''It's Better to Travel'' is the debut album by the British pop band

Swing Out Sister Swing Out Sister are a British pop group best known worldwide for the 1986 song " Breakout". Other hits include "Surrender", " Twilight World", " Waiting Game", and a remake of the Eugene Record soul composition "Am I the Same Girl?" Histor ...

, released in 1987 on

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

. Upon its release, the album reached number one on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

Information

This was Swing Out Sister's debut album and contained the hit single " Breakout", which reached number 4 on the UK singles chart in November 1986 and number 6 on the US pop chart in November 1987. Subsequent singles released from ''It's Better to Travel'' include "

Surrender Surrender may refer to: * Surrender (law), the early relinquishment of a tenancy * Surrender (military), the relinquishment of territory, combatants, facilities, or armaments to another power Film and television * ''Surrender'' (1927 film), an ...

", " Twilight World" and "

Fooled by a Smile "Fooled by a Smile" is a 1987 song by the British pop act Swing Out Sister. It was the final single to be taken from their debut album ''It's Better To Travel'' and reached #43 on the UK Singles Chart in July of that year. It would be the final s ...

". Their debut single "

Blue Mood ''Blue Mood: The Songs of T-Bone Walker'' is a tribute album by Duke Robillard, dedicated to the songs of T-Bone Walker. Critical reception ''JazzTimes'' thought that Robillard "has the appropriately funky, slicing tone on 'T-Bone Shuffle', an ...

" was remixed for the albums release. The original vinyl and cassette release comprised the first nine tracks shown below. The remaining tracks were added to the subsequent CD release. The album also garnered the band two American

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nominations for

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...

and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Group or Duo ("Breakout") at the ceremony held in 1988. For this album, Swing Out Sister consisted of vocalist

Corinne Drewery Corinne Drewery (born 21 September 1959) is an English singer-songwriter and fashion designer, best known for being the lead vocalist of the band Swing Out Sister. Early life Drewery was born and grew up in Nottingham. She later moved to the Li ...

, keyboardist

Andy Connell Andrew John Connell (born 26 July 1961) is an English musician and composer. Along with Corinne Drewery, he is part of the duo that makes up Swing Out Sister. Born in Manchester, England, Connell played in the Manchester post-punk band The Im ...

and drummer

Martin Jackson Martin Jackson (born 30 August 1955 in Manchester, England) is a British drummer who has played with several bands from Manchester, although his most successful roles were with Magazine in 1978 with the release of the influential ''Real Life'' ...

. Jackson would depart the group during the recording of their second album, '' Kaleidoscope World''. The title for the album was derived from a quote by the Scottish author

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

: "To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour."Album info
SwingOutSister.com. Retrieved 4 April 2009. A four track video EP "And Why Not" was also released in 1987. On 16 July 2012, ''It's Better to Travel'' was re-released in an expanded 2-disc version, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its release. It contained both the remastered version of the original album, plus a bonus disc of various remixes and B-sides, most of which were previously unavailable on CD.Everything80s.co.uk

Reviews

Caroline Sullivan of ''

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. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' described the songs on ''It's Better to Travel'' as "spanking, sparkling, radio-friendly little tunes, dressed up in some Dagworthy/Galliano fashionwear and committed to vinyl by a good-looking girl and two male partners." Lucy O'Brien of ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' mentioned a "lush, laidback funky mix with nifty horn section" and stated that "it should be less a case of Swing than Break Out Sister."

Track listing

All tracks credited to "Swing Out Sister" LP and cassette version # " Breakout" - (3:46) # " Twilight World" - (Superb, Superb, Mix) - (6:27) # "After Hours" - (4:48) # "

" - (4:18) # "

" - (3:53) # "

" - (4:06) # "Communion" - (4:40) # "It's Not Enough" - (3:46) # "Theme (From - 'It's Better to Travel')" - (4:32) CD version # "Breakout" - (3:46) # "Twilight World" - (Superb, Superb, Mix) - (6:27) # "After Hours" - (4:48) # "Blue Mood" - (4:18) # "Surrender" - (3:53) # "Fooled by a Smile" - (4:06) # "Communion" - (4:40) # "It's Not Enough" - (3:46) # "Theme (From - 'It's Better to Travel')" - (4:32) # "Breakout" (NAD Mix) - (5:50) # "Surrender" (Stuff Gun Mix) - (6:40) # "Twilight World" (Remix) - (6:09) # "Communion" (Instrumental) - (4:39) Note: The version of "Breakout" listed as the "NAD Mix" is actually "A New Rockin’ Version". This was corrected in the 2012 re-issue.

Remastered 2-CD Version

CD1 # "Breakout" – (3.46) # "Twilight World" (Superb, Superb Mix) – (6.27) # "After Hours" – (4.48) # "Blue Mood" – (4.18) # "Surrender" – (5.53) # "Fooled by a Smile" – (4.06) # "Communion" – (4.40) # "It’s Not Enough" – (3.46) # "Theme From It’s Better to Travel" – (4.32) # "Breakout" (N.A.D. Mix) – (7.02) # "Surrender" (Stuff Gun Mix) – (6.40) # "Twilight World" (Gas Distress Mix) – (6.13) CD2 # "Breakout" (A New Rockin’ Version) - (5.52) # "Surrender" (Roadrunner Mix) - (6.17) # "Fooled by a Smile" (Ralph Mix) – (6.10) # "Blue Mood" (Dubbed Up Mix) - (6.48) # "Communion" (Instrumental) – (4.43) # "Dirty Money" – (4.09) # "Fever" – (4.33) # "Who’s to Blame?" – (5.13) # "Wake Me When It’s Over" – (4.34) # "Another Lost Weekend" – (5.27) # "Blue Mood" (Growler Mix) - (6.52) # "Breakout" (Horny Mix) - (4.33)

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Its Better To Travel 1987 debut albums Swing Out Sister albums Mercury Records albums Electronic albums by English artists Soul albums by English artists