The Boy with No Name

The Boy with No Name
Studio album by Travis
Released 7 May 2007
Recorded 2006 - 2007
Genre Indie pop, alternative rock
Length 56:54
Label Independiente, Epic
Producer Travis, Nigel Godrich, Steve Orchard
Travis chronology
Singles
(2004)		 The Boy with No Name
(2007)		 Ode to J. Smith
(2008)
Singles from The Boy with No Name
  1. "Closer"
    Released: April 23, 2007
  2. "Selfish Jean"
    Released: July 9, 2007
  3. "My Eyes"
    Released: September 17, 2007
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
BBC favourable[2]
Digital Spy [3]
NME 2/10[4]
New York Daily News favourable[5]
Pitchfork Media 5.6/10[6]
Philadelphia Inquirer [7]
Rolling Stone [8]
Q
PopMatters 6/10[9]

The Boy with No Name is the fifth studio album from Scottish Indie pop band Travis. The album was released on May 7, 2007. The album sold over 442,900 copies worldwide.

Contents

Background

The name of the album came about when lead singer Fran Healy and his partner Nora were deciding on a name for their newly born son. During this time, he sent a photo of his son to friend by email and labeled the photo "The Boy with No Name". Healy revealed this on The Chris Moyles Show during an interview. Healy has also revealed in pre-album release performances that some tracks are influenced by his developing family status, such as "My Eyes" being about his new son or "Battleships" referring to ups and downs of relationships. Travis dedicated this album to the Abbey Road Studios chief master engineer Chris Blair and British world champion rally driver Richard Burns, who died of a brain tumour at the age of 34 in 2005.[10] During recording the band discovered they were nearby British band Feeder in the same studio both in different recording rooms. Feeder were recording what would be their fifth studio album Pushing the Senses. It soon occurred that Fran and Dougie helped out Feeder with some recording of the album; their voices appeared as backing vocals for the final chorus of the track "Tumble and Fall" and was its first single. The track "Under the Moonlight" features Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall's vocals.

Release and Promotion

The Boy with No Name entered at #4 on the UK Album Charts. In the U.S., the album debuted at number 58 on the Billboard 200, selling 12,000 copies in its first week.[11] It received generally positive reviews from mainstream sources and critical reviews from more alternative sources. The album went gold in the UK. "Closer" was released as the first single from the album in the United Kingdom on 23 April 2007, and peaked at #10 in the UK Singles Chart (see 2007 in British music). Second single "Selfish Jean" made #30. The final single, "My Eyes", reached #60 - their lowest chart placing during their career at the time. The full album was available to purchase at the Virgin Megastore at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California over the weekend of 27 April 2007–29 April 2007.

Tracklisting

All songs written by Francis Healy, except where noted.

  1. "3 Times and You Lose" (Healy, Andy Dunlop) – 4:14
  2. "Selfish Jean" – 4:00
  3. "Closer" – 4:00
  4. "Big Chair" (Healy, Dunlop) – 4:07
  5. "Battleships" – 4:11
  6. "Eyes Wide Open" – 2:59
  7. "My Eyes" – 4:08
  8. "One Night" – 4:00
  9. "Under the Moonlight" (featuring KT Tunstall) – 4:00
  10. "Out in Space" – 3:35
  11. "Colder" (Healy, Dougie Payne) – 4:06
  12. "New Amsterdam" – 2:37
  13. "Sailing Away" (Hidden Track) - 3:31
UK Bonus Track
14. "Say Hello" (Hidden Track) - 3:33
Japanese Bonus Tracks
14. "The Great Unknown" - 4:18
15. "Perfect Heaven Space" – 3:50

Chart

Year Chart Peak
position
2007 Norwegian Album Chart 2
2007 UK Album Chart 4
2007 Swiss Album Chart 7
2007 Mexican Album Chart 12
2007 Italian Album Chart 16
2007 Canadian Album Chart 49
2007 Spanish Album Chart 54
2007 U.S. Billboard Top 200 58
2007 Australian Album Charts 97
2007 Austrian Album Charts 18
2007 French Album Charts 41
2007 German Album Charts 8
2007 Irish Album Charts 20
2007 Sweedish Album Charts 51

Personnel

References

  1. ^ "Allmusic review". http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1040900. 
  2. ^ "Music - Review of Travis - The Boy With No Name". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/b3gb/. Retrieved 2011-06-21. 
  3. ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/a45686/travis-the-boy-with-no-name.html
  4. ^ "Travis - Travis - Album Reviews". Nme.Com. 2007-05-10. http://www.nme.com/reviews/travis/8522. Retrieved 2011-06-21. 
  5. ^ "Travis' 'Boy' wonder". Nydailynews.com. 2007-05-08. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2007/05/08/2007-05-08_travis_boy_wonder.html. Retrieved 2011-06-21. 
  6. ^ "Pitchfork: Album Reviews: Travis: The Boy With No Name". Pitchforkmedia.com. 2007-06-29. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/43820-the-boy-with-no-name. Retrieved 2011-06-21. 
  7. ^ [1]
  8. ^ [2]
  9. ^ Begrand, Adrien. "Travis: The Boy with No Name < PopMatters". Popmatters.com. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/38953/travis-the-boy-with-no-name/. Retrieved 2011-06-21. 
  10. ^ "Travis Discography: The Boy with No Name", TravisOnline.com, May 07, 2007
  11. ^ Katie Hasty, "Buble Sidesteps Bone Thugs To Claim No. 1", Billboard.com, May 16, 2007.
Travis
Studio albums
Good Feeling · The Man Who · The Invisible Band · 12 Memories · The Boy with No Name · Ode to J. Smith
Other Albums
Singles
DVDs
More Than Us · Travis at the Palace
Producers
Concert Tours
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