Jamiroquai - Travelling Without Moving

Adding pop savvy to their soul-disco mix, Jamiroquai grabbed the attention of MTV and Top 40 radio and won a Grammy with this platinum-selling album, their third. It's a fine record, with warm keyboards, sweet strings, and irrepressible grooves grounding Jay Kay's sublime vocals and fueling the hits ("Virtual Insanity," "Cosmic Girl," the title track). That voice--elastic, jazzy--is the fire of the band, but immaculate guitar sounds, snappy backup vocals, and clever old-school soul samples (Eddie Harris on "Alright," Esther Phillips on "High Times") are the details that create perfection. Balancing the dance-ready, radio-friendly tracks are the ballads "Everyday" and "Spend a Lifetime," the reggae-styled "Drifting Along," and a couple of didjeridoo instrumentals. --Suzanne McElfresh Amazon.com

Mostly solid with a fair bit of variety

It's been said before, but if what you're looking for is Virtual Insanity, buy the single. With the exception of, to an extend, Cosmic Girl and Alright, it's really the only track on the album that has that feel or sound.

There's a lot of ground covered on the album, and some of it is more successful than others. Virtual Insanity and Cosmic Girl are instantly likable, cheery numbers. Use the Force is a bit on the silly side for me, but things pick up for the next few tracks. Drifting Along pretty much runs right off the rail for me, and Didjerama is just plain boring (though Digjital Vibrations is alright).

Things start to pick up again after that. Travelling Without Moving and You Are My Love move back in to the up-beat territory.

The final two tracks are much more chill, but are also possibly my two favorite on the album.

I'd easily recommend this, but be warned that you'll probably find yourself hitting skip on a few of the tracks in the middle. September 24, 2008

WOW.

I don't know how I missed this when it was first released but boy am I glad I stumbled into it. This album is looooooaded with groove from start to finish. The bass/drum teamwork is dirty, funky, pocket-syncopated heaven. The use of disco strings, latin accessory percussion, Rhodes pianos, etc works very well together without being kitschy or tacky. It sounds old and new at the same time. And, at the end of the day, who really cares 'when' it sounds like. To me it just sounds GOOD.

So groovy. May 18, 2008

Get it and you'll love it

How many radio hits can this CDs have!? You'd be amazed by the complexity of the songs and the talents that musicians have. No need to say virtual insanity is the song that made them popular, won grammy and all that. Other songs like Alright and Cosmic Girls fans favorites. I like the last hidden song in this album. This album also features songs like Traveling without Moving and High Times. The entire album sounds like you're traveling in outer space! So sit tight and enjoy this magical ride. :) February 14, 2008

What Genre?

I really dig this music, maybe it reminds me of the 80's, or TV in my youth, but I don't find it easy to pigeon-hole this kind of funky, jazzy, poppy, dance music. Sure, it has a retro-feel, but Jamiroquai has a lot of danceable energy that's fun to listen to. It's not sugar-coated yet appeals to my 3 & 6 yr. old as well. Some of the tunes on this album aren't as catchy as others, but overall, Travelling Without Moving works very well. I also like Canned Heat, a song they did for the movie Center Stage, not surprisingly a dance movie. December 25, 2007

These are High Times indeed!

Get this album to dance to, if not just get it to listen to. Solid british funk at its best ladies and gentlemen. This is a must have for funk collectors! November 21, 2007

More reviews at Amazon.com ...