The fact that he had a pedalboard assembled already could hint that the album is in its very late stages of recording, i.e. it's almost finished with only final mixing and little touches left to do.

That's pure speculation of course, but it looks like Noel is already thinking about how to perform new songs live since he has already selected which effect pedals he's going to need. That pedalboard looks tour-ready, it's definitely not a work in progress.

I really like God Help Us All. It sounds like be may be going in a different direction for this album though.

I say none of these. Noel and David Holmes said they had 1 rule during these sessions. No outside material. Everything written in the studio.

Noel also said Don't Stop would be on the new album a while ago. Wonder if it will, despite his agreement with Holmes.

Also, I don't like any of those unreleased ones anyway, so I wouldn't be sad about them not ending up on the album.

I've been saying that about Oasis related projects since 2005. Its a new era guys. Adjust.

Yeah, personally I think there's a few decent ones but nothing earth shattering.

I have conflicting feelings about this album. I'm excited that David Holmes is the producer - the first good producer Noel has had since Mark Stent and the fact he offered a subtle critique of Noel's songwriting the last number of years that it was all 'mid paced' is encouraging in that it suggests he will take Noel out of his mid-tempo stupor (which that amateur Dave Sardy only encouraged with his drudged and lumpen production).

On the other hand, Noel has described the new album as a true 'rock' album. We really don't want a dad rock album. For a start, Noel's rock tendencies are secondary to his pop sensibilities - despite the hard sound of the first three Oasis albums, Noel's songs were essentially pop songs rocked up (he himself admitted as much). Going on recent form, his rock songs are terrible and I see no reason why that would change for a 50 year old man. And all the great rock songs he wrote for Oasis were lifted into the echelons of greatness by Liam's killer vocals. Noel just doesn't have the power or attack in his voice for rock songs.

I really want this album to sound fresh and contemporary. I'm sick fed up of the derivative nature of everything Oasis related in the 21st century with their obsession on all things retro, all coming to a head by hiring a producer called Dave Sardy who couldn't find his way out of 1969. Oasis in their prime always gave a nod to the past, but were not stuck in the past and that raw distorted brickwalled sound was actually fairly contemporary in the 1990s.

Oasis were always at their best when they mixed the new with the old. That applied even to a good few tracks and demos from the Shoulder of Giants era which indicated Oasis had a promising future. It's no surprise though that - beginning with Heathen Chemistry - the more derivative they got, the worse they became.

It's time for Noel to get back in the present.

Digital media is so cheap to produce, I don't see why they can't release something each week for the last 5 or 6 weeks leading up to the release of an album online. Any combination of things... songs, videos, interviews, lyrics videos, studio videos, etc. Something simple, 5 minutes or less. Give a nod to the fans who are eagerly awaiting the release. Not to mention, such simple things get plastered all over the web via magazine sites, blogs, etc. It's cheap pub... but they'll never do it properly.

I'm also skeptical that the record will be released soon, but he began recording the album in 2014. He's devoted quite a long time to it.

I've seen that road before

I desperately want Noel to create music that will shock and frighten his audiences. And not in the way HC shocked and frightened us, but something that generates polarizing reviews. Something that you wouldn't expect from Noel. Something that you wouldn't recognize as him. And, given how musically conservative Noel has been in his career, this could be pretty much anything.

You can't be serious when you compare these tracks to atrocities like PAITM. Especially BOTMI which I strongly believe is one of the best things Noel has ever written (and recorded, cos it's not often that he totally nails the arrangement and production of a track). The fact that these songs elicit such a negative response from some fans just because they are driven by a four-on-the-floor beat and the instrumentation differs from the usual electric guitar drone or acoustic strumming makes me worried Noel will never try something really outside his comfort zone for fear of losing his audience.