It's strange we're hearing about how dance-oriented / Chemical Brothers-oriented the new stuff is, yet there's Noel in the video with an old school guitar like something a shoe-gazer would have. 

That's an interesting point, and one that hints at why he refused to produce Chasing Yesterday; basically because all the songs were completely finished, giving him little creative influence.

Like I said previously, if it is a 'rock' record, then let's hope to god it is in the vein of Fuckin In The Bushes. That dabbles in electronic production techniques like sampling, loops and synths that are going on behind the Led Zep style riff, and is all the better for it. Those largely used electronic techniques - whether it be the drum loop, the vocal sample, the swirling synth that you can make out - sound so weird to put you off kilter, while the ears face an onslaught of guitar riffs and choirs. Yes, your reaction should be 'what the fuck is this?!'. That's what rock music should do - make you sit bolt upright and assault the hearing.

And, not to get too sidetracked, despite the cliches thrown around that Oasis in the 90s were purely a retro nostalgic act, I do believe they pushed the boat out sonically - albeit in the most reckless manner possible. What with the Owen Morris brickwalling, the vast distortion and earth quake inducing guitars, these were pretty modern techniques that really pushed the noise levels up to the maximum (taking hints here and there from shoegaze), so much so that much of what went before sounds relatively tame. The success of Oasis did not purely rely on nostalgia and conventional songwriting, it was also largely down to the fact that they DID sound like a modern band. Oasis, and the following solo projects, biggest failures are exactly down to sounding TOO retro at times.

I'm amazed that some folk think rock and electronic styles are mutually incompatible. Combined together, it more often than not conjures up the heaviest, most in-your-face hard hitting intimidating sounds of the modern era - something that 'rock n roll' prided itself on back in the day, yet whose proponents these days are so insufferably inoffensive and dull that you get the impression they don't have any idea how to 'rock'. And yes, I count the poorer Oasis material and Beady Eye in that.

It would have been great if Noel had taken an extra year to make Giants with a producer who pushed him to write and experiment in the studio. The weaker, more conventional songs should have been binned and Fuckin In The Bushes should have been the template for the album, along with other Noel experiments like Setting Sun. It would have been a fantastic reinvention: the hard hitting ballsiness would still be there, although the means to being 'hard hitting' and 'ballsy' would have changed. The ethos of the band would have remained intact while the band made sonic leaps. That is precisely why Liam's vocals are a wasted asset on so many songs (particularly the simpering Beady Eye); what better voice is there in the world to combine with the sonic assaults of electronica inspired music? You are not going to forget that easily, so why he - or Oasis - didn't bother beats me.

So when Noel says the album will be a 'rock' record, I sure as hell hope he doesn't mean in the style of a middle aged pub dweller rocking out to Status Quo (like many of his recent 'rock' songs). Of course, if it's largely electronica I'd be delighted, but if he is eager to still play the rockstar, then now is the time to put your balls on the line.... like a real rockstar.

Why not?

The Chemical Brothers are great and it would be far more interesting than the dad rock Noel has been churning out.

 Who said that?!

As long as it's better than Ballad of the Mighty I, then i don't mind. What an awful song.

And therein lies the rub - I think that we'd have much more of those moments if Noel where to branch into new directions, both in terms of structure and arrangements. Noel, I think, has been on a melodic plateau for a long time - even as early as Be Here Now, those timeless, indescribable melodies were starting to elude him.
He'll always have a baseline of songwriting ability, of course, but he's been resting lazily on that baseline for too long. I know a lot of people on here say that the melody is all that matters in a track, but I disagree. Imaginative arrangements, production, structure, and tempos can lift tracks massively - and bland ones can bog them down. I see songs like Lock All the Doors and If I Had a Gun as the latter, and songs like The Right Stuff, Riverman, and BOTMI as the former.

The only way Noel is going to give me any more truly indescribable moments now is by doing something fresh, modern, and forward-thinking. It doesn't have to be Aphex Twin, it can still be recognisably Noel, but it can't be bland, MOR, or unimaginative. 

And therein lies the rub - I think that we'd have much more of those moments if Noel where to branch into new directions, both in terms of structure and arrangements. Noel, I think, has been on a melodic plateau for a long time - even as early as Be Here Now, those timeless, indescribable melodies were starting to elude him.
He'll always have a baseline of songwriting ability, of course, but he's been resting lazily on that baseline for too long. I know a lot of people on here say that the melody is all that matters in a track, but I disagree. Imaginative arrangements, production, structure, and tempos can lift tracks massively - and bland ones can bog them down. I see songs like Lock All the Doors and If I Had a Gun as the latter, and songs like The Right Stuff, Riverman, and BOTMI as the former.

The only way Noel is going to give me any more truly indescribable moments now is by doing something fresh, modern, and forward-thinking. It doesn't have to be Aphex Twin, it can still be recognisably Noel, but it can't be bland, MOR, or unimaginative. 

It's been over a week now Noel, come on you frickin' tease!

The track listing was just put out on twitter.... that's something.

Anybody able to post the tracklisting on here?