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The Boy with No Name is the fifth studio album from Scottish indie pop band Travis. The album was released on May 7, 2007 through Epic Records. The album sold over 442,900 copies worldwide.
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. 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.
User Album Review
...There’s very little to find fault with.
Greatest Hits albums, by their nature, are often quickly dismissed. An easy way to make a few quid? A lazy way to round off a five-album deal? All of the above? Still, once out of the way, the benefits become apparent - an opportunity to wipe the proverbial slate clean and reinvent.
As their first studio offering after a singles compilation, The Boy With No Name is an album on which Travis can afford to take risks. Having no laurels left to rest on, it’s time to explore. And while they might not travel too far in any one direction, they certainly cover a hell of a lot of ground.
Don’t allow lead single ''Closer'' to lull you into a false sense of soothing tones and quiet confidence - it’s by no means a representation of The Boy With No Name which may be, arguably, their most eclectic album to date.
''Selfish Jean'', for instance, is an upbeat display of gusto, dormant since the band’s debut Good Feeling. And although the impish excitement is replaced by a more stable, mature brand of oomph, it’s nonetheless a welcome return to a side of Travis that's seldom exposed.
Elsewhere, ''Big Chair'' continues a similarly uptempo sound, but with a considerably darker overtone. The brooding, studio-heavy intro could be lifted straight from a Linkin Park track, resultantly inducing blessed relief once Fran Healy’s vocals materialize where watered-down rap would effortlessly sit.
At the other end of the spectrum, the striking, lager-tinged lullaby, ''Out In Space'', is a stripped-bare gem of acoustic honesty. Where each track acts as a pigeon step in its own given route away from the conventional Travis sound, ''Out In Space'' takes a hefty stride, and succeeds.
While the non-specific climate of The Boy With No Name provides a refreshing listen it’s also its one negative characteristic. A cynic would call it inconsistent, yet at the same time it's too subtle for an optimist to call it diverse. Take it as a simple collection of adept songs, however, and there’s very little to find fault with.
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