop. Made me feel some kind of way. It's nostalgic for me and endearing. I definitely prefer this to all the garbage that UK music critics pushed after like The Libertines as a reaction against stuff like this.

I'm surprised I'm not familiar with this band or album, because the sound/style is pretty similar to some of my favorites. Good find.

being a doofus with extremely limited knowledge, the main thing i was thinking of was rush of blood to the head-era coldplay which i only found out afterwards this predates by like three years. so ig rly the point of origin here is more bends era radiohead? neither of these are especially exciting comparisons for me tbh but this is prob my fave between all three,,,a real warmth is achieved here somewhere between the vocal delivery and the personal-feelin lyrics and the comfy winter vibe, and if its nothing mindblowing i find it very inviting regardless. comfortably uninsistent while still making room for some big choruses and the like, its rly nice! whole project has been full of little one-off experiences that it feels nice to unexpectedly have in my memory bank...cant believe im coming up on 100 days without having missed a single one so far, woooo

I liked all of it. Quite solemn, but the production is very bright and clear. Nice!

À mon humble avis, la suite manquante du groupe de mots désignant cet album n'est certainement pas "speaks french". J'en veux pour preuve le morceau The Last Laugh of the Laughter au cours duquel le chanteur croit duper son audience avec un baragouinage qui ne fera plaisir qu'aux non-francophones : "It's the last laugh of the laughter Sur la dernier page do chapitre On the last day of the year Ma vie Tout ma vie When the spotlight fade away" dit-il selon la retranscription qu'en fait Google. Bien évidemment, le chanteur ne fait, dans la chanson, pas une seule de ces fautes à l'oral et prononce d'ailleurs admirablement bien les passages en français. Mais peu importe. En resumé : un projet ni fait ni à faire.

Radiohead fra Temu?

As dull as i remember

Put simply, this is the kind of music I remember college dorm dudes playing from their lower bunks on acoustic guitars because of the misunderstanding that college girls liked sensitive guys. 'The Man Who' is sensitive guy music, lots of feelings expressed, sad feelings that we hope might make you girls want to hold us guys with our heads resting snugly between your breasts. ‘Everyday I wake up alone,’ singer Fran Healy laments (his go-to emotion) on ‘As You Are,’ ‘because I’m not like the other boys.’ Another song asks the musical question, ‘Why Does It Always Rain on Me?’ giving rise to yet another question: ‘Why don’t you just get out of it, moron?’ Besides, that’s simply your own delusion anyway, no doubt grounded in some repressed fear you’ve not yet successfully dealt with. 'The Man Who' dredges it all up, in all its weary pessimism, both lyrically and it's accompanying music. There was only one instrumental solo on the entire album, when at 2:40 on ‘As You Are’ Travis finally delivered a fairly decent, brief guitar solo that did rock, temporarily. So, it is down there in these boys, they just have to dig for it. Mostly, though, the melodies, overall tunes, instrumental accompaniments, tempo, etc are soft, slow, and sad. The popular 1970’s soft rock band, Bread, sung and played harder than these guys. The one exception was ‘Driftwood,’ a rare uptempo tune, and with some decent, Dylan-esque lyrics to boot: ‘You’re driftwood, hollow and of no use. Waterfalls will find you, bind you, grind you… So, I’m sorry that you turned into driftwood, but you’ve been drifting for a long, long time.’ Following that respite from relentless self pity, though, we returned right back to… well, the next song title says it all: ‘The Last Laugh of the Laughter.’ I must have missed the last laugh, or I guess it happened before the composition of the song. At any rate, no laughter transpired. Not even a grin, until the final and morbidly slow closer, ‘Slide Show,’ and the most restrained castanets performance I believe I’ve ever heard. It found myself whispering ‘Ole’ with the vigor of said college dude after a Valium and a couple of PBRs. This whole alt folk/rock genre often strikes me as contrived ‘cool.’ That’s not accusatory, I’m just tossing it out there for consideration. What I would like to expose for fact, though, is the unfortunate misunderstanding of the sensitive guy, playing these Travis tunes, ever attracting any girl reaction. Consider with whom, generally, are college girls actually having sex? The bad boy, that’s who! They might eventually marry the sensitive guy, but they’re fucking the bad boy. So, to whom this may concern, if you’re genuinely looking to get laid, then stop learning these self-pitying Travis songs, and cover some Van Halen ones instead.

JHS Pedals brought me to this album about 5 or 6 years ago. Two things, I didn't realize how much Coldplay lifted from this band, and I don't understand why I'm fine with the vocals on this album but when I listen to Thom Yorkes whine singing it drives me up the wall. But anyway, I like this record. Solid mid tempo rock with a bit of melancholy is fine with me. This album deserves its place on the list.

it comes as absolutely no surprise to me that the cadre of whiny dadrockers at the top of the reviews didn't like this one. sorry that music can occasionally just be simple and beautiful???? it's wild how so many stagnant, stuck-up rock fans consider this kind of music's existence a personal affront and get so upset that they start spluttering and stammering and spitting out the same weirdly homophobic arguments that have been levelled at any genre remotely soft or emotional, from emo to alt rock to electronica. i don't know how to tell you this, but sometimes men have nice voices and sing pretty songs. IT'S GOING TO BE OKAY!!!! that being said - is this worthy of 1001 albums? debatable. but did i personally like it a whole lot? yes ❤️ yes i did!

Strong emotional ties with this one

Loved this album. Great balance of folk and rock

Beautiful album

Kind of melancholic.

Best song is the hidden track "blue flashing light", perhaps because it has not been overplayed; the drumming is unusual at points, but not in a bad way; Fran can really sing, this is especially obvious on "as you are"; not sure why there is a song half in French?!?

I like the beginning of this one. It has an alternative sound, which is my jam. I really liked this album and would look up more of this band. I’m surprised I didn’t hear more of it when it was new.

I liked this one. Best one in a while.

Starts off really great and fizzles out a bit at the end. Favorite tracks are "Writing to Reach You", "As You Are", and "Driftwood". 4 stars.

All the ppl shitting on this, I disagree. It’s fine, nothing crazy or sonically revolutionary but ya know what it’s perfect for? Working on a rainy day. Didn’t call my attention or distract me, nice background music. And sometimes you need background music.

radiohead in a different dimension. has highlights but mostly forgettable

As a Britpop scholar I found this so derivative of everything else. I know this one has its fans but it’s just lifting wholesale riffs from Oasis and Blur songs that were like 3-5 years old. Why Does it Always Rain on Me is great though

Thom Yorke: "He copied my whole fucking flow! ... word for word! bar for bar!"

As a Scotsman, I perhaps have an innate sort of semi biased affinity for Travis. They are certainly not the type of band I would usually consider to my tastes. But there is just something so real, authentic and tender about their music. Its hard to put my finger on it. But I think the songs are legitimately catchy and well written. They are certainly impeccably produced. Ive heard Why Does It Always Rain On Me about 1000 times and it still hits every listen. A real singalong highlight. Same with Driftwood and Turn. Writing To Reach You feels melancholic and sort of profound in a cold early morning stroll sort of way. There's not a lot going on, the chords are simple enough, but the melodies are blissful and the tracks float slowly from one ear to the other and soothe the soul. Yes, there are a few slightly weaker tracks but i wouldnt go as far as to call them filler, each song does offer something. Favourite tracks- all of the aforementioned named ones. 9/10

Truly great album, something to chill too.

Hard to articulate how I feel about an album I've listened to probably over 100 times. When you listen to an album so much, there's a drift in your favourite tracks. Ones you didn't notice so much at first come to the forefront, and what initially peaked your interest in the album can fade back. I think that's a sign of a really great album, one for which you feel all the tracks individually are excellent, and there's some coherence throughout the album. The Man Who fits this criteria for me. This is an album I've enjoyed for over 20 years, and one I expect to put on intermittently for the rest of my life. Not so much a critical review as a love letter. Do not sleep on the hidden track.

My first favourite band

Спокойно, нормально

Keimzelle eines Gefühls des richtigen Ankommens in Köln, so jung, noch so viel übrig, das danach trachtete, versaut zu werden. This album was the soundtrack on the journey of ‚the man who‘ I was about to become. Forever 5.0

Never heard of Travis, though this album is quite good. They never translated in the States, which surprises me as this record has a lot of the sound I loved in the 90s. At the beginning, this reminded me a bit of Toad the Wet Sprocket, even if the lead signer's voice isn't as good as Glen Phillips'. As the album progressed, I got much more of a Radiohead feel, especially on The Last Laugh of The Laughter, which could have been straight out of their catalog. Other tracks on this record that I really, really liked were Writing To Reach You and The Fear, both of which were excellent listens. Luv was the other one that stood out to me, but it wasn't as great as the other three already mentioned. I think what ultimately holds this band back is the lead, to be honest. Yeah, the band could be a bit more lively, but they are very solid. The lead just isn't dynamic enough. Perhaps ironically, if he tried to lean more into his weird side, he could sound like Thom Yorke, which has proven well for their English neighbors. Still, a very good record. 4 stars.

I love Travis. I've already mentioned my tenuous links to the Glasgow scene of the late 90s and early 00s via Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand and chilling with Belle & Sebastian, but my link to Travis is anything but tenuous. Guitarist Andy Dunlop lived on my street growing up, went to the same school, and even delivered eggs to my house as a side hustle when we were kids! I grew up seeing their old "Glass Onion" stickers plastered on every flat surface around our small-ish town, and we're still Facebook friends today. So yeah, while some music snobs might look at them as an average band doing average things, seeing a mate's band blow up in such an epic way, capped off by that legendary Glastonbury set people still talk about over 25 years later, is just something else entirely. Looking at The Man Who today, I completely understand the wildly mixed, visceral reactions it still provokes. I hear the endless comparisons to The Bends-era Radiohead due to Nigel Goodrich producing it, and fully acknowledge the accusations of it being "beige," "mid-tempo," or safe background music. But for me, and for the countless others who still hold this record dear, that critique misses the magic. What it might lack in aggressive grit, it more than makes up for with undeniable craft, gorgeous production, and deeply melancholic, beautiful melodies. Tracks like "Driftwood", "Turn", and "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?" are flawless comfort food with a profound, tender warmth. I mean, I complain about album being over long and I chose to listen to the entire 2+ hour Anniversary edition of this and loved it entirely.

# An In-Depth Review of Travis' *The Man Who* Released in 1999, Travis's sophomore album *The Man Who* stands as a pivotal record that bridged the gap between the swagger of Britpop and the introspective, arena-filling melancholy that would define 2000s rock. Produced largely by Nigel Godrich (fresh off *OK Computer*) and propelled by Fran Healy's expressive vocals, the album is a study in contrasts: polished yet emotionally raw, commercially massive yet critically divisive. ## Lyrics and Themes: The Anatomy of Melancholy The songwriting on *The Man Who* is relentlessly focused on vulnerability, romantic disillusionment, and quiet desperation. Healy's lyrics explore the emotional fallout of heartbreak and existential doubt with an almost unflinching sincerity. The album's title is a nod to Oliver Sacks' psychology book *The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat*, hinting at its interest in how we perceive and misinterpret our emotional worlds. The song "Luv" explores the painful geography of lost love, with lyrics lamenting that "distance must come between love". "Turn" offers a brief but notable moment of optimism, with Healy singing "I want to live in a world where I belong" in a crescendo from whisper to cry. However, even this "pep talk about survival" arrives through a lens of struggle rather than triumph. **Thematic Strengths:** - Uncommonly honest emotional vulnerability, particularly for the era of Britpop bravado - A consistent, unified mood across the album's ten tracks - Taps into universally relatable experiences (the "why me?" sentiment of "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?" is a prime example) **Thematic Critiques:** - Can feel monotonous, with breakup and romance themes becoming repetitive - Occasional banal rhymes and platitudes (e.g., "I want to sing/To sing my song" from "Turn") have drawn criticism - The emotional register rarely deviates, which can feel one-note to some listeners ## Music and Production: Godrich's Spacious Soundscape Nigel Godrich's production is the album's sonic signature: cool, spacious, and suffused with shivering reverb and pillowy layers of sound. The arrangements combine fluttering acoustic guitars, velvety electric leads, and generous string swells that never overpower the core songwriting. The music rarely rises to a scream, instead relying on restraint and textural nuance. Listen closely and you'll discover "burnt psychedelic twang popping up in between strident acoustic guitar," faint digital noise squiggles on "The Fear," and sitar-like strums on "The Last Laugh of The Laughter". The album's dynamic range makes it ideal for headphones, revealing new details with each listen. **Musical Strengths:** - Godrich's trademark pristine-yet-atmospheric production gives the album a timeless, weighty quality - The band demonstrates skillful dynamics, equally convincing in quiet tenderness and expansive, echo-filled climaxes - Fran Healy possesses an unusually expressive voice, able to fill a stadium or whisper intimately with equal conviction - Hidden tracks like "Blue Flashing Lights" provide welcome variation for those who need a rockier edge **Musical Critiques:** - Critics have derided the album as "'90s 'alternative' music scrubbed, buffed and, frankly, neutered, for mainstream consumption" - The sonic palette resembles *OK Computer* enough that some listeners find themselves wishing they were listening to Radiohead instead - "Turn" has been singled out for straying into overwrought, arena-ready territory that clashes with the album's quieter moments ## Influence: Paving the Way for the 2000s Perhaps *The Man Who*'s most significant legacy is its influence on the next wave of British bands. Chris Martin has stated that without Travis, there would be no Coldplay. The Killers have also acknowledged the band's early influence, and Amy Macdonald literally learned to play guitar listening to this album. The record is widely credited with defining the sound of the post-Britpop era and paving the way for what became known as the "New Acoustic Movement". The band's legendary Glastonbury 1999 performance, during which rain began to fall exactly as Healy sang the first line of "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?", became a career-defining moment that helped propel the album to number one. ## Reception: A Tale of Two Audiences *The Man Who* initially received a lukewarm critical response, with many reviews deriding its earnestness and lack of edge. As one retrospective BBC review put it, "Time hasn't been kind to the record's reception" for some. The album was "largely savaged upon release" in the UK, with critics viewing it as a commercially safe, diluted version of alternative music. However, public opinion was clearly different. The album became the third best-selling album of 1999 in the UK, spent nine weeks at number one, and won the Brit Award for Best Album. American outlets such as *Entertainment Weekly* and *Pitchfork* were notably more enthusiastic upon its US release in 2000. ## Pros and Cons Summary **Pros:** - Exceptionally cohesive and well-crafted mood piece - Nigel Godrich's production is rich, nuanced, and timeless - Fran Healy's vocals are expressive and memorable, capable of genuine emotional resonance - A genuinely influential record that reshaped the British musical landscape - Contains undeniable singles like "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?" and "Driftwood" **Cons:** - Emotional and thematic range can feel monotonous over a full listen - Lyrics occasionally veer into cliché or banality - Can feel derivative of Radiohead (the Godrich connection is unmistakable) and The Beatles - May lack the edge or complexity required for truly repeatable deep listening - The slick production can be seen as "neutering" alternative rock for mainstream consumption --- *The Man Who* is not a challenging or groundbreaking album in the way *OK Computer* is. It is a comfort record: sincere, beautifully executed, and deeply felt. For those who embrace its gentle melancholy, it remains a high-water mark of late-90s British pop. For those who prefer their rock music with more grit and less polish, it may always feel like a bit of a letdown. Its influence on bands like Coldplay, however, is impossible to overstate—and for that alone, *The Man Who* deserves its place in modern music history.

This is a good album. A bit forgotten these days? Love it and indeed bought it when it came out. One of those albums where the rest of the album lived up to the promise of the hit singles. They didn’t better this one - it’s their best work. 4

Very good album. Sure, it’s a bit Radiohead-ish …. But that’s not a bad thing

Mom can we have mid-late 90s Radiohead? We have mid-late 90s Radiohead at home. Mid-late 90s Radiohead at home:

Before Coldplay came along and knocked them off their perch, Travis were the best post-Britpop tunesmiths around and this here Man Who probably counts as their magnum opus. Going for it is a light, shimmery indie sound inspired by classic Radiohead and a batch of really excellent evergreen singles. Writing To Reach You, Driftwood, Why Does It Always Rain On Me? and Turn all bang in a kinda awesome but wussy way. 3rd track As You Are is also a grower, starting with streaks of I Would Like To Teach The World To Sing and then a bit of added epic Radiohead growl. If there is a downside to the album is that many of its deep cuts are simply too sleepy and relaxed and it judders to a halt actually with closer Slide Show. Bonus Track Blue Flashing Lights the band show all their claws though in a raucous spitting tale of domestic disturbance. 4 stars.

mi è piaciuto molto più di quanto sperassi, mi aspettavo il solito indie brit mugugnato e invece no! un ascolto molto piacevole

These guys were a nice surprise! I'd rank them up there with Oasis.

Melancholic music with beautiful melodies.

Strong performance and atmosphere.

I find it interesting to see the visceral reaction many reviewers had toward this album. It wasn't awful and it wasn't great. Nothing particularly memorable but also better than elevator music. I don't get the Radiohead comparison, but I agree with others who have said some songs could have been theme music for 90s teen dramas. This is about as solidly '3' as any album I've rated.

... this is a tricky one. Nothing super interesting, bit very ahead of its time. I hear a lot if "Radiohead" and then ... I don't. Perplexing... So I land MOTR

Huh, I already had this in my library - turned out to be a janky 128kbps copy. I think it was an artifact of the early oughts when I'd offer to sort out the tagging of friends' digital music collections in exchange for absorbing them into my own. Sourced a new copy at a decent bitrate, but I'm afraid it didn't make the music any less bland. I guess blandness is good in a sense, because the singles from this album were _wildly_ overplayed, but they're not triggering too much irritation in me hearing them now. 🤷 I see some people comparing this to OK Computer-era Radiohead.... ...wat. Fave track - uh, let's say "Slide Show" - I liked the little lyrical nods to Beck and Oasis...

There’s nothing wrong with this album. There’s also nothing particularly great about it. It was an easy listen as all of the songs were smooth and made for good background music. I think it’s the type of album that got kind of lost in the fold of its era. There are many other bands with similar sound like Snow Patrol, Coldplay, etc who had much more sustained success really for no fault of Travis’ own. Again, it’s genuinely a perfectly fine record that doesn’t do anything to set itself apart, but also didn’t make me want to skip any tracks. A perfect 2.5 candidate, but I will round up

Occasionally radioheadesque. Those parts stood out for me

Singer is on some Thom Yorke shit for sure. It's hard to hear anything else, not that there's a whole lot to listen to. Sounds like a diluted, safe take on Bends-era Radiohead. Very boring. Very white people-sounding.

“The band are credited by the media for paving the way for bands such as Coldplay to achieve worldwide success throughout the 2000s, particularly with the success of The Man Who.” Wikipedia damns. I remember no specifics of the grey wash that followed Radiohead, but I’m guessing there was a lot of critical bullying and it was all deserved. This accomplished wishy-washyness reminds me of the adroitness of Taylor Swift in making the sentimental, humdrum ennui of the privileged fun through concrete detail and cattiness. This is all “Dave is sad, O Dave is sad.”

Typical grey late '90s bilge. Vaguely nostalgic of our time together, Mark, but not enjoyably so. I did once have a mild soft spot for "Writing To Reach You" but it sounded pretty dull and uninspired today. Healy is an awful lyricist - "What's a Wonderwall anyway?" is both clumsy and unfunny, and substituting literally any other sentence in the English language for the rejoinder to "Why does it always rain on me?" would have been an improvement - and there is some real shit on here ("The Last Of The Laughter" features not only frivolous French lyrics, but unpleasant falsetto and a well-behaved sitar in the background) and the obligatory terrible "hidden track". There will be worse from this period/genre on this list, no doubt, so I will own up to liking both the first Embrace album and the occasional Idlewild song if we can please avoid Keane or Snow Patrol. Deal?

"The Man Who" is the second studio album by Scottish rock band Travis. This album was a change in musical direction away from the rockier tone of their debut album "Good Feeling." Wiki classified this genre as post-Britpop. They really should have called it Scottish emo. The album was recorded over six months in six different studios with producer Nigel Godrich. The band is Fran Healy (vocals, guitar, piano), Andy Dunlop (guitar), Dougie Payne (bass) and Neil Primose (drums). The album initially sold slowly and had mixed reviews but after the success of their single "Why Does It Always Rain in Me?" and their performance at the 1999 Glastonbury Festival, the album reached #1 in the UK and had positive retrospective reviews. The first single "Writing to Reach You" leads the album off. A wobbly lead guitar and melodic rhythm guitar. Healy has a high tenor voice and goes falsetto. He name checks Oasis' "Wonderall" and they give us an Oasis-like guitar solo. He's mixed up after a breakup. An electric guitar intro begins "Driftwood." A strumming acoustic rhythm guitar and melodic chorus. A pleasant song about someone who has all the potential but doesn't use it. "Turn" has echoing drums and a slashing guitar. Soaring vocals and they get the soft-loud-soft dynamic going in this melodic rockin' song. Their big hit "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" has a violin intro. Catchy vocals. A happy-sounding song and avery good pop-music structure as it builds. Healy's best lyrics in the album and is based on his vacation experience in Israel where he went to a place that supposedly never rains and, of course, it rained the entire week he was there. The released singles, mentioned above, are very melodic and all decent songs. Healy has a very good voice and when he goes into soaring mode sounds a lot like Thom Yorke. Yet, on this album as a whole, there's way too many soft and ballad-type songs. Also concerning the lyrics, about midway through the album, I wanted to grab Healy, shake him and say "wake up and get on with your fucking life." Bad luck, failed relationships, not getting over relationships, unsuccessful friends....woah is me. Post-Britpop..no...it's emo at it's tear-dropping worst. I can only recommend this album for its released singles which individually are good songs.

After listening to this I can confirm that Travis are pretty much the beige, mid-tempo, pop rock band I thought they were. However, what they lack in fun and excitement they make up for with craft - these songs contain really solid melodies and progressions, the format is just a little bit dull for 2022.

Took me two attempts to finish this. A snoozefest.

Fuck me this is dull. Didn't like it at the time and enjoyed ripping my bro for being a bed wetter. It's even worse all these years later. Christ. So miserable. Don't be Scottish like these whining fannies. Be more like Mogwai, Teenage Fanclub, Arab Strap. Even Belle and Sebastian as at least they have a bit of bite when they are complaining. This is the most sexless softboi music I've heard. Makes early Coldplay sound like the stones. Makes Keane sound like Motley Crue. Mad how this was so popular. Late 90s post britpop was a weird time. Standouts: Why Does it Always Rain on Me I suppose The hidden track had a bit of bite. Why the fuck was it a hidden track?! Low points: All of it. But especially Luv. God this is wank.

The Man Who's album is used by anaesthetists to put patients to sleep naturally. Utterly boring uninteresting shite. James Blunt for even blunter individuals. Going to start logging these because there's so fucking many in this ridiculous list: Britpop album #5/48.

"Why does it always rain on me?" "Because you live in bloody Scotland, mate!" That was my joke about Travis back in the nineties that no one really thought was funny. And it wasn't really that funny. But it should be, shouldn't it? Like, someone Scottish is singing about it always raining on them as a metaphor for... depression? bad luck? Self-sabotage? And they are opening it up to the notion that it's because they are guilt ridden, "is it because I lied when I was seventeen?" and inviting the listener to imagine the potential scenario in their heads, which is all very poetic... But! There is a much more cutting and practical answer which is that they are manifestly Scottish and it always rains in Scotland, which is where they are. My subsequent visits to Edinburgh have proven this joke to be rooted in fact. I still don't think the joke is that funny though, even though the mechanics of it make sense. Maybe it is too mean? Maybe it's the delivery? Maybe it's because I lied when I was seventeen? Anyway, this album is pish. I thought I might have grown fond of it through old age, nostalgia and sentimentality. But, no, it's still incredibly boring, bland, middle of the road, tedious fucking nonsense - The Lighthouse family for people that are feeling a bit maudlin. What "classic" album is next? The Stereophonics? Shed Seven? Mr Blobby? Jesus wept. UPDATE: I think this has been the worst experience of 1001 albums yet. It’s surprising. They seem so inoffensive. But by the end of listening to this album I felt like liquid boredom had seeped into my bones. I felt like a hyperactive child who had been dragged round a stuffy old museum for six hours. I had to make a playlist of the fastest tracks that came to mind to try and get rid of the feeling of ick.

Como volváis a colocar otro coñazo me doy de baja de la lista.

Sounded to me like a kind of cross between The Eagles and grunge era Radiohead. Not exactly cheery on this grey, rainy pre-Christmas day. One of those albums where everything is competent, but also not very interesting.

Music for bed wetters.

It's Eunuch Rock. Boring, sad and absolutely no balls.

Trite garbage, with every song designed to reach as many episodes of Grey’s Anatomy as possible. Torture.

"The radio is playing all the usual And what's a wonder wall anyway?" Hey fuckface, that's YOU, you're as 'usual' as it gets. "Just driftwood, hollow and of no use Waterfalls will find you, bind you, grind you." Yep, this describes your music pretty well. "Why does it always rain on me? Is it because I lied when I was seventeen?" No, it's because you get back what you put out into the universe, you miserable, self-pitying cream puff. "So what's so wrong Why the face so long, are you changing" She heard your latest song. "There is not a wonderwall to climb To climb or step around" What is your obsession with that song, you sorry, sad sack of soiled serviettes? "So you'd better hold on Cos it's Saturday night And your friends are all out And you feel like shit Cos they never call you No they never call you" Oh for fucks sake...

Remembered this as dull, soulless beigery. Listened without prejudice in case it’s aged well. It hasn’t. I’d remembered it correctly. (IMHO)

So boring. Every song sounds this same. They seem like they tried sounding similar to Radiohead, but failed miserably.

Exactly what you would expect from an album cover like this, by a band named Travis, released in '99. Sounds like they 'took influence' (completely ripped off) Radiohead, though butchered it in the making. Difficult to listen to and quite cringey.

Whiny the Album Do I hate music?

Oy. Not as bad as Donald Fagan, but I really don’t want to listen to this again.

What the hell is this doing on the list? This is not a good album. Radio friendly Radiohead at best, simpering at worst. This one needs to get revised out.

[Gordon Ramsay voice] "'Slide Show'? More like shit show." Seriously, after a night listening to the Dictators and Lightnin' Hopkins, this sounds like baby food music. At least that drab fucking album cover is fair warning of all the beige music one can expect to encounter on this platter. Avoid.

Struggled to find much positive here

Offensively inoffensive. Definitely doesn't deserve to be on this list.

For most people this would be a bit 'meh'. But there are a small number of people - mostly men now in their mid-40s - who have a core memory of being at T In The Park and listening to Travis sing "Why Does It Always Rain On Me". For them, this album will always be a 5/5. I am one of that group.

Discovering an underrated classic is very fun.

Post-Britpop.

oh I really like it. The last laugh of the laugher is so good. I love how the melody flows. Beautiful. Singing is on weak side but his voice can blend in well. Overall it’s very very good. Feeling generous.

Reminded me a lot of The Bends by Radiohead. And I love that album, so I was instantly hooked with this album. I really enjoyed over a handful of these songs enough to add them to my library, and an album and artist I’m happy to have discovered and to return to later.

Radiohead meets Coldplay meets David Gray? I liked this a lot and listened to it twice. Five stars.

Great stuff. Full of memories.