FEATURE:
Second Spin
Jamiroquai - Travelling Without Moving
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THIS Second Spin…
IN THIS PHOTO: Jamiroquai’s Jay Kay in the 1990s/PHOTO CREDIT: Simon King/Redferns
concerns an album by a band that remain underrated. Their eighth studio album, Automaton, was released in 2017. I think that Jamiroquai are a great group who have produced some sensational albums. One album that I remember buying fondly is Travelling Without Moving. The third studio album by the Funk/Acid Jazz band, it was released on 28th August, 1996 in Japan, 9th September, 1996 in the United Kingdom, 19th November, 1996 in Canada, and 14th, January 1997 in the United States. Travelling Without Moving sold over eight million copies worldwide and entered the Guinness World Records as the best-selling Funk album in history. One cannot argue against those credentials! This is a case of an album selling extremely well but one where the critics were a little mixed. Their previous album, 1994’s The Return of the Space Cowboy, received slightly better reviews. Maybe some were falling out of love with Jamiroquai by 1996. With their leader, Jay Kay, in top form on Travelling Without Moving, this is an album that deserves new inspection. Boasting huge singles like Cosmic Girl and Virtual Insanity, there is plenty to enjoy! I think that Travelling Without Moving is much more than a couple of big singles and not a lot else. The title track, Drifting Along and Spend a Lifetime are other great songs. Coming in at over an hour, perhaps one or two songs could have been taken off – it does seem like a bit of a long listen, even though it is a very strong album.
Alright and High Times were other successful singles. Maybe having the best songs in the first half of the album means there is a slightly imbalanced experience in terms of quality. Listening to Travelling Without Moving nearly twenty-five years after its release, and it still sound amazing and full of life. I really love the album, yet there are some mixed reviews for it. This is what Pitchfork noted in their review:
“Listening to Jamiroquai's Travelling Without Moving is like... well, it's exactly like listening to Stevie Wonder's Innervisions if it'd been recorded with today's digital technology. Oh, and this record leaves you feeling like you've just won the lottery, instead of feeling like you've just been permanently impoverished.
Travelling Without Moving is purely a funk record, circa 1977. The high- gloss studio production, the danceable rhythms, and the light- weight song topics ("You Are My Love," for example) are all primary elements of a classic disco album. The message: let's just dance and have some fun.
The album's got its moments of pure, unadulterated musical magic. Songs like the hit opener "Virtual Insanity," and the wave- your- hands- in- the- air getdown of "Alright" could be future retro club anthems. Even "Cosmic Girl" and its perfectly- executed disco smash production brings visuals of polyester, earth- tone- colored suits and the flashing squares of a 1979 dance floor.
Sadly, Travelling Without Moving has its duds, too. Songs like the bland "Use The Force" and the horrible reggae number "Drifting Along" will have you shaking your head in terror the second they emerge from the speakers. But hey, it's for this very reason your disc player is programmable.
Aside from a few of those tacky songs, Jamiroquai's third effort is an enjoyable one. As a "listening experience," you'd be better off with 1995's Return of the Space Cowboy. If you want to get people on the floor with some irresistible funkboard boogie, Travelling Without Moving will get your party started like you were the president of the '70s Preservation Society”.
There were some positive reviews for Travelling Without Moving. I wonder if critics who were a little down on the album years ago would think differently if they heard it now. I want to bring in an NME review that mixed some positives with criticism:
“IT WAS on the back of the sleeve of 'Speak Like A Child' by The Style Council that The Cappuccino Kid, wrote words to the effect (well, did anyone really dig a word he dug?) that all good records should contain at least one bass solo. No-one believed him, of course... apart from Jamiroquai.
And if the The Cappuccino Kid's diktat is indeed gospel, then 'Travelling Without Moving' is a work of genius. There are fantastic, elastic trousers made of rubber and plastic bass solos galore. There are rat-at-tat drum solos, too. There's some solo squelchy '70s synth squashing as well. There's even a crap didgeridoo solo that's dragged out for a couple of hours and turned into a song called - tuck your bib in, bubba - 'Didgerama' and that segues into 'Didgital Vibrations'! Ah, yes. And thereby hangs the tale of Jamiroquai's recorded long-playing woe. Jay Kay and his young funk guv'ners write a nifty pop song, y'see - the evidence of this can be found on the shiny singles that fleshed out their otherwise stodgy previous two albums. The single format doesn't allow them the time to get flash and simply showcases the song and Jay's fine voice. Give 'em a bit more space, however, and they insist on dragging everything out too long, proving just what consummate musos they are and wheeling that didgeridoo out.
'Travelling...' is an improvement on previous efforts because in amongst the funky wanking there are a handful of bittersweet gems. The fine single, 'Virtual Insanity', falls into this camp, as do the two matching swings through Jay's fairy-lit disco, 'Cosmic Girl' and 'Alright' ("We'll spend the night together/Wake up and live forever" is the epitome of Jay's romantic lyrical vision). Best of all is the whirlwind of percussion and bass that powers the wide-eyed 'Use The Force'. "I must believe", croons Jay breathlessly, "that I can do anything".
Unfortunately that includes reggae. Halfway through an album that's previously been surprisingly (and relatively) un-self-indulgent Jay slips into a cod West Indian accent - oh yes - and we're skanking. Bad move. The floodgates are now open and pretty soon the cute little songs have been dumped in favour of 50 flavours of arse. Didgeridoos, ballads, solos... anything goes, including any listener patience.
So it's back to 'Drifting Along' one more time just to check that accent out. Fantastic stuff! He's from Ealing, you know”.
It is amazing to think that an album can sell millions and be so successful, and yet it remains a little underwhelming in the minds of many critics! Travelling Without Moving has more than enough to enjoy. One does not need to be a fan of Jamiroquai to appreciate the album. It is very accessible and will get stuck in your head after a single spin. Despite there being one or two weak tracks, overall, Travelling Without Moving is a great listen. Go and check out the album, as I think that is was unfairly maligned by some corners. This incredible album offers the listener…
PLENTY of golden Funk and groove.