Oasis - Don't Believe The Truth
Oasis
Don't Believe The Truth
Sony

Fuck! I don't hate this. I wanted to. I wanted to scyth through these eleven tracks with a..err...scyth and cut Oasis down for my own ends. I wanted to pummel the stumbling, knackered corpse of a spent force and throw it off a large building. But Jesus. They actually managed to rouse themselves and fling themselves into a studio to produce something worthy of cash (not mine).

Turn Up The Sun
There's more melody packed into the first 30 seconds than there is in the last three albums. There's more heart and more emotion in those desultory keys and wistful tambourine hits than in their last 8 whole years as a band. Then the electric guitars come in and threaten to over-egg our melodic party with 'importance' and 'epicness' - but they find some trundling middle ground, mixing nicely with some subtle keyboards - phasers set to 'hypnotic'. And then when you think we're going to be subjected to three mins thirty of nice, but uneventful choogle - they throw in some slowy-down, ooooo-eeeee-oooo psychedelic breakfast. This is fun. And no-one sings over the really good bit or ruins it. Lyrics total crap - they get worse later on.

Mucky Fingers
Their most shameless rip-off/appropriation yet - and never having been a fan of the Velvet Underground, I'm not getting down on this funk train, sista. And when I say it's VU-esque, I'm talking down to the detail - the cadences of Lou Reed's voice, the tinny drums that kick no ass, the grating rhythm & the hog-fuck 'noise' ending and the attempts to hypnotise that just sound like an average garage band tuning up.

Lyla
Arguably the most boring song in Christendom. Why was this was ever chosen to be a single? Do kids these days really get excited over plodding, mid-tempo chord bashing? It's so rigid and plain. The lyrics are frankly a joke. It sounds like a five-minute intro - and not even an intro that's cool like 'Beetlebum', more like an intro that sucks ASS like 'Song 2'. Did they ever write another part for this song? It's a question we'll never know. It's like asking a member of Queen if they thought Freddie Mercury was gay. We will just never know the answer.

Love Like A Bomb
Acoustic strummage, tasteful rhythm. Liam's vocals not really suited to this style - it's supposed to be kind of tender and summery - and his raspy whine grates over this - like Teenage Fanclub fronted by a hoarse donkey. After verse 1, psychedelic tendencies return in a little breakdown - then open out into a total keeper of a dreamy piano melody. Again - not much to this song - but when it opens out for a minute or so, it's good and not like typical Oasis at all - being that it's got a melody. Ends in the right place - where previously they'd have wanked two minutes of solo to the end.

The Importance of Being Idle
The Beatles meets Love. Noel-sung, my favourite of the two brothers. This one sounds like they put effort and actual care into it. Endearing little falsetto. Wearing the 60s influence on the sleeve, pretty good guitar breakdown in the middle again - a total progression - instead of soloing or playing lead over the exisiting chords - he's playing over a different set. It's muso as hell - but these are points that show thought and that he's learned a little from previous form. It goes on about a minute too long - but is a rather good song - not unlike an early b-side in tone and mood.

The Meaning of Soul
Total crap. Stodgy Stooges rip off. The saving grace is its brevity. Two chords and not a whole lot to it.

Guess God Thinks I'm Able
Self-effacing title. Lovely chord cycle to open. Changes into another nice one. Lyrics still total poop. Not a whole lot going on in this one until the last twenty seconds - but that's OK, because those chords sort of speak for themselves and again - nice show of restraint from all concerned on this effort.

Part of the Queue
This is the chord sequence from 'Golden Brown'. Noel-sung - anthemic lyrical content ("Stand tall/stand proud") - but again, not amazing. In fact, they've got the Stranglers chords, but the drummer throws in some interesting off-beat fun that alters the pacing and the emphasis. And the piano that comes in halfway through does a quality job of adding some pathos and interest to this. Again, strangely remniscent of b-sides gone by - but they were always the more interesting of Oasis' early works, so that isn't too bad.

Keep The Dream Alive
Awful title for one. This one is quite chaff-heavy - idle chord sequence, boreds-ounding vocals and lazy effect piling on top of the vocals. This goes on four minutes too long. Lyrics still absolutely crap.

A Bell Will Ring
This feels strange. Like Liam singing for another band, with crappy lyrics. Not that this other band is any better - they play a little more 'square' and in the pocket - but it's not Oasis. The performances on this are nothing short of comatose.

Let There Be Love
Despite the hippy-dippy sentiment and hippy-shite lyrics, this isn't bad either. Noel & Liam share lead vocal duties for the first time since 'Acquiesce' - some pretty up-and-down Beatles chordage with nice, pure pipe organ wooo-ing - restraint, summer vibrations and despite the Oasis-esque length (5mins plus) - it retains interest and a little tinge of sadness. Liam's vocals tasteful. Nice upward swoop towards the ending.


OK. So there's five and a half decent songs on this effort, out of eleven - which by Western Mathematics is exactly half of the album. Perhaps I'm being kind on some bits - but they're very un-Oasis - but melodic, and they show some actual thought and compostional nouse. The album is shot through with an acoustic summery psychedelia - but not over-egged - so it doesn't come off 'whacky' or forced. It sounds like a band utilising production techniques and alternative approaches within their existing sound and is all the better for it. Lyrically, it's not amazing - but this comes with the territory - if you like lite-platitudes that take in 'the sun' and 'love' then you're rolling in the hay. It's not a challenging record, nor much of a technical departure - the same people who bough Oasis records before will love this and enjoy it - but it is more engaging and more fun and less boring than previous efforts. The songs that suck really suck. But the ones with a bit of enterprise will indeed...err...surprise. If you enjoy this record, I'd recommend The Olivia Tremor Control or Of Montreal very highly. If you'e playing football in the park with friends, this will work. If you're having a barbeque, this may sound better with the meaty beer glow. It's not the greatest album ever released, nor even a much vaunted return to form - but it's acceptable British guitar fun, and for that reason - not hateable not loveable. Merely 'likeable' or 'ignorable'.


Dan Thomas




comments (0)
04 May 2005 by Dan Thomas

click here for a printable version of this story






name:
mail: (optional)
smile: