Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

"I stare at the walls of hotel rooms and wonder: where didn't I go wrong?" Multiple answers could be given to this self-celebratory phrase, one of many, by Noel Gallagher. A bit arrogant, a bit presumptuous, and very, very English. As self-considerate, attesting his superiority over Beady Eye, the former companions of great successes, there's the present "Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds", mostly written during the years when he was still the composer par excellence of the Manchester band.

One certainly can't accuse him of not being, at least in pro-album propaganda, a gentleman. He waited for Liam and his loyal followers to have their say—that is, the everything and the nothing—with the first post-Oasis album, and he, increasingly timid, more introverted, and less flamboyant than his brother, waited for his moment to say his piece. Opening with "Everybody's On The Run" is a luxury, perhaps even a reckless mistake, and Mr. Gallagher has made many mistakes, perhaps even too many, but that has never quenched his thirst for art, his desire to write, and so it should be no surprise if at 44 he still enjoys writing songs, then going to Abbey Road studios to record a piece like "If I Had A Gun," the distant '90s of "Don't Look Back In Anger" have never been so close as now.

Aside from the comparison between "The Death Of You And Me" and "The Importance Of Being An Idle," a piece from a few years ago, the album progresses wonderfully, with new pieces and revised old demos, such as the excellent "(I Wanna Live In A Dream In My) Record Machine," or the splendid pairing of "AKA What A Life/AKA Broken Arrow," the latter having great impact, I read online "the usual Oasis No. 8 ", a pairing well divided by "Soldier Boys And Jesus Freaks," where the words should be listened to before the music, music expertly seasoned but not overdone, by the trumpet/trombone/saxophone trio of G. Alesbrook/T. Mires/A. Kinsman. To conclude, just to leave nothing to chance, the 'old' Gallagher chooses to change the final arrangement of the closing track "Stop The Clocks," which lent its name to a (mediocre) Oasis collection from 2006.

Overall, this solo debut by Noel Gallagher keeps everyone a bit happy, from the nostalgic of his former band dubbed as the Beatles of the '90s, to those like many others who never tolerated his brother Liam's irreverence but now find themselves faced with a work of utmost respect. Whether you call it Pop, Brit, or Rock, it doesn't matter; it's still a Noel Gallagher record, and whether you love it or hate it, one still wonders where he didn't go wrong, and even this time, once again, the answer to this question is still missing.

Rating 9