He's already a master, there's nowhere left to go...



Trust me.

Jazz.

It seems like whenever Noel has incorporated any sort of element of jazz into the sound of his music, it's turned out really well. Just have a listen to how Roll it Over sounds with the drums, how Alone on the Rope is, and from what others have said, the brilliance of The Right Stuff. I think there'd be some really good stuff coming from it.

Along with jazz, I'd like to hear some more of an electronic flair mixed in with the usual guitars. I think we'd enjoy it because we'd hear Noel experimenting, without banishing the guitars at all, and he'd be able to channel his time at Hacienda. 

In my opinion, he should ape David Bowie's Station To Station-era sound of funk orientated rock/blue-eyed soul, but he won't.

Hmm, good question.

I'll start by saying what I hope he doesn't further reach out to, and that's Jazz. 'Alone on the Rope', 'Riverman' and 'The Right Stuff' have all been subject to rave reviews on this forum, however I've been somewhat indifferent to all 3. I was initially disappointed by 'The Right Stuff' due to it being described as the most crazy far-out moment on Chasing Yesterday and arguably in Noel's entire career. Combined with the knowledge of it being worked heavily upon by Amorphous Androgynous I was imagining something more in the vain of Primal Scream (Screamadelica, etc.) so it was pretty underwhelmed to hear a heavily Jazz inspired track featuring piano work so heavily. It has however, unlike 'Alone on the Rope' and 'Riverman' grown on me as a uniquely special song in the context of the album. It's stands out in the NGHFB's catalogue, but does it compare to any of the highs of Oasis catalogue? No. A solid track but nothing more. I personally believe Noel will in fact keep up a presence of Jazz inspired moments in his work, however I do hope they stay as only a small part of his work.

Speaking of pianos... They are currently my least favourite part of the Noel's new musical developments. Obviously they work well in tracks like 'AKA... What a Life!' and 'The Ballad of the Mighty I'... but on others? Less so. Often they feel like a very, very obvious idea to add a prominent new layer to a track and I truly believe several of the tracks which contain them, really don't need them and in fact detract from them. They're too crystal clear... too radio ballad for my liking.

One area I hope Noel will look more towards in the future (and am somewhat surprised he hasn't already knowing his background) is electronic music and sounds. I personally believe the most far out, un-Noel like moment on the entire album isn't 'The Right Stuff' but the intro to 'While the Song Remains the Same'. And It's great. It reminds me of the intro to 'I Might Be Wrong' by Radiohead. If he lean towards doing something half as good as 'Setting Sun' I'd be very happy.

(Oh, and keep the guitars & guitar solos!)

I went for IDM...I'd love to hear Noel delve into more textural music and besides I'd love to hear what the critics write when they can't recycle the same "good-reliable-traditional-same-old" Noel review clichés. And WHO doesn't want to hear a Gallagher chorus over an choral synth and a skittering Aphex Twin beat??
I like the jazz but hope it doesn't become TOO heavily featured in future albums, could get cheesy.
Also happy and surprised that keep to stadium rock is so far the only one without a vote.

As long as the guitars stay, and some of the jazz elements do, too, that doesn't sound bad at all.

BTW, with the stadium rock, I think it's such an overdone thing for Noel at this point in his career, and plus he's had some good times with the style of song (Lyla, RWI, LBL, TSOTL) so it's good to look at what's been done & look ahead to what can be done moving forward.