Travistan - Travis Morrison
Travistan Image
Metascore
56 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 13 Critics What's this?

User Score
4.1 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 7 Ratings

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  • Summary: The leader of the now-defunct Washington, D.C. outfit The Dismemberment Plan makes his solo debut with this disc, produced by Death Cab For Cutie's Chris Walla. John Vanderslice guests.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 13
  3. Negative: 4 out of 13
  1. Alternative Press
    90
    A rewarding art-pop risk. [Dec 2004, p.148]
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  2. Spin
    75
    A collection of enigmatic indie-rock tunes. [Nov 2004, p.119]
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  3. Blender
    60
    At worst, the wordy Travistan borders on hectoring... At his danceable best, Morrison ingeniously manifests his big concepts and even bigger heart. [Nov 2004, p.138]
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  4. cokemachineglow
    37
    The problem most people are going to make is taking the record too seriously, but even recognizing it as being overly tongue-in-cheek won't save it from being, at very best, painfully frustrating.

See all 13 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. MikeT
    7
    The problem with these reviews is that this is Travis Morrison, not The Dismemberment Plan. If you're expecting Dismemberment Plan, you've already ruined his album for yourself. However, it is true that this album isn't quite like anything he had done while with the Plan. It's never quite as energetic, and like mentioned, it has a lack of his frantic vocals. This by far is not a disaster of any sort. It's actually quite listenable. Don't let the bad reviews ruin it for you.… Expand
  2. StevenM
    5
    It's not that the album is a disaster... It's just that when I listen to every single one of the albums The Dismemberment Plan released (aside from the remix traincrash), you can't believe that these songs were of a high enough quality to warrant Travis Morrison's first solo album where he obviously had a lot to prove. However, the album is not a complete disaster. If this was made by some unknown, I'd probably quite like this album, in a disposable way. The Word Cop and the bonus track are both great tracks that I enjoy listening to. The biggest thing that I find hard to swallow with this new, reflective Morrison is the lack of frantic vocals that go places you never thought they would. Change was the album Morrison introduced his new laid-back approach, but the album contained song after song of such high quality that you barely noticed it. After leaving Chisel, Ted Leo released his own traincrash "tej leo / Rx, pharmacists" that probably rattled the fanbase he had created with the band. Fast forward a few years and Ted has found his own sound that tips its hat to Chisel still whilst also having his identity stamped over it. tej was probably the catalyst that shook Ted up and made him the musician responsible for the trio of masterpieces "Tyranny Of Distance", "Hearts Of Oak" and "Shake The Sheets". I remain optimistic, that in its quirky, sugary way, Travistan is Travis's tej.… Expand
  3. Pep_D
    4
    A quite boring album, many of the tracks don't have much of a feel. The tracks 'Change' and 'Born in '72' are obvious highlights compared to the rest.

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