Give it another spin or two.

Damn fine tune for sure.

This is an interesting take. I adore that Pulp album.

I'm curious about your comment that you don't think MOON will age well? What in particular makes you think that? I think it'll sound the best as time goes by. Certainly better than Noel's debut which was kinda hodge podge in production.

Circle back in a few weeks and update your initial thoughts.

ok..
You gotta roll with it
You gotta take your time
You gotta say what you say
Don't let anybody get in your way
'Cause it's all too much for me to take

Don't ever stand aside
Don't ever be denied
You wanna be who you'd be
If you're coming with me

I think I've got a feeling I've lost inside
I think I'm gonna take me away and hide
I'm thinking of things that I just can't abide

I know the roads down which your life will drive
I find the key that lets you slip inside
Kiss the girl, she's not behind the door
But you know I think I recognize your face
But I've never seen you before

You gotta roll with it
You gotta take your time
You gotta say what you say
Don't let any fucker get in your way
'Cause it's all too much for me to take

I know the roads down which your life will drive
I find the key that lets you slip inside
Kiss the girl, she's not behind the door
But you know I think I recognize your face
But I've never seen you before

You gotta roll with it
You gotta take your time
You gotta say what you say
Don't let anybody get in your way
'Cause it's all too much for me to take

Don't ever stand aside
Don't ever be denied
You wanna be who you'd be
If you're coming with me

I think I've got a feeling I've lost inside
I think I've got a feeling I've lost inside
I think I've got a feeling I've lost inside
I think I've got a feeling I've lost inside
I think I've got a feeling I've lost inside
I think I've got a feeling I've lost inside
I think I've got a feeling I've lost inside
I think I've got a feeling I've lost inside

Repeat the line over 10x doesn't make a good lyric and good melody. Noel even used the word Baby. Some of the songs won't age well due to sound



Noel should tour with Robbie Williams. Both pop acts now

I don't get that sense at all, especially lyrically. Noel is a fairly lazy lyricist. He retreats to the same imagery and words at nauseum, and has bragged on several occasions that he doesnt think about lyrics too much.

In truth, Noel's lyrical inahabitions and propensity to repeat lines, or not edit them in greater detail, existed before this album.

Also, the way Noel describes the sessions, it comes off that he had plenty of time to edit. I don't think the songs were ever fixed points in time.

Well....Noel has finally stepped out of his comfort zone. About fucking time!

Because, unlike many of his brethren (read: pale imitators), we've always known that Noel was capable of far more. Take a listen to Setting Sun, Teotihuacan, Let Forever Be, etc. It's always been in his DNA to do something other than the past-reverent rock classicism that we're all too used to hearing from him. Yet he's always kept that part of him locked up in his secret dungeon, only giving it the fleeting glimpse of sunlight. But to his credit, it's not for lack of trying, it's just that every other time he wanted to try something new, it was always marred by an uneasy trepidation, a severe lack of confidence followed by the inevitable desperate scurry to the comfort zone on the next album. Now, armed with a new sense of adventure, and a quintessentially Oasis don't-give-a-fuck-alright attitude, and a producer brave enough to push Noel into new territory, it seems that Noel has finally begun to express that untapped potential. But do the individual songs stand up? Let's find out!!

Fort Knox: What better way to kick off a new change in musical direction than something that is as utterly bonkers as this? String loops, hip-hop beats, airplane noises, soul shrieking, and an alarm clock that grinds on your skull to awake you from Noel's lethargic midtempo stupor that he's spent the best part of the last 20 years frozen in. This is not the Noel Gallagher I know. This is what The Prodigy, Kanye West, Primal Scream, Pink Floyd, and an insane midget clown would conceive in a flaming orgy. And it's fucking amazing.

Holy Mountain: It will come as surprise to absolutely nobody that I still think that this song is fucking amazing. So fucking euphoric and stratospheric. One epic rollercoaster of a tune. There are few songs that have had such an impact on me on first listen. This is one of them. It's kinda hard to explain. In any other universe this would have been a number 1 hit worldwide. Except Noel's far past his prime and nobody pays attention anymore. And his management is the most shit of any band I've ever seen in my entire life. It's their fault that Oasis wasn't as big as Nirvana was in the States. Fucking bastards.

Keep on Reaching: This is great fun. Sounds exactly like a 60's Motown hit single. Who knew that Noel had that soul singer voice in him? And those glorious horns, my god! I was initially slightly disappointed that this song was more Marvin Gaye than Sly Stone and didn't have some epic funk groove, but this is so fucking catchy that it's harder to get out of your head than your brain. And that more than makes up for it. Also, can we stop interpreting the lyrics as being about Liam? They have better things to write about, ya know. Interpreting all of your songs through the lens of their feud is missing the forest for the trees. I know Beady’s Here Now is gonna create a shit thread about that within the next few days.

It's a Beautiful World: So sublime and restrained, not a hint of melodrama. It brilliantly treads the line between groovy, beautiful, and ominous like nothing else Noel has ever written. In fact, I'd say that this is by far the best-produced song of the bunch. So sparse and minimal for Noel, especially when you consider that he released the mess that is Be Here Now. Not a single wasted element in the mix. Everything from the frog croaks, and the heavenly sprinkling of chimes. And that chorus! I know that most on here are of the opinion that the verses are far better than the chorus, but I'd bet that people would have a different view if we hadn't already heard the chorus in the previews. I love how it sneaks up on you, after such a low-key and subtle melody in the verses, there's a sudden release of tension when Noel comes in with "it's a beautiful dream, a beautiful night". It's supposed to catch you by surprise, and I think the previews ruined that for many people. It did for me. But I know that when I'm not paying the fullest attention to this song, it'll pounce on my ears and blow my mind. Probably his best solo song.

She Taught Me How to Fly: Ah, what's more glorious than the sound of Noel reconnecting with his Manchester roots? But instead of running to the long-dry well of Smiths and Stone Roses rip-offs, he nicks a few tricks from the playbook of Bernard Sumner! I'm honestly shocked that it took this long for Noel to discover that there's another famous and brilliant band from his hometown that he hadn't stolen from yet. And that chorus, wow! Just as uplifting as Holy Mountain's, but more subtle and clever. I cannot wait dance to this song at the club like some idiot.

Be Careful What You Wish For: I don't understand the hate this song has been getting. It's a low-key, brooding groove with subtle guitar strokes and an awesome layered drum loop. Plus it's brilliantly arranged. Get a load of those weightless keys around the 2:00 mark. And those female backing singers may be his best use of them ever since he discovered that ladies could sing too. What's not to love?

Black & White Sunshine: Sounds like The Smiths collaborating with New Order! Which is pretty funny when you remember how much Morrissey hated dance music. I love this song about as much as the rest, but it feels slightly less inspired than most of what else made it onto the album. Because we've already heard Noel use jangly guitars on a hundred other songs before. But there's no denying that those drums sound absolutely fantastic, and those strings are an arranging masterwork. Which goes to show that, even when David Holmes isn't pushing Noel to try something different, he injects a shot of adrenaline into Noel's more generic songs to catapult them to greater heights. Imagine if this song was as midtempo as The Mexican. Nope, me neither. If David Holmes had produced Chasing Yesterday, I reckon that Ballad of the Mighty I would have sounded something like this. Which is basically a lead-in to my fantasy-world thoughts of how much better Chasing Yesterday would've sounded with Holmes at the helm. Admit it, it would have been a classic with a spice of David.

Interlude (Wednesday Part 1): Ah, peace and quiet on an album full of celebration and hardcore partying. Utterly unlike anything Noel has ever done before. And like the best interludes, it's got ominous undertones to boot. Would be perfect incidental music in a film, and that's where the Holmes influence comes in, I bet.

If Love Is the Law: Are those few seconds of bliss supposed to be the Eno sample that Noel talked about in interviews? Because I can't place what Eno song that might be, and I'm pretty familiar with ol' Brian's catalog. Besides, it would be completely pointless to sample something as only a very short intro when something similar can be easily created in the studio. Probably not a sample. Anyway, the tune's got an awesomely Christmas vibe that recalls that one guy who put a bullet in a poor actress's head. This is probably my least favorite song on Who Built the Moon, probably because the chorus is slightly generic, but the production is top notch, especially that moment right before Johnny Marr's harmonica comes in where the drums suddenly become timpanis and the slight strokes of the cello (?) accompanied by shaking of the bells, all with the guitar delicately picking its way through the mix. It's moments like those that are the reason I listen to music. And of course Marr's harmonica itself is magnificent.

The Man Who Built the Moon: Wow, what a menacing motherfucker! Those pounding drums, frightening strings, ghostly bass, the choir, and even that barely-there acoustic guitar. This is a production triumph from start to finish. Imagine if Stranded on the Wrong Beach even sounded a little like this. Now, imagine if this song was as dreadfully plodding as everything on Noel's debut. The contrast is frightening, isn't it? Goes to prove how production can make or break a song. I've never bought into the "good music can succeed with shit production" mindset of rock classicists. Would When the Levee Breaks be nearly terrifying if it didn't have the swampy guitar and harmonica, and those thunderous drums? Nope. Same goes for this song. This is a particularly good example of how production can launch a song to the moon (heh) because it's in the exact same style as his debut, yet it pisses all over everything from that era because of all of Holmes's subtle touches. And that can be the difference between a good song and a crap one.

End Credits (Wednesday Part 2): And then there's the reprise. This song's pairing with The Man Who Built the Moon in the tracklist represents the most ominous and foreboding moment in Noel's entire discography. Yes, more so than Dig Out Your Soul. I agree that this one is a little too close to its sister in the tracklist. The whole point of a reprise is that it's supposed to make you go "oh, I've heard that before!!" in one of those magical musical moments. Placing the two parts too close together is counterproductive. But that's a minor complaint. What I really wish is that Noel had made the "Dark Side" of Who Built the Moon live up to its name by including something far more sinister, in the vein of the two Wednesday songs and The Man Who Built the Moon. It could've used Be Careful What You Wish For as a brooding introduction, and in place of Black & White Sunshine and If Love Is the Law he should've included something genuinely frightening. Maybe some Penderecki strings and Brötzmann sax? Something with a dirge tempo would've been a great contrast to the joyous Holy Mountain. But I don't know if Noel recorded anything that would've fit my fantasies. Based on that one of the outtakes is named "Daisies", I'm guessing he didn't.

Dead in the Water: And after all that, we get this nice acoustic song. This is a great tune and all, but I cannot understand why people are hailing it as Live Forever part 2. It's brutally honest, and has some of the greatest lyrics Noel ever wrote, and is gorgeous, but it ain't got nuthin' on the best moments of the album proper.

God Help Us All: Well, it wouldn't be a Noel release if it didn't include at least one song that's over a decade old, would it? This, however, is utterly dreadful. It isn't hard to tell why it missed the cut on four albums. Because it's shit. What did the poor fellows of Japan do to have this inflicted on them?

And that's Who Built the Moon!! By far Noel's strongest solo album, and by some distance the greatest album either Gallagher has released since Be Here Now. It's absolutely stunning what musicians are capable of when they step outside their comfort zone, even slightly. In fact, I wouldn't call Who Built the Moon a move into left-field, or even a radical departure. Despite my calling some stuff on here having no precedent in his discography, it's simply a logical progression, a simple if stunningly effective refinement of ideas he clearly wanted to express on Chasing Yesterday but seemed afraid to. And yet, I still believe that Noel still has his best solo album in him. If he was able to make such a great album by stepping outside his comfort zone even a little, who knows what surprises he still has up his sleeve? Noel should keep absorbing new ideas and keep constantly evolving. Because, if there's anything to be learned from Who Built the Moon, it's that change is the enemy of irrelevancy.

The problem with DOYS was the songs themselves were fairly weak overall (particularly the second half), regardless of the sound production. The songs on WBTM are far, far stronger.

tl;dr Lennon2217!! what's the score?

For me:

Fort Knox – 4
Holy Mountain – 1
Keep on Reaching – 8
It's a Beautiful World – 7
She Taught Me How to Fly – 5
Be Careful What You Wish For – 7
Black & White Sunshine – 7
Interlude (Wednesday Pt. 1) – 5
If Love Is the Law – 5
The Man Who Built the moon – 8,5
End Credits (Wednesday Pt. 2) – 5

Extra:

Dead in the Water – 8
God Help Us All - 6


Who built the moon? is a very "oscillating" album with many "empty hits". But some songs are good...