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Oasis

Dig Out Your Soul

Written by: PP on 25/10/2008 13:31:38

"Dig Out Your Soul" is the first Oasis album since "Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants" where Noel Gallagher returns to his role as the chief songwriter of the band, which coincides with the notion that the record is also the best Oasis album since that 2000 record. Both 2002's awful "Heathen Chemistry" and 2005's "Don't Believe The Truth" saw Noel's brother Liam and others writing many more songs than in the past, and the end result was two albums that nobody really liked aside from maybe one or two decent songs ("Lyla" anyone?).

But don't buy "Dig Out Your Soul" looking for another "Wonderwall" or "All Around The World", because those days are long gone for Oasis. For starters, Liam's voice doesn't have the same naive character to it as over a decade ago; his croon is still one of the most distinct ones in the world and works wonders when he prolongs the length of his words, but it's just not capable of the same youthful spirit any longer. The guy is 42 years old, after all. But if it's songs like "Go Let It Out" you're looking for, you'll be pleasantly surprised to find "Bag It Up", "The Turning", and the album highlight "The Shock Of The Lightning" satisfying your hunger for the best British alternative rock on the planet. Especially the latter is as quintessential modern Oasis as it gets.

Generally, "Dig Out Your Soul" follows a pattern: when a song is credited to Noel, it's practically always a good song, and when the song is credited to Liam (or someone else), it's often more experimental, and in pretty much all cases, not nearly as good as Noel's songs. This poses a problem for us critics, because around 70-75% of the album is the best stuff Oasis has written in eight years, while the rest of it is more of the mediocre crap of the last eight years. In the end, I guess "Dig Out Your Soul" is a return to form by Oasis, though that statement made with certain reservations.

Download: The Shock Of The Lightning
For the fans of: Filter, Blur, The Verve, Suede, Travis
Listen: Myspace

Release date 06.10.2008
Warner Bros