Finally heard the album! Got fed up not being able to find information of an official release date in New Zealand and checking the shops every day with noone having any idea (info somewhere on here says it should have been the same as the UK date but there's still no sign anywhere). So I gave up waiting and downloaded it. I will of course buy it as soon as it becomes available here. So here are my ratings (out of 10) from the first couple of listens:
Chinese Blues - Great start and would be great live. 9
J. Smith - Didn't think much of it as a single but it just seems to work on the album in between CB and SA. 7
Something Anything - The type of song I've wanted from Travis for a years. 9
Long Way Down - Good tune and probably good live. 7.5
Broken Mirror - Probably my least favourite. Bit dull and forgettable in the sense that when the album finishes, I can't remember how it goes. 6.5
Last Words - Not out of place on The Inivisble Band. 8.5
Quite Free - Another that could have been on The Invisible Band. 8
Get Up - Like J. Smith, I didn't like it much on the EP but again, in the context of the album it works. After listening to the album on the bus to Uni, I even found this to be the one playing in my head during the day! Eyes Wide Open, the most similar song from last year's album, is better though. 7.5
Friends - Beaufitul song, bit like Closer. 9.5
Song To Self - Perfection. Closer pretty much went straight into number 2 on my all time Travis chart last year (Why Does It Always Rain On Me? will not be beaten by any song, by anyone for me) and this certainly enters the top 5 in the Travis chart. Possibly even peaking at 3 eventually. 10
Before You Were Young - Great finish. 9
Overall, it's great. It's the type of album you have to listen to all the way through and the best songs come at the end so you don't want to stop before you get to them. Of course it's not going to beat The Man Who or The Invisible Band but I'm still trying to decide whether it beats The Boy With No Name. Aside from Song To Self, TBWNN has better individual songs (Closer, My Eyes, Battleships, 3 Times And You Lose) but this one might be better as an overall album as it's solid from start to finish. For me personally, TBWNN was some of their best stuff ever up to My Eyes, but the songs after were not of the same quality and let it down a bit.
Note that this all comes from 2 listens, both on the bus so I hope it's a fair enough review. :)
