The Observer 5/5*

...think thats the Guardian though, not sure...its definately 5/5 though

Sounds like a real "lukewarm" reception to me...

Oh yeah, thats what i mean. I was just commenting on the news report that was posted earlier today that made mention of how the new album had received "lukewarm" reception from critics... i think its bullshit

i'll believe it when i see it.

New mag called Burning or Burner ( UK edition dealing with media files, mp3s etc ) gave it 3/5 *

Rolling stone hardly ever give albums 5 stars, that is just incredable if it is true. Can't wait to read that review.

rolling stone will give it 4 stars. they'll save the 5 stars for x&y

I got asked to post these reviews in this thread, so here goes:

From Uncut, UK magazine:

"Oasis - Don't Believe the Truth 2/5

Sixth album from champions of Britpop

Ever since 1997's Be Here Now, the critical - and one suspects popular - view of each new Oasis album has been the same: sigh at the daft title, scrabble for signs of the old Burnage brilliance and surmise that, hey, following this creative pipe-cleaning process, the next album will surely be a belter. then promptly listen to it once and file next to the dustmite colonies coating Heathen Chemistry. Since last year's triumphant DVD edition of Definately Maybe, however, the stakes have been imperceptibly raised. Why indulge a half-power Oasis 10 years on from their peak?

Such are the problems appraoching Don't Beleive the Truth. Where the Stones regularly ventured toward new horizons as the years rolled by, Oasis - as the aborted Death In Vegas sessions prove - are either unwilling or unable to leave a seemingly infinite Beatlesverse where the mid-'60's jangling goes on forever. Ocassionally, the sparks still fly. "Lyla" - a shameless hijacking of the driving riff-rock of tour pals Soundtrack Of Our Lives - is an adrenalised reminder of the band who once re-landscaped Knebworth. And Gem Archer's "A Bell Will Ring"will send shivers down the spine of those for whom "And Your Bird Can Sing" always ends too soon. elsewhere, however, the lack of urgency makes it feel like we're eavesdropping on a well-heeled Britpop Survivors Group rather than the site of fresh rock 'n' roll alchemy.

Noel seems particularly unfussed on his five songs. "The Importance Of Being Idle" is an update of the popstar whimsy of The Kinks' "Sunny Afternoon", while Mucky Fingers is a bizarre Velvets-style stomp boasting the line "You can squeeze into the Emporer's clothes!" which at leats proves he turned the radio at some point in 2003.

The best of Liam's three contributions, "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel" (sic) is a passable acoustic cousin to "Songbird", which means it's left to Andy Bell to provide the power ballads - and you know what that means. By the final Rutles-lite of "Let There Be Love", even diehard fans will be begging for the engineer to start the fade-out early.

At which point the irony of the title becomes clear. You can still love Oasis, you just can't beleive in them anymore."

I haven't actually heard the album yet, except Lyla, and wasn't too impressed by any of their offerings this side of of the millenium, but it does kind of seem like the reviewer made his mind up before he listened to the album so he could say that stuff about every new Oasis album being "the same: sigh at the daft title ...".

The magazine do sometimes get reviews wrong, but generally they are quite accurate. Hopefully this is one of the blips.

Classic Rock, another UK magazine was a bit more encouraging:

"Don't Beleive The Truth - 8/10

After a decade treading musical water, the Gallaghers' sixth album sounds ambitious and inspired

On March 2, 1996, Noel Gallghers' muse swaggered down the front steps of it's owner's West London mansion and went on the run. That was the day Don't Look Back In Anger hit the top of the UK charts, and the last time people truly beleived Oasis could do no wrong. In the nine years since then, the Gallagher muse has been sighted only rarely, and never with wuite the same twinkle in it's eye. For all their Beatles' comparisons, asis are slowly morphing into The Rolling Stones. Many still view the band with huge affection, but in terms of the music, there can't be many people still holding their breath for another Definately Maybe.

Sixth album Don't Beleive The Truth starts badly. For one thing, its title is another of those psuedo-prophetic statements Noel Gallagher is so fond of (Be Here Now, anyone?). And for another, its opener - the Andy Bell penned Turn Up The Sun - shows a total disregard for why people find the band so boring these days. Bar the autumnal intro and the guitar break, its just Oasis being Oasis again, with the same three chords and tired old sentiments.

And then - out of nowhere - Don't Beleive The Truth starts sounding rather fantastic. "Mucky Fingers" is a Dylan-esque gem, with barrelhouse pianos and a harmonica solo. First single "Lyla" offers the best last-orders chorus Noel has penned this century, albeit longside the usual lyrical twaddle about catching people when they fall. Even Liam's songwriting continues its upward trajectory with "Love Like A Bomb", a lilting acoustic strum with piano by Martin Duffy. Nothing to rival the snarl and spittle of Supersonic, of course - but there's more than a twinkle of the same fairy dust that coated "Whatever" and "Talk Tonight".

Despite the songwriting democracy Oasis operate under nowadays, the best efforts are still left to Noel. "The Importance Of Being Idle" is a long-lost cousin of "Sunny Afternoon" [compare that to the comment Uncut made on it haha], and manages to be something Oasis haven't been for ages - interseting. It's a dreamy psychedlic lollop, with a sense of whimsy and imagination that was so lacking from 2002's Heathen Chemistry. Better still are "Part Of The Queue" with it's 3/4 rhythm and shades of The Strangler's Golden Brown, and "Let There Be Love, which trades the usual bombast for a simple piano part and haunting vocal.

Oasis will never again be young, hungry or able to write a song like "Live Forever". What Don't Beleive The Truth proves, however, is that they are capable of far more than the autopilot dross produced between 1997 and present day. This is categorically their best album since What's The Story.. and a return to somehwhere near top form. Recommended."

here the review from amazon.com
Oasis albums have always prompted flashbacks--Was that a Beatles melody? Is that chorus on loan from T. Rex? Wait, wasn't that a Crowded House song once? But the mouthy British group's latest really sounds like a pop artifact. Both in production and execution, Don't Believe The Truth feels like an album better suited to 1965 than 2005. From the tambourines and jangling guitars that chime in opening track "Turn Up To The Sun" to the tinny pre-hippie philosophizing of "Keep The Dream Alive," it's an album that thinks the way forward is by looking back. First single "Lyla" borrows its opening swagger from the Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man," while "The Meaning of Soul" lifts the Small Faces' mod jitters wholesale. But hack through the clichéd lyrics and worn riffs and the most important element on the follow up to 2002's Heathen Chemistry remains distinctly Oasis' own: Attitude. And in such wonderful abundance, "No one could break us/ No one could take us," they sing. --Aidin Vaziri

Adrian Denning's review (he runs a popular internet music review site):

www.adriandenning.co.uk/oasis.html

Rating: 7.5/10

Well, it's been a few years now since the last Oasis platter introduced their new line-up and introduced the concept that people other than Noel Gallagher could write songs for the band. Of the eleven songs here, only five are penned by Noel, the others shared between his brother Liam, guitar player Gem and bass player Andy Bell. Reportedly, the band had 100 songs to choose from and abandoned the original album sessions which were produced by dance bods Death In Vegas, because of doubts about the artistic direction and problems with the studio. So, Oasis end up producing merely another Oasis album. Noises made that this is the groups best work since their debut may be overstating things a little, though. True, the music here has improved from the often stodgy sound the group end up producing. The new line-up have now truly bedded in and bring extra distinction to the groups instrumental work. Oh, talking of the instrumental work, none other than Zak Starkey, real beatles blood, performs all the drum work on this record. Well, knowing Oasis love for The Beatles, they had to take it that far, didn't they? Still, other than The Beatles we do see Noel in particular picking up a few other sixties artists to take inspiration from. 'Part Of The Queue' and 'The Importance Of Being Idle' are clearly influenced by Noel having been listening to The Kinks rather a lot, lately. Both these songs are highlights of the album, proper songs with interesting vocals, lyrics and instrumentation. Other Noel Gallagher album highlights include the glam stomping first single, 'Lyla', included on the album only after the record company complained the album lacked a strong first single. 'Lyla' sounds distressingly similar to the Stereophonics in places, but it's still a catchy number that's hard not to sing-a-long with.

'Mucky Fingers' takes its cue quite clearly from The Velvet Undergrounds 'I'm Waiting For The Man'. Oasis never were terribly original, but it's cool hearing Oasis make something approaching a genuine wall of noise in an artistic way, rather than in a pub-rocking Status Quo way. Having mentioned nearly all the Noel Gallagher tunes as highlights then, what are we left with? Well, brother Liam's songs are decent enough, if not exactly weighty enough to classify as genuinely great songs. 'Guess God Thinks I'm Abel' for example would be a lot more interesting than it is had Liam not already admitted that it doesn't mean anything and is just a play on words. 'Let There Be Love' sees Liam try to be Beatle-John, right down to the echoey sounding piano and simply strummed acoustic guitar chords. The opening track 'Turn Up The Sun' has some good instrumental moments. The album as a whole is good, almost very good. But, there is a weak point that at times is difficult to ignore and that's Liam's vocals. Liam's voice sounds very thin and pinched, his vocal chords certainly having lost quite a bit of power since the days of 'Supersonic' or 'Roll With It'. Perhaps this is a temporary something rather than a permanent decline in the quality of his voice. Only time will tell. As for now, Oasis have produced an album that will delight long-term fans, perhaps even win over a few new converts. No masterpiece, no life-changing even, not even an album to hold dear and cherish. Just a good album. It's enough for now and enough to keep them going.

***

Got a bunch of the details wrong, though!

Oasis: Don't Believe The Truth

Released: May 31, 2005
Genre: Rock
Number Of Tracks: 11
From the tambourines and jangling guitars to the tinny pre-hippie philosophizing, it's an album that thinks the way forward is by looking back.


Sound: To start, the sound of the CD at times can be sketchy. Perhaps it's a technique to add reverberation, but on such tracks as "Mucky Fingers," the audio effects make the music a bit convoluted. Past the technical issues, the sound of Oasis is slightly different from before. While the parallels to the Beatles are still noticeable in tracks like "Love Like A Bomb," other, assorted tracks sport a new sound. In a guitar perspective, theyve even experimented with new chord patterns away from the same repetition as before (which we all loved anyhow). [4]

Lyrics: I have to say that Oasis was never the most poetic. The lyrics for "Don't Believe The Truth" aren't amazing, but they do hint at subtle relations to religion. In the title "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel," references to heaven and death, and a new overwhelming sense of pious undertones, Oasis might be hinting at a deeper meaning to songs, which isnt a bad thing. For those singing the lyrics, there is noticeable change too. Though most of the songs are short, the singing variety on the CD is pleasant. Noel and Liam are complimentary to the music in the songs they sing; Noel now has some godly pitch he can reach ("The Importance Of Being Idle") and Liam can still sound Beatles-esque (except "A Bell Will Ring," which seems sketchy). Overall, not a bad job singing at all. [4]

Overall Impression: Overall, the Oasis' CD is better than Heathen Chemistry, which I disliked. Theres more lyrical value and while the voices may have been sound boarded, there are no complaints for the end product (with 1 exception). Other good tracks not mentioned are "Let There Be Love" and "Lyla," their single. Only reason it doesn't get straight 5? It'll never compare with the Oasis of the past. I feel blasphemous rating this better or the same as Morning Glory or Definately Maybe. [4]

www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews/compact_discs/oasis/dont_believe_the_truth/index.html

the * denotes stars.