Continued from page 24
TRAVIS
The Man Who LP (Reissue)
Live at Glastonbury 1999
(Craft)
The 20th anniversary of Travis’ break-
through album The Man Who is celebrated
with a remastered LP reissue. The Scottish
band rose in the mid-‘90s alongside peers
in the neighboring Britpop scene, becom-
ing best remembered for this album’s
beautiful and loping slice of melancholy,
“Why Does It Always Rain on Me?” and
singer Fran Healy’s relatable delivery. The
wide-eyed hope of gentle anthem “Turn”
bursts into a call for collective optimism.
The subdued urgency of “Waiting to
Reach You” finds Healy’s character strug-
gling to crack out of his shell and connect
with a loved one. The song was reportedly
inspired by Letters to Felice, a collection of
correspondence from The Metamorphosis
author Franz Kafka to fiancé Felice Bauer.
“Driftwood” laments someone who fears
taking the difficult steps from his comfort
zone and breaking the expectations of oth-
ers to find his own potential and fulfill-
ment. The album’s warmth and crystalline
acoustic guitar-based arrangements were
aided by production and mixing from
Nigel Godrich, who at age 28 in 1999 was
among rock’s top calls following the suc-
cess of 1997’s OK Computer. Where
Radiohead’s album was meticulous and
detached, The Man Who sounds warm,
conversational and intimate – in contrast
to the album’s rowdier predecessor Good
Feeling. In the confessional acoustic strum
of album closer “Slide Show,” Healy refer-
ences musical heroes of the period includ-
ing Manic Street Preachers, Beck, and
Oasis. “There is no design for life; there’s
no devil’s haircut in my mind; this is not a
Wonderwall to climb or step around,” he
sings. The album’s overarching tranquility
is displaced by the turbulence of bonus
track “Blue Flashing Light” and its tale of
domestic abuse. The Man Who is an album
of its time, but the emotional content,
songs, and performances continue to res-
onate. **Live at Glastonbury 1999 further
documents Travis’ climb toward peak
acclaim with a 16-song set form England’s
Glastonbury Festival. Half of the concert is
drawn from The Man Who. An additional
six songs including the brash “U16 Girls,”
“More Than Us” and the theatrical title cut
represent Good Feeling, and a perform-
ance of “Coming Around” previews the
band’s successful 2000 single. By all
accounts, July 26, 1999, was a beautifully
sunny day at Worthy Farm until the heav-
ens opened up as the band began “Why
Does it Always Rain on Me?” “Do you
think it’ll hold out?” Healy had asked
before playing “As You Are.” “The rain
appeared at just the right moment,” says
drummer Neil Primrose in the liner notes.
Guitarist Andy Dunlop recalls Travis
being “on the rise, but still under the radar,
the perfect time in a band’s career.”
– Jeff Elbel
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