|
|
Post by Beady’s Here Now on Nov 14, 2011 20:37:13 GMT -5
Don't get me wrong. It's gotten very good reviews overall. But the 68 on Metacritic shows that it's gotten its fair share of average reviews too - most surprisingly from AllMusic (who are normally spot on and consistent, but to give NGHB a 3/5 and DOYS a 4.5/5? Really now?).
To me, this is a stunning album.
The only track that's worth skipping is SBAJF, and even that's not bad. WAL has grown on me, and while DO does drag on a bit, it's a catchy little number. Everything else is fantastic.
Are the average reviews simply down to the fact that this is quintessential Noel and he's been criticized for not changing his sound or structure?
Critics be damned. This is his best work since WTSMG (although BHN may still edge it because it's just so ridiculous). If this was the mid-90s and Liam was singing on half of these songs, this album would be praised so highly. Why the double standard from the media?
Noel has delivered. And how!
|
|
|
|
Post by leak4ever on Nov 14, 2011 20:41:53 GMT -5
Like with anything related to the Oasis name, most scores automatically come down a few points simply by association.
|
|
|
|
Post by bwilder on Nov 14, 2011 20:43:45 GMT -5
To the media (i.e., educated, music officianados who think too highly of themselves) Noel and Oasis will always be derivative (what band isn't?) and lazy. And "even though he does branch out a little bit on this album, he still plays it safe and stays within his comfort zone ,blah, blah, blah." Fuck them and the snobby, indie-geek horse they rode in on. It's a superb album.
|
|
|
|
Post by BlueJay on Nov 14, 2011 20:50:20 GMT -5
I dunno, the second half of this album reminds me of the second half of DOYS. I don't know about anyone else but I usually always stop it after AKA...What a Life!, the last four tracks are just repetitive.
I'm not sure If I can take 10 songs of Noel's voice. It's not insteresting enough to carry a whole album. And I'm not saying that Liam should be singing cause he would make it better, because he most definitely wouldn't, most of it is out of his range. It's just well, Noel is no Barry White.
|
|
|
|
Post by headshrinker84 on Nov 14, 2011 21:01:47 GMT -5
I dunno, the second half of this album reminds me of the second half of DOYS. I don't know about anyone else but I usually always stop it after AKA...What a Life!, the last four tracks are just repetitive. I'm not sure If I can take 10 songs of Noel's voice. It's not insteresting enough to carry a whole album. And I'm not saying that Liam should be singing cause he would make it better, because he most definitely wouldn't, most of it is out of his range. It's just well, Noel is no Barry White. I love the second half of the album. Broken arrow and On the wrong beach are superb. |
|
|
|
Post by Silence Dogood on Nov 14, 2011 21:15:51 GMT -5
because like a lot of us have been saying, it's a good album, even very good at times, just not great.
definitely not as good as some of you made it out to be, or as good some of the people on here wished it was.
Sure, those who said it's not a 9 or even an 8 caught a lot of shit but guess what a LOT of critics agreed with that notion.
I think the album got a lot of extremely good reviews in England, but in America it has been a different story.
Also a lot of the big time publications' reviews have been from good to average(All Music Guide, Uncut, L.A. Times, The Tribune, PopMatters, etc)
What i read in a lot of the negative reviews was that the songs was missed Liam's delivery. And some said it was his vocals that made latter Oasis albums interesting. Now i don't completely agree with that but there is a certain amount of truth in that sentiment.
|
|
|
|
Post by bwilder on Nov 14, 2011 22:20:42 GMT -5
It's a great album. Disagree that the second half sounds repetitive. I actually like it alot.
|
|
|
|
Post by Headmaster on Nov 14, 2011 22:21:31 GMT -5
I still think to this day that music critics are bitter towards anything related to Oasis and the Gallaghers, and the reason of this remains to be known.
|
|
|
|
Post by Rifles on Nov 14, 2011 22:37:22 GMT -5
I still think to this day that music critics are bitter towards anything related to Oasis and the Gallaghers, and the reason of this remains to be known. Agreed. Oasis will seemingly always have that "we copy the Beatles, fuck you" cloud hanging over them, more specifically so in the US. Guaranteed if NGHFB went mainstream and became a huge success, his next album would get great reviews out of the gate. You rarely see big mainstream acts get bad reviews, but that's just one of the reasons why you have to ignore them and make up your own mind by listening to albums yourself. Don't let journalists or pre-teens like lgfaver sway you. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2011 23:01:50 GMT -5
The issue is that this album does not necessarily strike you at first listen as being a great record. Sure, there is EOTR, IIHAG, TDOYM, and few others that are stand-out tracks, but the whole is not heard as being great.
On one listen, most albums are average at best. It's subsequent listens that reveal the deeper side of the record. Reviewers don't take multiple listens because of deadlines, biases, etc.
No big deal, just the way things are.
|
|
|
|
Post by nataliemckinney on Nov 15, 2011 0:23:01 GMT -5
Here's my question, and I'm asking because I truly don't know, I'm not trying to be a smart-ass. Are Oasis/Gallagher's not critically acclaimed only here in the US? It seems to be that they are far more appreciated in the rest of the world than they are here in the States. The States just seem to be all about mainstream, pop, whoever has the most money to make their debut, etc, etc, etc. I can't take listening to the radio anymore. It just sucks. Yet I constantly read bad or average reviews about Oasis, NGHFB and BDI, and I find myself wondering... have these people heard anything much beyond Kesha or Justin Beiber that they've lost touch with what good music really sounds like?
|
|
|
|
Post by Marcos on Nov 15, 2011 0:46:59 GMT -5
I dunno, the second half of this album reminds me of the second half of DOYS. I don't know about anyone else but I usually always stop it after AKA...What a Life!, the last four tracks are just repetitive. I'm not sure If I can take 10 songs of Noel's voice. It's not insteresting enough to carry a whole album. And I'm not saying that Liam should be singing cause he would make it better, because he most definitely wouldn't, most of it is out of his range. It's just well, Noel is no Barry White. I have the exact same opinion. And I agree when you say it has nothing to do with Liam singing those songs. Noel's voice isn't interesting enough to carry a whole album. It gets boring after a while. 3.5/5 seems more than fair. |
|
|
|
Post by andymorris on Nov 15, 2011 1:31:28 GMT -5
To better balance it, Record machine should have been between Wrong beach and Stop the Clocks. But the last songs arent repetitive: Soldier boys is way different from broken arrow that is way different from Wrong Beach. They are not BIG tracks like the first four, so they should have been apart.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2011 2:20:03 GMT -5
I don't know if it is about his voice, of course it has nothing to with Liam, but something in this album is just...plain. It's not boring at all, but lacks a real epic if anything.
And 3.5/5 isn't so bad, it's actually 7/10, better than average. ; )
|
|
|
|
Post by yeayeayeah on Nov 15, 2011 2:26:13 GMT -5
The only song I dont really like is STC, to me its a fantastic album. Brilliant crafted songs, I just hope he keeps the craftsmanship up on the AA album, im not a fan of the remix style of AA's IIHAG.
|
|
|
|
Post by King Blougaredoc on Nov 15, 2011 3:54:18 GMT -5
His voice is good enough for a full album, and the disc is good.
The only thing i miss is another big song (like Everybody is on the run or If i had a gun) near the end. Tracks 7-9 are good, but not as good as the rest.
|
|
|
|
Post by pwntinator on Nov 15, 2011 4:21:16 GMT -5
In Sweden most reviews seems to be 3/5 with the occasional 4/5. When it's Oasis related you generally have to add atleast 1+ to every review to get a fair score. Regarding the album, I really think Noel should've included Freaky Teeth somewhere in the end to make it abit more interesting. The album is fantastic this way aswell, though.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bittersweet Split on Nov 15, 2011 4:36:37 GMT -5
To be completely fair, we are all Oasis fans, meaning we like Noel's voice, his lack of deep/meaningful lyrics, the way he writes songs. It would be stupid if we didn't like this album.
But after the initial excitement, I think its worn down. Although it definitely does grow on you after a few listens - it still is pretty slow, and there isn't any huge variation.
And like Be Here Now, everyone has very different favourites. On Definitely Maybe, you would probably get Slide Away and Live Forever. Be Here Now, you get every single song. People rant and rave about AKA...Broken Arrow and AKA...What a Life!, but for me, they are pretty average in the grand scheme of things. Soldier Boys and Jesus Freaks is one of my favourites. Different critics will feel very differently about different songs (some love WAL, some think that Noel was thinking less sense than when he recorded that last Minute of Magic Pie - which fyi I like too)
It's not an amazing album, I would rank it below DBTT (which is ranked below BHN, then DM, then WTS ect). A top tier album though, not down there with HC, DOYS and SOTSOG
|
|
|
|
Post by howsoonisnow on Nov 15, 2011 4:55:40 GMT -5
It's a very good album, the songwritting is the best since 10 years BUT it lacks some stuffs.
It gots amazing tracks like EOTR, IIHAG, RM and WAL. The rest is just Noel doing Noel, not stand out tracks, just good. Of course, it's way better than anything at the moment, but for a songwritter like Noel it's a little easy.
Dream on, SBAJF and TDOYAM are boring after a few listenings, it's 3 60's kind of song, Kinks like, it's 3 new TIOBI, it's too much. Broken arrow is a new POTQ, STC tries to recapture the magic of a CS but doesn't. There're all very good songs, but they're a little boring because we're too used to hear that from Noel.
And since his voice is not amazing, the album gets a little boring on the second half. And it lacks some rockn roll tunes that an Oasis album always had. And Liam's voice could make a boring tune into a very good one, so it saved some tracks.
But it's still a fucking good album, just not a masterpiece that people have hopped.
I think b sides or bonus tracks like ASGOG or LTLSALOM are way more interesting that some tracks on the second half of the album.
|
|
|
|
Post by rupertg on Nov 15, 2011 5:26:52 GMT -5
The album is definitely top heavy. The first 3 Oasis album Noel spread out all his best songs. So the albums didn't feel lop sided if that makes sense. Freaky Teeth should have been on the album but i'm not sure where.
I don't care much for the new recording of Record Machine. It lacks that hooky bassline plus the choirs don't add anything to the song. It's like a Polyphonic Spree remix. What's with the kids noises at the beginning? Noel should have doubled up his vocal for 'Don't give me a reason...' part like the demo.
I'm glad Noel is back to writing strong b-sides/bonus tracks.
|
|
|
|
Post by AubreyOasis on Nov 15, 2011 5:44:32 GMT -5
Some comments :
1) It is obvious that many reviewers have strong prejudices about ALL Oasis-related albums, not only this one. In many snobbish magazines/websites they simply hate Oasis. Do I really need to remember you that Drowned in Sound said DBTT "was a stinking pile of rubbish" and started their review of DGSS with the line: "Why do Beady Eye even exist?". Oasis-related albums always have 5-6 reviews of that kind and that lowers down their average score in sites like Metacritic and the like. The wisest thing is to simply ignore them.
2) Even in the case of critics not so harsh about Oasis, it is simply very "uncool" to say you are a big fan of anything Oasis-related after the 90s. So, even if they like the album, they will write a positive review but will go with 3 or 3,5 stars instead of 4 or 4,5. A lot of 3,5 /5 reviews read like 4/5 or even 4,5/5 reviews.
3) Even despite of all that, this is the Oasis related album with best reviews since BHN. The most influential UK (NME, Q, Mojo) and US (Spin, RS, Paste) music magazines have all reviewed the album very positively, with Uncut being the exception. Even some snob websites (Pitchfork, Drowned in sound) have given to the album their best score to Oasis-related albums in ages. We have also seen again a few 5/5 reviews for first time in ages. The way Metacritic computes average scores can be very influenced by a few very low scores, but still you can also check this album's score is the highest for an Oasis-related album since Metacritic was created (excluding greatest hits collections, of course). Even the worse reviews are 2/5 or 5/10 reviews that reluctantly acknowldge that "there are some nice tunes" or that some particular song/s are great. And, of course, concert reviews have been fantastic and most have highlighted how the new songs stand well along the classics and the crowd already knows each word of the lyrics.
4) But, all considered, the most important thing is how most of us feel about the album. For me, it is 9/10. It is the first Oasis-related album since BHN that really means something to me. I know EOTR, IIHAG, TDOYAM will be with me for many years in the same way as Rocking Chair, DLBIA, Don't go away, The Masterplan or any other classics of Oasis' golden years.
|
|
|
|
Post by idledreamer on Nov 15, 2011 6:31:05 GMT -5
I dunno, the second half of this album reminds me of the second half of DOYS. I don't know about anyone else but I usually always stop it after AKA...What a Life!, the last four tracks are just repetitive. a little bit, huh? that's what i've thought all along. maybe not repetitive, exactly, but as andy morris said, no BIG tracks that stand out. i've always thought that last 1/3rd of the record could have used another 'aka... what a life' to break things up a bit, and to have another track in there that really jumps out at you. BUT f*ck me '(stranded on) the wrong beach' is a MONSTER live. whereas before i thought of it as a decent, safe track it's now one of my favorite tracks from the album. the way noel sings the first verse gives me chills.  |
|
|
|
Post by space75gr on Nov 15, 2011 7:28:03 GMT -5
Like with anything related to the Oasis name, most scores automatically come down a few points simply by association. |
|
|
|
Post by drteter on Nov 15, 2011 9:07:00 GMT -5
I'm glad it's gotten decent/good reviews so that people won't be automatically turned off of buying it, but beyond that your perception of the songs/album should be your own and I don't put too much stock in them.
I personally love 7 of the 10 songs on it (EOTR has grown on me since my first listen) and think RM, STC, and SBJF are okay. For me, that makes it the most consistent Gallagher-related record ever..I loved 5 each off of DM and WTSMG. That said, it will take time to see whether this album will end up being better/more meaningful for me than either of those releases.
I think that IIHAG, WAL, and EOTR are the first batch of Noel solo classics, as someone mentioned before.
|
|
|
|
Post by jilliam on Nov 15, 2011 16:10:53 GMT -5
The album is good however it isn't *THAT* good. We say its great, the best since BHN or WTSMG but, in reality it isn't. Its a slow album and not really my cuppa. It does have 5/6 good songs, the rest are fastforwardable fillers. Both L&N have an established fan base that will buy/enjoy anything they put out, so I would have been ok with Noel taking five fucking years off and put out STELLAR tunes, instead playing the rat-race and putting out mediocre material for the sake of "Oh my wife was tired of seeing me doing shit around the house" malarkey. Fuckin artist these days, "oh we wont be relevant, we'll miss the boat" mumbo-jumbo. Oasis/L&N are no longer "flavors of the month" who need to pull these types of shenanigans, they're established and will be relevant whenever they decide to put new material out. I don't want quantity, I want QUALITY! And that's why this album wont be "critically acclaimed".
|
|
Nov 4, 2024 5:04:30 GMT -5
Nov 4, 2024 5:04:30 GMT -5