•
Rating: Five unruly lads from the working-class outskirts of Manchester who, with a fresh and original style, made a name for themselves in just a few years on the international scene. Noel is a genius composer, Liam an inimitable frontman for voice, charisma, and personality. Their idols are the timeless gods of 60s-70s rock & roll: Beatles, Rolling Stones, Who, Kinks. With these premises, it was obvious that Oasis would become, in a matter of a few years, the leaders of the Britpop movement and the musical models of an entire generation. Their first three albums sell over 50 million copies. At Knebworth, 2 million people try to witness their performance (5% of the entire British population). And they repeatedly release historic singles of the caliber of Live Forever, Wonderwall, Don't look back in anger, Champagne Supernova, Don't go away.
This small summary of Oasis' primitive history serves to further understand the deep personal and creative crisis in which the group finds itself, agonizing for years: continuous problems with alcohol, drugs, and the law, a significant drop in inspiration, advancing age, Liam's voice turning into a hoarse and guttural lament, failures, and setbacks. In short, the Oasis are not what they used to be. At all. And the latest work, "Dig out your soul," demonstrates this amply. Arriving at the threshold of 2008, the band has now lost all originality. Besides the usual and continuous references to the works of the aforementioned Beatles, Kinks, etc., Oasis throw all the Britpop experience into their melting pot (for example, the Stone Roses), and numerous artists of today (like the Chemical Brothers). But above all, they are now a copy of themselves: that carefree and defiant style that has always distinguished them has been picked up and reused too many times, transforming into the faded and tired repetition of fixed and always identical patterns.
Very few things are saved in this album: the surprising "I'm outta time", truly remarkable if you think it's written by Liam. That touch of experimentation and psychedelia that distinguishes some tracks ("Get off your hide horse lady", "Falling Down"). The nice early rock'n'roll manner of the opening song, "Bag it up". The rest is a clear testimony of an artistic void and a lack of ideas that saddens me quite a bit: the launch single that couldn't be more predictable and flat, shamelessly copied songs (first among them "Waiting for the rapture" taken directly from the Doors and "The Turning" from Cliff Richard), songs of low quality used without a shred of restraint as mere fillers (and I'm referring to the various "The Nature of reality", "Ain't got nothing", "Soldier on").
In short, the album speaks for itself. It's not my negative judgment on Oasis, whom I loved and appreciated in their golden age, but a fact. This glorious band has lost the spirit and polish of the beginnings, flattening into a tired and repeated re-proposal of the same formula which, after almost two decades, becomes truly unbearable. I hope that those who still praise them and assert with absolute certainty the value of this record, remember what Oasis have been and what they have represented in the musical panorama of the 90s. Remember what a good record means, a memorable concert, a well-done piece.
Oasis have been great, but for this reason, they do not unconditionally deserve the approval and success they still unjustly, in my opinion, enjoy today.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Bag It Up (04:40)
Gold and silver and sunshine is rising up
Pour yourself another cup of Lady Grey
Take my hand in the meantime, when you've had enough
You'll find me on the end of a runway, babe
Tell the world that you love them in a melody
Send my old piano and a telegram
Gotta get me a doctor with a remedy
I'm gonna take a walk with the Monkey Man!
Someone tell me I'm dreaming
The freaks are rising up through the floor
Everything I believe in
Is telling me that I want more, more, more
Lay your love on the fire when you come on in
I got my hee-bee-jee-bies hidden in a bag
Tell me what you desire and we'll bag it up, high
Someone tell me I'm dreaming
The freaks are rising up through the floor
Everything I believe in
Is telling me that I want more, more, more
Lay your love on the fire when you come on in
I got my hee-bee-jee-bies hidden in a bag
Tell me what you desire and we'll bag it up, high
Shine a light on your fire when you come on in
I got my hee-bee-jee-bies hidden in a bag
Tell me what you desire and we'll bag it up, high
04 The Shock of the Lightning (04:59)
I'm all over my heart's desire,
I feel cold but I'm back in the fire,
Out of control but I'm tied up tight,
Come in, come out tonight..
Comin' up in the early morning,
I feel love in the shock of the lightning,
I fall into the blinding light,
Come in, come out, come in, come out tonight..
Love is a time machine,
Up on the silver screen,
It's all in my mind,
Love is a litany,
A magical mystery,
And all in good time, and all in good time,
And all in good time..
I got my feet on the street but I can't stop flyin',
My head is in the clouds but at least I'm tryin',
I'm out of control but I'm tied up tight,
Come in, come out tonight..
There's a hole in the ground into which I'm fallin',
So God's speed to the sound of the poundin',
I'm all into the blinding light,
Come in, come out, come in, come out tonight..
Love is a time machine,
Up on the silver screen,
It's all in my mind,
Love is a litany,
A magical mystery,
And all in good time, and all in good time,
And all in good time..
It's all in my mind,
Love is a time machine,
Up on the silver screen,
And all in good time, and all in good time,
And all in good time..
06 (Get Off Your) High Horse Lady (04:06)
Get off your high horse Lady, I don't need a ride tonight
Get off your high horse lady, I don't need a ride tonight
Lay down
I hear your soul song singing from a fire in the sky
I hear your soul song singing from a fire in the sky
Rain down
Rain down
Get off your high horse lady, I don't need a ride tonight
Get off your high horse lady, I don't need a ride tonight
Lay down
Lay down
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By jackas
For the past 15 years, Oasis has been moving on the same main coordinates: an anachronistic 70s rock’n’roll.
An absolutely mediocre album, at times almost poor.
By GrantNicholas
"Oasis convincingly excel in this newer morerock/psychedelic attire and less 'sneaky'..."
"'The Shock Of The Lightning' is a typical Oasis piece with a sprinkle of Primal Scream."
By sexyajax
Their formula works, oh how it works, they sell at high levels all their copies, which are truly copies of copies of copies of Wonderwall adapted to a new, deep, and personal text.
Liam has understood almost everything about life, has understood how to trick you.
By Boop07
'Dig Out Your Soul' makes the leap in quality: tracks more elaborate than the previous one, in an almost continuous blend of Rock, Blues, and Psychedelia.
'I'm Outta Time'... is the best song written by Liam in his entire career with the band, while having a melody, arrangement, and heartfelt interpretation.
