• Record Label: Yep Roc
  • Release Date: Apr 20, 2010
Metascore
72

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 19
  2. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. Dec 22, 2010
    84
    It's easily the most focused album of Schneider's career.
  2. Basically, the album plays out like hit song after hit song. Love or hate the new direction, the Apples have made a long, long career out of constantly changing and reliably creating songs and albums that overflow with hooks and happiness. This may be their hookiest, happiest album yet.
  3. The band sounds completely energized, and although a series of disco-influenced albums might not be advisable, for the moment this direction infuses the band with fresh momentum and should draw the attention of a new fan base.
  4. Alternative Press
    80
    Ebullient songs like "Dream About The Future" and "Told You Once" have the choruses to give ELO fans "Back to the Future" chills, but they should also make any pop lover an instant Apples adherent, too. [May 2010, p.102]
  5. Robert Schneider has always been an expert tunesmith, which makes the potentially disastrous transition from garage rock to super hi-fi feel like a natural extension of The Apples' ambition. Not only has the evolution been seamless, but an expanded mastery of studio technique has only served to buttress a fine collection of songs on Travellers.
  6. Mojo
    80
    1960s-obsessed power-poppers discover the '70s. Time travel indeed. [July 2010, p. 102]
  7. There's certainly no shortage of well-crafted, playful, memorable tunes here, and that-- matched with Schneider's willingness to try on a few new sounds for size-- adds up to the best Apples in Stereo record in more than a decade.
  8. 70
    The album also features songs written and sung by other Apples, and while they're perfectly pleasant indie pop, they only accentuate Schneider's mastery.
  9. Travellers appears top-heavy, with a mid-section whose only correlation to time travel is that its melodies could've felt predictable in the 1890s, with the limitations of straight 4/4 beginning to wear. But listeners are rewarded for not giving up after that stretch.
  10. Overall though, Travellers In Space And Time is a fascinating collection that won't be everyone's cup of tea, but should at least cement its creators cult status for the forseeable future and some.
  11. The songs don't exactly span the musical solar system, maintaining the same general tempo and flow throughout the fifty-minute ride, but despite its rather static, predictable quality, Travellers managers to take listeners on a journey out of this world, but just barely.
  12. The Apples In Stereo have always had a tendency toward excessive cuteness, but Travellers In Space And Time sounds like it should come packed in a cartoon-festooned plastic lunchbox. Good thing for Schneider that his actual music is frequently irresistible.
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 14 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 14
  2. Negative: 1 out of 14
  1. Dec 9, 2020
    10
    A well done focused album that take's me back to the day's of Electric Light Orchestra.
  2. Feb 29, 2012
    8
    Bias disclosure: I've been a big Apples fan since 2004. Regardless, I think this is one of their stronger efforts, and anBias disclosure: I've been a big Apples fan since 2004. Regardless, I think this is one of their stronger efforts, and an uncharacteristic-sounding one at that. The album is essentially a love letter to ELO, another band I like. Catchy as always. Full Review »
  3. May 10, 2021
    9
    A great callback to ELO and the Beatle's with really nice sounding catchy tune's.