Sunday, April 24, 2011

Travis - 12 Memories


  • Non-gatefold
  • Lyrics included
  • Import

  • Album Rating: 4/5 (Great)
  • Sound Quality: 4.5/5 (Excellent)
  • Packaging: 3/5 (Average)


I picked this one up used at Amoeba Records in Hollywood last week. Any Travis album is pretty difficult to find on vinyl, so needless to say I was pretty stoked to find an import of this excellent LP for only 25$. Although used and containing a bit more pops and skips than I would have liked, it is still a great addition to my growing collection and most of the tracks still sound great!

Travis is often credited for influencing acts such as Coldplay and Starsailor, creating gentle, melodic rock that makes metalheads roll in their graves. On their fourth studio album 12 Memories, the Scottish quartet continues to do what they do best; combining rich textures, beautiful melodies, and memorable lyrics. Standout tracks include "Re-Offender" and "Love Will Come Through". Both are dangerously catchy and infinitely fun to listen to.


The vinyl sounds great even if the previous owner didn't take the best care of it. Putting that aside, the production quality is top notch and every song sounds crisp and clean, beautifully accentuating the band's musicianship and lead singer Fran Healy's clean vocal style.

The packaging (sans the marks made by the previous owner) is typical. The vinyl is housed in a standard, non-gatefold sleeve and comes with lyrics on the flip side of the inner sleeve.


I highly doubt you'll find the vinyl version of 12 Memories on Amazon anytime soon, but here's the link for it anyway (out of stock): 12 Memories [Vinyl]

26 comments:

  1. i dont even own a record player, how much do you reckon they cost now a' days?

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  2. @fit4life: Good ones will run you a couple hundred. Top of the line ones can be a lot more.

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  3. nice one, I just picked up a copy of Pink Floyd - Echoes on vinyl for 5 nz dollars (about 3 USD), in good condition too :D

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  4. Looks sweet, though Travis was always one of those bands that I just couldn't get into.

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  5. Its always difficult to get a scratch free Vinyl these days. Great post.

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  6. Great band, pretty standard looking artwork, but good music nonetheless.

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  7. They should produce vinyls again ...

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  8. Man its been a while since I've heard of Travis, they were a top band back in the day

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  9. Nice cover. It's bad that I don't know this band.

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  10. Old School rocks even though I don't know this band I'll have to check it out

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  11. man ive been trying to switch over to vinyl for so long now i wish i could

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  12. Dammit that's old :D Probably it's worth a lot by now :)

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  13. The pops and skips are part of the character!

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  14. Nice find. And pretty cheap, by the way.

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  15. Vinyls are and always will be around I reckon!

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  16. id love to try out the vinyl so we can settle the dispute between sound quality..

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  17. It's sad lots of Dj's don't even use records any longer. Bring back 8 tracks to while your at it. J/K

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  18. This album is fantastic...Travis is a great band

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