Here I am living in a post-Oasis world now with two albums that are kind of like Oasis but still not Oasis. The first release was from Liam Gallagher’s new band Beady Eye (basically Oasis minus Noel) which sucked. Now we have Noel’s solo venture which although much better is still nothing compared to his work with the group that put him on the map. Noel’s new album (recorded primarily by himself) is produced marvelously with some pleasing sounds and moments, but the songs are fairly forgettable. His songwriting seemed in as good as form as ever on the last Oasis album, so maybe he really does need Liam to make it all work?
Most of these songs sound more like Oasis b-sides than anything else which is fine just not particularly exciting. The songs are lush, big, and drenched in reverb with some really beautiful instrumentation but it never amounts to anything notable. There are no big hooks or catchy chorus lines it’s all just a rambling collection of very average progressions. If you were to strip these songs down they wouldn’t even be worth talking about, but Noel’s lucky to have a talented producer like Dave Sardy.
I’d comment on individual tracks if I could separate them in my mind,,”The Death of You and Me” is the only song I can ever clearly remember and it’s nice enough. Looking past the so-so compositions Noel is definitely gifted at creating a mood. Not to get all mushy but he really does put genuine emotion into his songwriting and performance, more so than Liam with Beady Eyes and it shows. Now that this has been released I’m just counting down to the big Oasis reunion. I’m positive that it’ll happen someday, they may hate each other but they are brothers. The only question is how long could it take for a reunion to happen? I for one can wait, give them time to cool off and come back with some better music than what they’ve given us on these two post-Oasis albums.
Favorite Tracks: “The Death of You and Me”, “(I Wanna Live in a Dream in My) Record Machine”