Track Listing

1. Sing
2. Dear Diary
3. Side
4. Pipe Dreams
5. Flowers In The Window
6. The Cage
7. Safe
8. Follow The Light
9. Last Train
10. Afterglow
11. Indefinitely
12. The Humpty Dumpty Love Song

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12686 in Music
• Released on: 2001-06-11
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Invisible Band marks no major change in direction for Travis but this is no bad thing. That Travis are the most simplistic of the post-Radiohead groups may not sound like the heartiest of compliments but it undoubtedly accounts for their massive appeal. The Man Who became one of the most popular indie-rock records of the 1990s by virtue of its cheery accessibility and its way with a simple weather metaphor and judging by the lyric to "Side"--"The grass is always greener on the other side/The neighbour's got a new car that you wanna drive"--it's immediately obvious that come their third full-length album, Travis have twigged their fans are not waiting for a brave sonic crusade. Which doesn't matter a jot, because The Invisible Band is such a natural, instantly lovable and thoroughly unforced record, it seems thoroughly churlish to knock it. The opening "Sing" sounds like since their inception, all Travis have been missing is a banjo; the florid "Flowers In The Window" harks back to McCartney's finest Beatles compositions; and the synth-led "The Humpty Dumpty Love Song" lays Travis' sentimental heart bare. "I'd pray to God if there were heaven," sings Fran Healy on "Pipe Dreams", "But heaven sounds so very far from here..." And that's exactly why Travis are so popular; they're the humble down-to-earth boys from next door, still singing the simplest songs, still making the mundane sound beautiful. --Louis Pattison

CD Description
Third album for massively successful Scots indie-pop band. Recorded with Radiohead/Divine Comedy producer Nigel Godrich, it continues the downtempo, acoustic sound of 1999's 'The Man Who'. Includes the single 'Sing'.

Customer Reviews

Do not underestimate this album
It must have been notoriously difficult for Travis to produce a follow-up to their massively successful "The Man Who" of 1999. Although this album repeated the feat of its predecessor by going straight in at no. 1 on the UK album chart, it did not win the admiration of nearly as many listeners, who seemed to believe that "The Invisible Band" housed songs of poorer quality than "The Man Who". This has distressed me greatly over the years, and I am eager to persuade you buyers otherwise.

Three Travis singles are included on this album, the most obvious standout being the classic "Sing". This superb track sets the sound for the remainder of the album, with its trademark Travis guitar lines and laid back, indie-tinged rock style. The other two singles are "Side", a fantastic rock fest that thoroughly deserved to break the UK Top 10 or even Top 5, but unfortunately only managed a no. 14 position, and "Flowers in the window", whose jaunty pace ensures that the listener's foot taps irresistibly until the closing stages of the song. Other tracks that follow a similar style to "Flowers in the window" are "Follow the light" and "Afterglow", both of which are rather lively and contain positive lyrics.

As ever, the lyrics in each of these songs are intelligent and true to life, and arguably lead singer Fran Healy's songwriting talents are displayed to their fullest on "The cage": "But then this bird just flew away, she was never meant to stay, oh to keep her caged would just delay the spring." This is one of my favourite tracks on this album, with its beautiful lyrics and lovely melody, sprinkled with simple, dreamy keyboard notes. There are, of course, the customary "depressing" Travis songs included here, which I prefer to think of as being brief moments of self-indulgence for Healy. The curious "Dear diary" suggests that Healy is at the end of his tether; his haunting vocals are surrounded by mysterious electric guitar ostinatos, providing a tense and compelling listening environment. "Indefinitely" could also fit into this moody genre, starting quietly and giving Healy the chance to show his vulnerability.

My personal favourites from "The Invisible Band" are the masterpieces that are "Last train" and "The Humpty Dumpty love song". "Last train" begins with somewhat scary guitar strumming on a single chord, and building relentlessly to a haunting ad-lib section where Healy chimes "woo-woo" in imitation of a helpless, lonely train. The lyrics in this track are more violent than in others featured on this album, and assist wonderfully in creating an apprehensive aura. "The Humpty Dumpty love song" also contains ingenious lyrics: "All of the king's horses and all of the king's men, couldn't pull my heart back together again." There are beautiful string samples that kick in at around one minute and thirty seconds, and their temporary instances of discord are stunningly spine tingling.

In short, this album is an absolute must for music lovers everywhere. In my opinion, it is Travis's finest work to date... excepting their Greatest Hits album, of course.

How to follow up a multi-platininum album...
The Invisible Band was the follow up to The Man Who, an album that generated excitement to either side of the pond, and turned Travis, and more importantly Fran Healy, into one of the most recognised (though perhaps not on the street - the reason the album was named The Invisible Band was that no-one recognised them in person) bands in British rock today. The question on everyone's lips at 2001 was if Travis had shaken off the glitter and stars that had burdened them with the success of the previous album. And quite simply, they had.
The Invisible Band saw Travis use more of the banjo (however disgusting that may sound) in hit songs such as 'Sing' and 'Flowers in the Window'. These songs in no way reflect the album in style, as 'Side' proves to be one of the most thought provoking songs lyric-wise, and uses guitars softly and beautifully. As there is with every Indie's rock band, there is a hint of the piano in every song, including upbeats mentioned before. My personal favourite is 'The Cage', with its slightly mellow feel about a forlorn love lost, which has some tear jerking lyrics. Other songs show that Travis are willing to become a more upbeat band than previously thought.
Overall, there is a feeling that Travis have developed into a budding, comfortable band, that aren't afraid to do what they want, rather than the band that were horrifically afraid of failiure and shot out slightly sad and depressing songs. They know that they have a cushion if they fall now in rock music, and seem a little more happy about that.

A gorgeous summer album
Travis seem to have decided upon thier direction now, after the very heavy guitars and shouting vocals on their debut album 'Good Feeling' to a complete mellow (perhaps rather sombre)sound on 'The Man Who'. This album follows on yet there seems to be more opitmism with very simple pop songs such as the single 'Sing' and an old b-side revamped 'Flowers in the Window'. There are a few tacks that do conform to peoples perception of Travis beeing another band to be taking infuence from the Radiohead misery, tracks such as 'The Last Train', which is very depressing and 'Dear Diary' which is very moody and almost slightly dreary. However there are some brilliant songs on this album. 'Side' is rumoured to be the next single and what a fantastic choise, full of wisdom and a very catchy chorus to say the least. There are no songs that stand out as having the almost 'amthem' like status such as 'Why Does It Always Rain on Me' from 'The Man Who', yet with the summer festivals aproaching 'Sing' could become a winner. Other tracks that I think are outstanding is the brilliant 'Humpty Dumpty Song','Afterglow','Follow the Light'and the lovely 'safe' with the brilliant line "A dolly mixed Up man with rotten teeth". This really is my favorite album at the moment.