''Good Feeling'' is the debut studio album by Scottish

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band Travis. The album was released on 8 September 1997, on Independiente Records. All four singles released from the album reached the UK Top 40 (with ''Tied To The 90s'' making to Top 30).

Background and release

Once set up in London, the band spent between nine months and a year recording new songs. The band played their first London show at the famous

Dublin Castle Dublin Castle ( ga, Caisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a former Motte-and-bailey castle and current Irish government complex and conference centre. It was chosen for its position at the highest point of central Dublin. Until 1922 it was the se ...

in Camden. With around twenty good songs ready, they then approached managers

Colin Lester Colin Lester (born 26 May 1960 in London) is a British artist manager of R&B, pop and rock music acts. Colin Lester has managed the careers for numerous British and international artists. He was awarded 'The Peter Grant Award' for outstandi ...

and Ian McAndrew of Wildlife Entertainment, who then introduced the band to Andy MacDonald, owner of

Go! Discs Records Go! Discs was a London-based record label, launched in 1983 from offices in Wendell Road, Shepherd's Bush, by Andy Macdonald and Lesley Symons. The pair founded the label after Macdonald left his job as press officer at Stiff Records, and Symo ...

and founder of Independiente Records. The band was signed to MacDonald personally, not to the label—if MacDonald ever leaves the Sony-financed label Independiente Records, the band goes with him (commonly referred to in the industry as a "

golden handcuffs Golden handcuffs, a phrase first recorded in 1976, refers to financial allurements and benefits that have the objective to encourage highly compensated employees to remain within a company or organization instead of moving from company to company ...

" clause). The album itself has a much more upbeat and 'rockier' sound than their subsequent releases and is often regarded as one of their best. In 2000 the album was re-released, with the only differences being new album artwork (featuring a headshot of the band on a black background) and a slightly-tweaked version of "More Than Us". In April 2021, Craft Recordings re-issued the album on vinyl with the original cover (featuring a full band shot with a mostly white background).

Production

Produced by Steve Lillywhite of U2 fame, Travis' first studio album, 1997's ''Good Feeling'', is a rockier, more upbeat record than the band's others to date. Recorded at the legendary Bearsville Studios in

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

, New York, the place where Travis favourite The Band recorded, the album contained singles such as "

All I Want to Do Is Rock All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All al ...

", "

U16 Girls "U16 Girls" is the second single released from Indie band Travis' debut album, '' Good Feeling''. The single was released on 1 April 1997 in the United Kingdom. Background In an interview with NME, Fran Healy described the song as, "A tongue- ...

", the Beatle'esque "Tied to the 90's", "

Happy Happiness, in the context of mental or emotional states, is positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Other forms include life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being, flourishing and eudaimonia. Sinc ...

" and "

More Than Us ''More Than Us EP'' is an extended play by Scottish rock band Travis, released in 1998. It became the group's first UK Singles Chart top 20 hit. The tracks "More Than Us", "All I Want to Do Is Rock" and "Funny Thing" are from the band's 1997 d ...

". Guest musicians include Page McConnell of

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...

playing keyboards on the title track "Good Feeling". The album reached No. 9 on the British charts, but with little radio play, it slipped from the charts relatively quickly, dropping to number 26 and then 53 over the next couple of weeks (though over the next few years it would end up with 27 weeks inside the Top 100, making it the third longest chart run for a Travis album). Although it heralded Travis' arrival on the British music scene, received extremely positive reviews, and substantially broadened Travis' fan base, it sold just 40,000 copies. Following the release, Travis toured extensively, their live performances further enhancing their reputation. This included support slots in the UK for

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

, after Noel Gallagher became an outspoken fan.

Track listing

All tracks written by Fran Healy.

Personnel

* Fran Healy –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Andy Dunlop Andy Dunlop (born Andrew Dunlop, 16 March 1972, Lenzie, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland) is a Scottish musician, who is the lead guitarist of Scottish indie band, Travis. Biography Dunlop attended Lenzie Academy. The band Travis got their brea ...

–

Dougie Payne Douglas Payne (born 14 November 1972) is the bassist and backing vocalist of the Scottish band Travis. Career Payne was born in the south side of Glasgow, and was educated at Woodfarm High School. He was also a member of the local 28th Glasg ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Neil Primrose –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Page McConnell –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

References

{{Authority control Travis (band) albums 1997 debut albums Albums produced by Steve Lillywhite Independiente Records albums