You know that feeling you get at Christmas, when you get something you have been begging for, that you was really looking forward to been bought? You open up the wrapping and there it is, the one toy that you just absolutely wanted so much. You thank whoever bought it, get it out of it’s case and instantly play with it to death. However, when you play with it again on Boxing Day, it just doesn’t seem as fun? So it ends up just piling up the dust until the day you decide to play with it again. That’s how I feel with Dig Out Your Soul.


I played it to death for the first day, two days in fact, that I owned it. Defended it to the hilt against everyone who was saying it wasn’t that good, putting on my best Noel Gallagher-esq quote of “..best since ‘Morning Glory’”. However, when I listened back to it, after taking a break for fear of overplaying it, I realised the album was lacking something. What was it? A bit of soul I felt, which I always thought was ironic considering the album title. Individual tracks on their own weren’t that bad. They still ain’t really if truth be told. Tracks like Bag It Up, Falling Down and The Turning really do hold up well on a listen back. However as an album, the disappointment is still there.
One for the conspiracy theorists out there, listening back to it now (after the split), brings me to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, the split was inevitable. Some of the lyrics in songs such as Falling Down, I’m Outta Time and Solder On definitely lead onto this theory, maybe. Ohh snap out of it! A band like Oasis was never going to plan any kind of split beforehand. So, what do I think of the tracks now? Well, let’s have a look then shall we?

Bag It Up: From the opening chords, the opening lyrics (Gold and Silver and Sunshine is rising up / Pour yourself another cup of Earl Grey) to each of the other verses. This song works in so many ways. The Chord progression is just perfect for the chorus and the melody from the bridge (Someone tell me am dreaming/ The freaks are rising up through the floor/ Everything I believe in/ Is telling me I want more, more, more) while they don’t look much on paper, musically it just fits. Pure Noel Gallagher poetry, only he could write something like this. 7/10

The Turning: Has a nice gentle rocky type of opening. The music just glides the air like an angel. Then the lyrics start and even Liam’s vocals sound the best on record in albums. Every line is sung so perfectly. The melody in the chorus is just so gentle that your singing along and don’t even realise it. The lyrics in the chorus does leave a bit to be desired if we are being honest (Hey, come on, shake your ragdoll baby / Before you change your mind / Then come on, when the rapture takes me / Be the fallen angel by your side). However the most beautiful bit is when Noel’s backing vocals and when he takes over and all you can hear is him singing Shake your ragdoll baby. Then it fades out to Andy Bell playing Dear Prudence in L.A. which I do personally like but then the original outro (to be found on the original tracks) is better. 8/10

Waiting For The Rapture: When this track starts, it’s heavy beating. Almost like a hammer on a table style banging as it drags itself up and running. Then you realise it’s Noel’s turn on the vocals and, the only other Noel-sung song I could compare it to in Oasis history is Force Of Nature, it’s like its younger brother but better. At least this has melody and musicality within it. The chorus does leave a bit to be desired and, in my mind looking back, possibly the best bit was listening to the instrumental part of the song. Then comes the outro, which consists of Noel repeating himself but, you can’t really make out what he’s singing. Until the outro of just guitar playing the same chord over and over for roughly 5-10 seconds. 6.5/10

The Shock Of The Lightning: This was the debut release from the album. I remember hearing it all those years ago and loving it. When the music starts, it’s almost sounding backwards and plenty of feedback ala Cigarettes & Alcohol however this is only for the opening 5 seconds. Then it’s going forwards and it feels like you’re on a musical journey of some sort. Not much in the way of melody until the chorus, I will admit. This song does suffer from the old typical Oasis sound. Is it Oasis-by-numbers? I think it is, a little too much. It reminds me of a crossover of The Hindu Times and Some Might Say with a dash of Go Let It Out and Lyla thrown in for good measure. Though this is the one song to feature three nice little moments, one of which is near the beginning when Liam sings The Shock of the lightning (Noel can be heard saying shock too, it’s hard to describe how beautiful it is, but believe me, it is). The second is the drum solo which just makes me want to jump around every time. The last one is the backwards bit at the end of the song (to which, Champagne Supernova can be heard being sung backwards). All in all, not bad but not brilliant 7/10

I’m Outta Time: Liam’s turn at the song writing. It starts off with, what sounds like a flying soucer, until you then hear Liam’s vocal come in singing his usual la-la-la’s. However, on this song it works with the piano. Lyrically, the verse leaves a lot to be desired to be honest (Here’s a song, it reminds us when we were young / Looking back on all the things we’ve done / Gotta keep on keeping on) the chorus does contain the only bit of melody that isn’t in any way forced. The drumbeat is nice and gentle which suits the entire song. After the chorus, the song seems to take a mini-break for the instrumental part and then back to the chorus and finish. It does feel half done and that ruins the song for me. The Lennon quote at the end of the song doesn’t help either. 6/10

(Get Off Your)High Horse Lady: Starts off with handclapping along with a guitar and then you just hear Noel’s vocals being all distorted. Lyrically it isn’t too bad (better that I’m Outta Time for instance) but the effect on Noel’s vocals has just ruined the entire song for me. I can’t listen back without cringing. Musically, the chords sound nice and the drums sound almost reggae esq. I said almost. Like they are bongo’s or something. If the effect wasn’t there, I’d definitely rate this higher. However, it is and even the nice outro can’t save it, which does dissolve nicely into the next track, what with the seagulls flying and the walking on the sand 3/10

Falling Down: The entire song feels spacey and out of this world. The drumbeat is nice and, dare I say sexy. Noel’s vocals again as he starts beautifully singing the opening lines (Summer sun, that blows my mind / Is falling down on all that I’ve ever known) and onto the chorus (which is a little borrowed from The Rolling Stones). Every inch of this song is immaculate. You just can’t fault any of it in my mind. The echoes of the lyrics help the spacey feeling remain throughout. The lyrics are just perfect, the guitar, the bass and even the drumming can’t be made any better. You really realise just how good it is, when you’ve had it on repeat. It’s easily the Importance Of Being Idle of this album, by which I mean it will be the only track off the album that will be remembered by future generations. This song does take you to space and back throughout and then even the outro, which is nicely understated. Couldn’t be bettered in any way 9/10

To Be Where There’s Life: Gem’s turn to take the song writing duties and this one starts off with the sitars (yes, sitars) starting up and then the drumbeat. I remember first hearing this and wondering where it was going. Then Liam comes back to the vocals with “Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayss turn into night” and you realise where it’s going. All throughout the song, the lyrics are sung with, I feel, very little passion. The entire song just feels lifeless. Like it’s been re-recorded several times and the vocal take they chose just feels like Liam was getting bored and just sung it and said “that’s it. I ain’t doing it again.” This is part of the reason I don’t like this song, it typifies the album. Lifeless, doesn’t get going (the live version is miles better, loads more energy). Lyrics are actually some of the best on the album in my eyes infact, just a shame the rest of the song ruins it. In my mind, the song’s best bits are the instrumental part and the outro where Liam ends up singing with a bit of passion at last, and then it ends with just the sitar playing out 4/10

Ain’t Got Nothin’: Back to Liam’s song writing and the best bit of this song is the intro, because it sounds like it might well be an old fashioned kind of rocker, the kind you’d find from their early days. Then comes the guitar on 10 seconds and still there is hope. Until Liam opens his vocals and lets out some of the worst on the album and this includes the lyrics. The drumbeat feels old and dirty, the vocal’s feel like they could have been improved. The vocals are what make the melody in the entire thing. When you find out this was demoed back on the last album, Don’t Believe The Truth, then you realise what it reminds you of. Four words, The Meaning Of Soul, which in itself wasn’t that bad as a one-off. The only saving grace for this has to be the fact it clocks in at just 2 minutes and 14 seconds, of which you will never get back. When you consider there is at least another two Liam written songs on the sidelines waiting to come on (The Boy With The Blues and I Believe In All) both of which are at least two leagues above this, it makes you wonder what Noel was thinking about when he chose this monstrosity to be included 3/10

The Nature Of Reality: Andy’s song now, his one and only chance which starts off with loud feedback guitars (again) as it then bangs straight into distortion. At one point, this feels like it might just save the back end of the album. Then Liam starts singing and again, it feels soulless. The lyrics, though sounding good, ain’t brilliant but still better than any of Liam’s on the album. It’s a bit too short and simple sounding. The handclap is a nice inclusion but by this point you’ve had enough of this album and your starting to realise that it has no back legs and that, if it was a horse, it would have been put out of its misery a long time ago now. Feedback guitars greet you again on the way out as it passes by and you just don’t miss it 4/10

Solder On: This one is all Liam’s, almost harking back to Better Man off Heathen Chemistry this just starts with almost lazy guitar playing and drumbeat but it creates a nice vibe. The vocal effect of almost echoing every lyric Liam sings works on this track. Even the “na-na-na’s” he does fit in. Ok, so the echoing does start to grate on you by the second verse but it’s then you realise it’s almost the end of, not just the song, but the album as well. Liam starts echoing Solder On like a mantra as the drumbeat starts pounding to a marching band style. Everything about the outro makes it sound so much more epic than what it, or the album, actually is. It goes on, and on, and on. Never ending. Getting to the point where you’re even chanting this mantra to yourself now, to just keep soldering on in whatever you do. Then comes the actual ending which is a noise I just can’t describe 5/10


So that’s that then isn’t it? The album, as a whole just, as I said before, feels soulless. The vocals by the end of it just seem to slack off, the lyrics could be better on the album as a whole but the biggest problem for me? Songs that sound like rehashes of songs already released. By that I mean, for I’m Outta Time see Little James (the drumbeat and piano, am not saying are in anyway the same, they are similar. This one is just a better track by miles). For Solder On see Better Man. Waiting For The Rapture is like Force Of Nature and Ain’t Got Nothin’ is so like The Meaning Of Soul it may as well be called part two. Even ignoring all them similarities, you just listen to it and you don’t feel like getting excited like Don’t Believe The Truth and, even if you levy up the old they was maturing their sound argument, it even fails in that compared to Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants. So with that in mind, the score I give it just isn’t surprising. The other problem is the lack of emphasis from To Be Where’s The Life onwards 6.5/10