Oasis
Don't Believe The Truth

THE REVIEW

Apology of a damned band.

I think "don't believe..." is a beautiful album. It partly recalls the carefree spirit of "definitely maybe", along with that grit and their traditional arrogant desire to remind the world what rock n roll is.
This is felt in songs like lyla where liam's voice scratches like a classic of the stones, and mucky fingers, an excellent tribute to the VU, here as well as in let there be love, a wonderful Beatles-esque ballad, you simply find a recall to what are the foundations of rock, the models you necessarily need to refer to in order to make good rock.

I don't think you can talk about plagiarism as many of you say because the melodic lines and harmonic progressions do not match with those of the classics that these songs remind us of. The effect is simply that of a familiar sound, a sound that draws its origins from models and walks in their footsteps quite worthily. That it may not be pleasing is certainly acceptable, but I think it's unacceptable to dismiss with quick insults and offensive, cliché-filled attacks a band that for better or for worse has contributed so much to rock music over the span of two decades.

What nevertheless leads me to define this as a great album is the innovation of a sound that at times doesn't even seem like oasis, with original songs like the importance of... a pompous and indifferent baroque ballad that exudes an atmosphere worthy of the late kinks and part of the queue, a very un-oasis folk. Then there's the meaning of soul and guess god... which are the two sides of the contribution made by liam, the first being a brief impactful punk rock and the other an intriguing, catchy and brilliant moment of reflection in its coda. Another innovation is bell's contribution with two beautiful songs. The first, which opens the cd, is built on the contrast between the sweet riff that opens and closes the track and the aggressive and captivating middle verse, both in lyrics and in music. The second (keep the dream alive) is instead a simply beautiful sunny song with a verse that energizes, culminating in a chorus that immerses us in a dreamy and ethereal atmosphere like that strange solo, a pity it lasts too long. Finally, a contribution that seems less incisive is from gem who co-writes with liam a second songbird (love like a bomb) a sweet and carefree song, but ruined by liam's voice, this time inappropriate, and that in the end adds to the oasis repertoire a track (a bell will ring) that adds nothing qualitatively to the album, that may only appeal to the most devoted fans.

In conclusion, I believe this album should be appreciated precisely for its paradoxical physiognomy that in some ways re-connects it so much to the old oasis of supersonic and shakermaker and in others makes it a real turning point with an unusual originality in noel's songwriting vein and with the long-awaited contribution in songwriting from other band members. I hope my point of view is accepted democratically, perhaps not shared but still respected. Cheers.