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You might not think it but listening to this after just reviewing the Verve's best of, I'm getting a sense of deja vu. Band who initially promised much, swallowed by the mainstream, pale shadow of their former selves...all sounds a bit familiar, dunnit?
So here we go again...another Christmas greatest hits package, this time from Fran Healy and co. And, like most of the ones I've reviewed this month, it's a bit hit and miss. Let's be honest here, Travis have always been a supremely inconsistent band and this collection shows that. The good things - the joyful shoutalongs of early gems "U16 Girls" and "Tied To The '90s", the happysad harmonies of "Coming Around", the slow torch-burners like "Driftwood", "More Than Us", "Writing To Reach You" and the sole gem of their recent output "Flowers In The Window".
The bad stuff - when Travis overdo the drippiness, they don't do it by halves as evidenced on "Sing" and "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?". And when they go dull, they could send even the most hyperactive to sleep - witness the dreary likes of "Turn" and "Side" for evidence, if ever there were two songs which deserved the accolade of "indie MOR by numbers" then it's those two.
Ultimately, this'll make a nice present for your mum but again, to be honest, you'd be better off borrowing it off an easily-pleased mate and simply burning the good bits if you really feel your CD collection is chronically deprived of nice sensible rock.
Rating: 5/10
Reviewed by Andy James
