Customer Reviews

Ode to J Smith

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is their first to be written on electric guitar since "Good Feeling" and sees the band returning to their roots.
"It's like the clock has gone full rotation," says Healy.The CD was "born out of a rush of creative urgency; a need to make a record, it has to be amazing".
"It was recorded very quickly. Two weeks, he says. "Which, compared to the two and a half years it took to do "The Boy With No Name" is not bad going. We haven't recorded an album that quickly since "Good Feeling" in 1996. We wrote it pretty fast too. And wanted to capture the excitement we felt about the new songs that were coming out".
It's business as usual for Travis's sixth long player - a run of ten typically grandiose songs from the heart of Fran Healy.
In a nod to their humble beginnings, the band release "Ode To J Smith" on Red Telephone Box, the label they created to release first single "All I Want To Do Is Rock", funded by Healy's mum for British £ 600.
This album is certainly rockier than ever before, "with a subtle string arrangement from composer Joby Talbot"* and a freakish choral section as well.
It's their most experimental yet, full of electric guitar-driven, old-school riffs.
However it's also more than rock - this is an eclectic, experimental mix.
Just over a year after "The Boy With No Name" failed to ignite critics, the Glasgow group are going it alone with this edgy and soulful release.
"The band have abandoned the acoustic ballads and decided to rock out.
Fans shouldn't worry, though - the band are still about as aggressive as a scatter cushion. Beneath the squealing blues guitar and clanking bass lie characteristically amiable tunes".-Telegraph
Unlike early melodic hits such as "Driftwood", "Ode To J Smith" is more about the sound, while Fran Healy's voice fades into the background on all but the most normal Travis tune, "Quite Free".
On the title track, the instrumental dominates before a choir surprisingly ends the song.
The opening track "Chinese Blues" has a guitar riff which echoes "Sympathy for the Devil".
The first single "Something Anything" - a sing-along chorus with riffy guitars that's reminiscent of their superfans, Oasis - is one of the highlights, and the country styled "Last Words" - a very bittersweet tune, and probably the most traditionally "Travis-y" song on the record- show they're not afraid to reinvent themselves.
As said before, "the CD's sound is more brittle than their last album, the rather dour "The Boy With No Name", more akin to their debut.
It's also brief, clocking in at just over 36 minutes"*.-Simon Rueben
No filler tracks.Quality over quantity.
You will like it.

The Boy with No Name

Ode To J. Smith is an interesting record with a rather interesting issue surrounding its release. Despite being received very positively by critics in the UK, the album failed to match the sales of Travis' previous, successful records. A lack of promotion is likely the culprit, as it turns out some of that critical boasting actually holds up.

The weaker-than-usual sales are an odd issue, considering that Ode To J. Smith is an interesting and mostly well-done record for the band. The sound on the record is much more aggressive and edgy than previous Travis albums, recalling classic post punk and garage rock acts such as The Ramones, as well as some newer favorites like The Strokes and The White Stripes. A restrained touch on guitar effects and the occasional haggard scream make this a fairly interesting and dynamic record, especially for a band that, like its contemporaries Coldplay and Keane, is constantly at risk of becoming just another stale adult alternative band. I think I even heard some banjo on "Last Words," which must be a first. Ode To J. Smith manages to negotiate the pitfalls of reinvention gracefully, managing to sound like classic Travis while doing something decidedly new for the band.

It's a short record, but that can be a serious boon in a time when mainstream rock albums are becoming more and more bloated with filler and extras. Better to rock out for 37 minutes than flounder for an hour, wouldn't you agree?

8/10

I remember back in college, in 1999, I was at the Wherehouse and picked up The Man Who (dang, it doesn't seem thaaat long ago). Anyhow, I still absolutely love "The Man Who"; it's an absolute classic and it still sounds great today. It's aged extremely well. I have enjoyed everything since then - but not so much the Good Feeling debut though.

But after this newest release, Ode to J. Smith, I'm left feeling kind of disappointed. It's not that I dislike it, but rather, I don't love it. Usually I love everything they've put out since The Man Who. And yes, some people might complain and say they had gotten kind of mopey, sappy, over-dramatic at times, but hey, that's what I liked about them!

Ode to J. Smith is definitely way more rock, more electric, more louder than what I was expecting. I'm so-so on the first half, but at track 6 "Last Words" it starts sounding a bit more like a traditional Travis album, with a sweet banjo thrown in for good measure. I definitely liked the back half better than the first.

I've listened to it a half-dozen times now (which is made easy by the short running time) and I'm just not rah-rah-5-star-loving this, which makes me sad. Gone are the beautiful choruses, gone are the beautiful sweeping soundscapes. I'm just not sure I'm going to be listening to this several years from now like I do with most of their other albums.

I have been a Travis fan for years and enjoy their music both on CD and live in concert. I was a bit disappointed with "12 memories", but then last year "The Boy with no name" made up for it. I loved that album. I saw that the band was releasing a new album this year and was eagerly anticipating the release. The first few listens didn't grab me. However, with further listening I have come to really love this album.

Favorite songs are: "Song to Self", "Quite Free", "Before You Were Young". The rest is also very good.

I was introduced to Travis by way of "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?" in early 2000. I rushed to buy "The Man Who" and was completely satisfied with that album. The following year I was first in line to get "The Invisible Band" and was equally, if not more, satisfied. I went back and got "Good Feelings" and was slightly disappointed. "12 Memories" was somewhat disappointing as was "The Boy With No Name".

So, here is "Ode To J. Smith", right on the heels of "The Boy With No Name" a year and a half ago. I'll admit this is a grower. On first listen nothing really grabbed me, but upon closer inspection, several songs began to sink their hooks into me like the album opener "Chinese Blues", "J. Smith", "Long Way Down", "Last Words", "Quite Free", "Song To Self" and "Before You Were Young". The rest I continue to struggle with just exactly how I feel about them.

The sound of this album isn't exactly a stretch for the band. In fact, they still sound maudlin and morose in too many spots. Sure there's hints of "Good Feeling" since the band utilizes more guitars this time out, but really, it's not that much like "Good Feeling".

After mulling this album over all week long, I find that "The Man Who" and "The Invisible Band" remain my favorites. "Ode To J. Smith" is neither here nor there. It's not bad, but it's not great, it just is. I keep wondering if this is it for Travis. I feel they are a talented band that could do so much more, but this is the third album in a row that has been just okay. To me, Travis have the potential to be bigger, but they don't pick great producers and engineers, and the band doesn't seem interested in trying to be more experimental with their sound. They don't seem inspired to push the limits of their particular brand of music.

And that's what makes "Ode To J. Smith" so disappointing. If they did this in two weeks, and this was the most original thing they could come up with, maybe it's time to call it quits. Sure, I noticed a small bit of experimentation on "J. Smith" with the orchestration and chorale segments, but it seemed tacked on, not well thought out. It was interesting for, oh, 30 seconds, and then it was gone.

So, I'm hoping against hope, that the next album bears better fruit. Here's where I place "Ode To J. Smith" in context of Travis's other albums.

1997 Good Feeling: Four Stars
1999 The Man Who: Four Stars
2001 The Invisible Band: Four and a Half Stars
2003 12 Memories: Two and a Half Stars
2007 The Boy With No Name: Three and a Half Stars
2008 Ode To J. Smith: Three Stars

Indeed, there was a lack of prerelease hype. I didn't know about this release until two weeks ago. That being said. This album lacks anything like 'Closer' or 'Battleships' (my two favorites from the previous album). My initial reaction is that this works better as a whole album, as their 2nd and 3rd did. Vocally this can sound like any Travis album, but there are at least three tracks containing new vocalizations (you know what I mean). The Music can be described in the same way. They gently have pushed their sound and I am pleased. I would have given this album 5 stars if it contained one classic Travis song. I give it 4 stars because I think it contains 11 songs that you will be still likely be happy to hear live in five years.

I was very surprised to see Travis releasing a new album so soon after 2007's "The Boy With No Name", especially since that album took four years to come out after 2003's "12 Memories".

So I knew I was in for either a rushed, terrible mistake, or something great. Luckily, this album is something really special.

After sort of a departure into very "poppy" music, they've found their roots and rocked out. It reminds me of their first album, 1997's "Good Feeling" in the sense that it's a bit harder than everything released after, but with a much more mature style to it.

I really enjoyed the opening track, "Chinese Blues", but was completely sold on the very dynamic, yet short, "J. Smith" which goes into a bold Gregorian chant mid-song that just blows me away.

If you lost a bit of interest in Travis from "The Boy With No Name", this should revive your faith in the band. The album is smart, fun, hard, soft, original, accessible, and eclectic. Front-man, Fran Healy reminds us, as he said on their debut album, "All I Wanna Do Is Rock".

This is classic Travis, Coldplay took all their cues from this band, dont miss it! Song to Self...amazing.

This is a really good Travis album it's a big change from there previous albums its very hard not a lot slow ballads but its a really good album all the songs are great on this album it sounds like they really let loose in this album which is rare now a days. Like most bands that try to switch there sound and they end up with a crap album this is one band that proves that they can do anything. I highly recommend this album

Like most TRAVIS fans, I came in during the time of Good Feeling and The Man Who -- those two albums quite literally opened my eyes as I found the music and the band I've been craving.

The weird thing about "Ode to J. Smith" was that it didn't strike me as a TRAVIS album at first. Each album prior, even '12 Memories', was met with one listen being enough to say "yes, this is Travis and I love this band." "Ode to J.Smith" didn't do that for me. I had initial disappointments and said flat out that this was more or less the same, but just not as good.

But that said, the songs haunted me when they weren't being played. My ears were telling me to put that album back on again and really, I couldn't stop playing the record for days. It is indeed a fantastic album that is different but somehow familiar. You cannot simply say that this album is like "The Man Who" or "The Invisible Band" or "The Boy With No Name". It has a sound of its own and it shows that the band is trying new things, which is a great sign of longevity. If I had to put a label on this one, I would say that it's like they were at "12 Memories" and kept building upon that.

There may not be your iconic Travis ballad here but what you have are songs that are musically more rich, instrumentally more vibrant, and lyrics that are more meaningful. "Ode to J. Smith" is just an extension of the incredible library they've provided so far and if it all ends here, I'd think that they ended right before they hit their highest level. I can't wait to hear what else this band has in store for us because I know it's going to be their best work.