''The Man Who'' is the second studio album by the Scottish rock band Travis. The album was released on 24 May 1999 through Independiente. It saw a change in musical direction for the band, moving away from the rockier tone of their debut '' Good Feeling'' (1997). Four singles were released: " Writing to Reach You", "

Driftwood Driftwood is a wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves. It is part of beach wrack. In some waterfront areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides ...

", and the top 10 hits " Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" and "

Turn To turn is to rotate, either continuously like a wheel turns on its axle, or in a finite motion changing an object's orientation. Turn may also refer to: Sports and games * Turn (game), a segment of a game * Turn (poker), the fourth of five co ...

". ''The Man Who'' initially received mixed reviews and sold slowly. Boosted by the success of "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" and the band's appearance at the 1999

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

, it eventually spent a total of 9 weeks at number one on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

and brought the band international recognition, with retrospective reviews being more positive. , according to

Concord Music Concord Music Group was an American independent music company based in Beverly Hills, California, with worldwide (including the U.S.) distribution through Universal Music Group. The company specialized in recordings and music publishing. On Apri ...

, ''The Man Who'' has sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide. It was among ten albums nominated for the best British album of the previous 30 years by the Brit Awards in 2010, losing to ''

(What's the Story) Morning Glory? ''(What's the Story) Morning Glory?'' is the second studio album by the English Rock music, rock band Oasis (band), Oasis. Released on 2 October 1995 by Creation Records, it was produced by Owen Morris and the group's lead guitarist and chief ...

'' by

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment

Background and recording

''The Man Who'' was produced by

Nigel Godrich Nigel Timothy Godrich (born 28 February 1971) is an English record producer, recording engineer and musician. He has worked with acts including Radiohead, Travis, Beck, Air, Paul McCartney, U2, R.E.M., Pavement, Roger Waters, Arcade Fire and ...

and partially recorded at producer

Mike Hedges Mike Hedges (born 1954) is a British audio producer/engineer best known for his work with the Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Manic Street Preachers. During his career, Hedges has worked with an eclectic roster of artists ranging from rock ...

's chateau in France. The majority of the songs were written before the band's debut album '' Good Feeling'' (1997) was released; " Writing to Reach You", " The Fear" and "Luv" were written around 1995–96, while "As You Are", "

" and "She's So Strange" date back as far as 1993 and the ''Glass Onion'' EP. The band continued recording at studios including

RAK Studios RAK Studios is a recording studio complex, with residential facilities, used by Rak Records, and located near Regent's Park in central London, England. It was founded in 1976 by English record producer Mickie Most. History The RAK complex res ...

and

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

in London. " 'Good Feeling''was recorded with no trickery and it became this supposedly 'schizophrenic' record," said bass guitarist Dougie Payne. " 'The Man Who''was recorded over six months in six different studios, using more instrumentation, and it's turned into this weirdly cohesive piece of work." The title ''The Man Who'' is derived from the book '' The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat'' (1985) by neurologist

Oliver Sacks Oliver Wolf Sacks (9 July 1933 – 30 August 2015) was a British neurology, neurologist, Natural history, naturalist, historian of science, and writer. Born in London, Sacks received his medical degree in 1958 from The Queen's College, Oxford ...

. The album's sleeve notes include a dedication to film director

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

, who had died a few months prior to the album's release.

Reception

The initial reception of ''The Man Who'' was mixed, with some publications that had previously praised the band's more rock-oriented album ''Good Feeling'' criticizing the shift towards melodic and melancholic material. Stuart Bailie of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' expressed dissatisfaction with the band's decision to move away from the "rowdy" elements of ''Good Feeling'' and create an album filled with ballads. Despite acknowledging some good songs, he suggested that Travis would be better off if they moved away from making sad classic records. Danny Eccleston of '' Q'' magazine noted that ''The Man Who'' loses its momentum after the first four songs, and the rest of the album is excessively tasteful, missing some of the enchanting qualities found in ''Good Feeling''. However, Steve Lowe of '' Select'' found the album to showcase the band's ability to create pretty music, describing them as ordinary guys crafting extraordinary melodies and being good songwriters without trying too hard. Although ''The Man Who'' initially appeared to follow the success of ''Good Feeling'' by entering the

at number five, it faced a decline in the charts due to limited radio play of its singles and its lukewarm critical reception. However, the third single from the album, " Why Does It Always Rain on Me?", gained significant popularity and helped raise awareness of the band. Travis' performance of the song at the 1999

, where rain began to fall as soon as the first line was sung, garnered media attention and increased word-of-mouth interest. Coupled with radio play of "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" and the album's other singles, ''The Man Who'' eventually climbed back up the charts and reached the number one spot on the UK Albums Chart. It went on to become the third best-selling album of the year in the UK. By the end of the year, the album's critical standing had improved dramatically. ''Select'' named ''The Man Who'' the best album of 1999, and the album also placed on the year-end lists of publications such as ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'', ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in Hoodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Mojo'' (2017 film), a 2017 Indian Kannada drama film written and directed by Sreesha Belakvaadi * '' ...

'', ''NME'' and ''Q''. ''The Man Who'' won the award for Best Album at the

2000 Brit Awards Brit Awards 2000 was the 20th edition of the Brit Awards, an annual pop music awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are run by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 3 March 2000 at Earls Court in London. Performances W ...

, with Travis being named Best British Group. At the

Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...

, Travis frontman Fran Healy won the awards for Best Songwriter(s) and Best Contemporary Song for "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" ''The Man Who'' received a belated American release in early 2000, and the same year Travis undertook an extensive 237-gig world tour, including headlining the 2000

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

T in the Park T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused ...

and

V Festival V Festival, often referred to as V Fest or simply V, was an annual music festival held in the United Kingdom during the third weekend in August. The event was held at two parks simultaneously which shared the same bill; artists performed at one ...

s, and a US tour leg with

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment

Legacy

In 2006, ''The Man Who'' was named the 70th greatest album of all time by ''Q''. At the Brit Awards 2010, it was nominated for the Best Album of the Past 30 Years award, losing to

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment (What's the Story) Morning Glory? ''(What's the Story) Morning Glory?'' is the second studio album by the English Rock music, rock band Oasis (band), Oasis. Released on 2 October 1995 by Creation Records, it was produced by Owen Morris and the group's lead guitarist and chief ...

'' The album was included in the book ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music criti ...

''. , ''The Man Who'' has sold 2,687,500 copies in the UK.

Track listing

Personnel

Travis * Fran Healy – vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica * Dougie Payne – bass guitar, backing vocals *

Andy Dunlop Andy Dunlop (born Andrew Dunlop, 16 March 1972) is a Scottish musician, who is the lead guitarist of Scottish indie band, Travis. Biography Dunlop attended Lenzie Academy. The band Travis got their break with the album '' The Man Who'', nam ...

– guitar * Neil Primrose – drums, percussion Additional personnelInformation from the album booklet. *

– mixing, production * Sally Herbert – string arrangement (tracks 2 and 10) *

– production (tracks 6, 7 and 9) * Ian Grimble – co-production (tracks 6, 7 and 9) * Sarah Willson –

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

(track 7)

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

References

External links

''The Man Who''
(

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) at

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(streamed copy where licensed) {{DEFAULTSORT:Man Who, The Travis (band) albums 1999 albums Epic Records albums Independiente Records albums Brit Award for British Album of the Year Albums produced by Nigel Godrich