Review Summary: Track Picks - 'Turn up the Sun'; 'Lyla'; 'The Importance of Being Idle'; 'Part of the Queue'; 'Keep the Dream Alive' and 'Let There be Love'
Top 3 songs-
1. Let There be Love
2. Keep the Dream Alive
3. The Importance of Being Idle
It's been 3 years since the release of the band's last album ‘Heathen Chemistry’. Knowing the fact that the album did not produce expected results at all even in their home country UK, the band has taken serious measures this time for an amendment to revive their attitude that they lost post- Be here Now. Now Don't Believe the Truth has been highly anticipated album, an album that every single Oasis fan has been waiting for.
So, let's see what craft has Noel put in, in the band's 6th studio album for reconstructing the band's lost image.
Considering the fact that Gallagher brothers are always in the news and Liam saying in an interview that "Don't Believe the Truth is even better than Definitely Maybe", it seems that Liam has kept his word this time because the album sounds pretty neat. This time not only Noel, but all the other members have considerably contributed in song writing. Though Noel has written the majority of them, that is 5 out of 11, the effort of Andy Bell, Liam Gallagher and Gem Archer simply cannot be ignored.
The album's opening song ‘Turn Up the Sun’ is too good, a typical Britpop song actually. The lyrics of the song are quite impressive along with Liam's power packed voice. Especially the lines "Come on turn up the Sun, turn it up for everyone (yeah), love one another....." are delightful. The music that follows this line is captivating because of splendid mix of guitars and drums. Andy Bell's first ever contribution is worth applauding. This song has the capacity to take you in the classic English towns (in dreams) if you listen it very deeply with full concentration. Believe me; the whole crew has worked in the right direction for this anthem.
Song Rating: 8/10
Next in the list is Noel's ‘Mucky Fingers’ to which surprisingly Noel has contributed in the vocals instead of Liam. Unlike other songs, this song is a pretty fast but it's poor at the same time because of lack of good-meaningful lyrics and a good tune which is required for a song to be liked. Plus, the absence of good instrumentals makes this song pretty boring. There is not much to tell about this song because there is nothing that is worth writing, so I guess giving the rating would be enough.
Song Rating: 5/10
Now, don't get disheartened by ‘Mucky Fingers’ because elder Gallagher knows the best how to cover up for the rapture and he does a miracle this time by penning ‘Lyla’. Noel claims that "Lyla is a cousin of Sally earlier introduced in Don't Look Back in Anger". The song too appears to be a cousin of Don't Look Back in Anger because it is no better or no worse than the latter. This song is one of the best of Oasis. From the opening Guitars to the closing moments, this song never gets enough for anyone. Liam has sung this song with too much delicacy and a strong British accent along with top class guitar by Noel and Gem and rhythmic drums by Zak are too good. The very beginning of song's guitar tunes will take one's mind away and the fusion of instruments at the gradual slow ending of the song make it a superb record. Needless to say, it's a must listen.
Song Rating: 9/10
So, ready for the next one?
Liam never thought of being one step behind his brother for he has penned the next one that is ‘Love like a Bomb’ along with Gem Archer. The opening is excellent and the Britpop ambience is created and the chiming guitars can be heard along with the soft and soothing drum beats by Zak. The mid of the song is especially very delightful due to gradual drift of the music to a slower tune. “Liam is a great lyricist and sometimes he writes like Elton John,” once Noel had commented in an interview. This song will prove that Noel’s saying was absolutely right. The Beatles’ John Lennon might have been happy to know about his worthy successor.
Song Rating: 7.5/10
Now, if Oasis ever dreamt of being the re-incarnation of The Beatles, they have come to their dream closer because the next song ‘The Importance of Being Idle’ is simply mind blowing pals. The song has tunes inspired by The La’s and The Kinks. The song explains the true meaning of laziness and all about the real Noel’s lifestyle. The lines “if you give me a minute, a man’s got a limit, I can’t get a life if my heart is not in it” and “I lost my faith in the summer time, because it don’t stop raining, the sky on day is was black as night but I’m not complaining” are apt to the song as the song is itself about ignoring the worldly affairs and a lazy fellow. The music that follows “my heart is not in it” is very loud with powerful guitar and loud drums. I recommend that, you will enjoy the song in a better way if listen it along with its video.
Song Rating: 9/10
Now, the album is sounding super cool until the album’s weakest song appears just after the end of one of the strongest. I’m talking about ‘The Meaning of Soul’. It is a jackass move to be honest. It seems as if there had been no demos of the song at all in the studio. The song should be categorised more as filler than an entertainer. So even if you skip this track, it won’t make much difference. It is not horrible, just average. Had Liam written it with more concentration, this song might have gone well. But alas! Experts make mistakes too. The song has heavy influence of strong and loud drum beats acting as compressor of guitar tunes.
Song Rating: 4/10
Now where is Noel? Because next track ‘Guess God Thinks I’m Abel’ has also come from Liam’s creativity. Though song has a weak start (due to lose guitar tunes), the song picks up pace in the mid way from the lines “let’s get along, there’s nothing else to do....’ The best lines are “No-one can break, no one could take us, if they have tried”, having a little neo psychedelic effect which correctly fits in the song. The background guitars by Gem and Noel are good and as usual Liam once again proves that he is the unrivalled king when it comes to singing the deep rock songs. In whole, the song is good if not great.
Song Rating: 7/10
Don’t worry because Noel has no vanished, he is still there and this time he does a real good job – ‘Part of the Queue’. The song has real neat bass guitars by Gem. It sounds more like one of the classic Rolling Stones’ songs. It is a good song and has helped the album to tighten up a bit. The refrain ‘Stand tall stand proud, every beginning is breaking its promise, I'm having trouble just finding some soul in this town’ is excellent especially when it is accompanied with soft guitar tunes couple of seconds later. The lines ‘I fall down, heaven won't help me, I call out, no one would hear, All of a sudden I'd lost my way out of this city’ expresses about the anguish when someone gets lost from his path of life and is finding a way to get back on the life’s right track, really a very meaningful song. This is one of the best Noel-sung songs in the history to be concise. His voice fits perfectly in this dark song. The instrumentals are undoubtedly the finest in this album and this song promises to entertain every time you click the button ‘play’ on your iPod.
Song Rating: 8/10
Now, that ‘Part of the Queue’ is over, now is the time for Andy Bell’s second contribution to the album named ‘Keep the Dream Alive’. The song has all the qualities that should be in a song to be widely accepted. Actually the song is so good that it could have been a fourth single. The song explains that even if there are hard times, don’t lose hope. Even if you have fallen from grace and are getting kicked around, just don’t give up hope and ever thing is going to be all right at the end of the day. The lines “I'm no stranger to this place, where real life and dreams collide, and even though I fall from grace, I will keep the dream alive” can be said as masterpiece as they are totally apt to the song and say a whole lot of things in such small quantity of words. Also the song has some beautiful rhyming lines like “I'm at the crossroads waiting for a sign, my life is standing still, but I'm still alive, every night I think I know, in the morning where did he go, the answers disappear when I open my eyes....” The song has beautiful vocals from Liam accompanied by excellent and outstanding instrumentals during the mid song and the song has a very graceful ending. Especially, the instrumentals played near the end of the song, leave a very delicious trace in your mind. Guess, Andy is taking song writing seriously these days. He deserves a standing ovation to be in earnest.
Song Rating: 9.5/10
Now, leave ‘Keep the Dream Alive’ because if I had the freedom to write only about it, I could have written probably around 2 pages. But there are other songs also and let’s shift our focus to them. So, there is another new comer’s contribution in the album. This time it’s the phenomenal bassist Gem Archer’s turn to pen a song. The song is ‘A Bell Will Ring’. This is not the greatest that Oasis have done so far, but it sure is fun. The opening lines “A little space, A Little Time, see What It Can Do, a little faith, a peace of mind, see what passes through..” are pretty cool. The song has good Britpop styled bass guitars and rhythmic drums by Zak. Liam’s voice is rougher in this song as compared to the other songs in this CD, but it doesn’t mean that he can’t rock ‘n’ roll. The music is old fashioned rock, the one like you may find in Bryan Adams’ ‘Open Road’. I’m not saying that both the songs bear similarity, all I’m trying to say that they can be sorted in the same category. Though song is not very awesome, yet it’s enjoyable.
Song Rating: 7/10
Now comes the last song of the album and Noel finishes it real good. ‘Let There Be Love’ has a slow and soothing effect. It conveys the love towards their fans who had never given up faith in their favourite band in their hard times. It’s the best song in the album, not only in the album, but the best since the ‘Wonderwall’. The piano is superb. Noel and Liam are way too cool in the vocals. Actually, it is the only Oasis song that have both the Gallaghers in the vocals since ‘Put Yer Money Where Yer Mouth Is’. Liam starts the song with the lines:-
“Who kicked a hole in the sky so the heavens would cry over me?
Who stole the soul from the sun in a world come undone at the seams?
Let there be love
Let there be love”
Then after one more paragraph by Liam, Noel takes up the vocals, with his lines being
“Come on Baby Blue
“Shake up your tired eyes
The world is waiting for you
May all your dreaming fill the empty sky
But if it makes you happy
Keep on clapping
Just remember I'll be by your side
And if you don't let go it's gonna pass you by” (“by” being extended to sound it softer)
Exit Noel. Again Liam takes up the vocals and continues till the end of the song. The ending of the song is accompanied by slow piano riff, a total Beatles’ style. If John Lennon would have been alive, he would have accepted that Oasis are now ready to take their crown as the best band in the world.
Song Rating: (timeless masterpiece)
So, that’s what Don’t Believe the Truth is actually about. Oasis are really back in the form and they are doing everything fantastic. Now, that’s why Liam said that “Don’t Believe the Truth is even better than Definitely Maybe”. The album totally deserves to be in the list of one of the Best British Albums of all time. So, don’t waste the time now. Rush to the stores to get your copy of the album today. This is great pals. One can now only wonder what this band is gonna conquer this time and how much creativity does The Chief has in his mind.
Believe the Truth: It is magnum opus.
