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Rating: In the year of collective revival made in England, with the much-anticipated return of Coldplay, Travis, Verve, Charlatans, and company, "Dig out your soul" certainly could not be missed, the seventh studio album by Oasis. The Gallagher brothers, on the verge of their forties, return to the music scene after almost three years of absence, and three decades after the sparkling splendors of their beginnings.
It is necessary to clarify the Oasis experience, which has been extensively discussed on this site (sixty reviews, sixty!!!) swinging excessively between positions of open hostility filled with insults and prejudices and fanatically favorable positions full of words like "best" "world" "genius" and "fucking." There exists a scale of values that, beyond personal preferences and tastes, is essentially based on the basic idea of originality, distinguishing a commercial sub-culture that offers the banal and empty reproduction of stereotyped elements, the sterile repetition of tried and tested conventional formulas of sure and intended success, from more innovative music, more refined, more unpredictable, expressing the tendency towards experimentation and novelty. All this, of course, with nuances and intermediate levels.
Well, for the past 15 years, Oasis has been moving on the same main coordinates: an anachronistic 70s rock'n'roll, an obsessive reference to the Beatles, a continuous and fake hint at psychedelic music, an unmistakable trace of easy Britpop. They are part of that rabble of musicians who add nothing to the idea of traditional music: the albums that have followed over the years do nothing but reshuffle the cards, exchange the pieces, invert the order of the addends. And as we know, the result does not change.
This album is no exception. Pervaded everywhere by a flaunted rock, tinged here and there with pseudo-psychedelic nuances, completed with some tear-jerking ballads of Beatle-like memory. The usual, in short. The usual launch single, "The shock of the lightning," fast and catchy, written by Noel in five minutes while he was on the toilet. The usual rock songs played on the catchy riff and Liam's raspy voice that practically carries the piece alone ("Bag it up," "The turning," "To be where there's life," and the truly pathetic three final songs "Ain't got nothin'," "The nature of reality," "Soldier On"). The usual particular, experimental songs that seem to come out of a "Magical Mystery Tour," sung by Noel with his lower and mellower voice ("Waiting for the rapture," "(Get off your) high horse lady" and the appreciable "Falling down" in George Harrison style). Finally, the usual big ballad "I'm outta time," the only truly beautiful piece, where the sweet and lulling melody perfectly matches Liam's sensual voice.
As they say: nothing new. An absolutely mediocre album, at times almost poor.
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
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Other reviews
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 faber
This glorious band has lost the spirit and polish of the beginnings, flattening into a tired and repeated re-proposal of the same formula.
Very few things are saved in this album: the surprising 'I'm outta time', truly remarkable if you think it's written by Liam.
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.
