Ode to J. Smith - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Album Description
Ode To J. Smith by Travis is 11 tracks of their loudest, edgiest and most arresting record yet. The album was recorded at Rak Studios in London and produced by Emery Dobyns (Antony & The Johnsons, Patti Smith, Battles) and mixed at Electric Lady Studios in NY. Healy says this album was 'born out of a rush of creative urgency, a need to make a record; it has to be amazing...the most cohesive thing we've ever done. When you move so quickly, there is little time to reflect. You have to be decisive.' In 12 years, Travis has sold ten million records, numerous accolades, headlined festivals all over the world.

Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Soulful, edgy and rockier than before. November 5, 2008
17 out of 18 found this review helpful

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

4 out of 5 stars

Ode To J. Smith November 4, 2008
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

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

4 out of 5 stars

What I Was Hoping For Last Year November 4, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

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".

5 out of 5 stars

This album will grow on you November 9, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

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.

3 out of 5 stars

Travis - Ode to J Smith November 18, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

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.

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