Oasis
Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants

THE REVIEW

Standing on the shoulder of giants. Knowing the Gallaghers, it is unnecessary to emphasize who the giants in question are (giants in the shape of beetles, to be clear).

The most enigmatic and painful album of their career (the last one entirely signed by Noel Gallagher except for the piano ballad "Little James", a not-so-difficult creation of the brother-knife Liam), conceived in the midst of a renovative storm (out "eyeball" Bonehead and Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan, in come ex-Heavy Stereo Gem Archer and Andy Bell from the excellent Ride) and practically played almost entirely by the master Noel, this "S.O.T.S.O.G." is the album received the coldest in the decade-long career of the beloved-hated brothers. Why?

Well, in part, it paid for the older Gallagher’s mania for change (even the historic logo was redesigned by the newly entered Gem), considering that the smash-hits in the album are certainly not lacking ("Go Let It Out" and the big ballad "Sunday Morning Call", both rightfully entered the ranks of the Mancunian combo’s classics). In the rest of the work, indeed, there are almost no concessions to the fresh and playful rock‘n roll of the debut-masterpiece "Definitely Maybe" (perhaps only "I Can See A Liar" - raw, guitar-laden, and endowed with a very pleasant "Sex Pistols flavor" -) or the classy British pop of "(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?", but the attempt is to manage to cover the pieces with a psychedelic patina that makes the compositions less immediate but at the same time equally well enjoyable and assimilable after not many listens.

Exhaustive in this sense is "Who Feels Love?" (the other single), which fits a typically Oasis vocal line on a sound carpet with a vaguely tribal rhythm; the sounds are hallucinated, taken to extreme dilation. Even the instrumental opener "Fuckin’ In The Bushes" pleasantly surprises, resulting in a sort of varied and deliberately chaotic sound patchwork (promptly received full appreciation from the "family friends" Chemical Brothers).

Completing the work are midtempo tracks branded by Noel Gallagher (the Stone Roses-esque "Where Did It All Go Wrong?", which should have been the album’s title, or "Gas Panic!", which however "drugs" everything with a heavy and acid six-string), the usual "unauthorized cover" ("Put Yer Money Where Yer Mouth Is", riff almost identical to the Doors’ "Roadhouse Blues") and the closing slow "Roll It Over", in which Liam Gallagher demonstrates surprising vocal versatility.

A transition work after the painful success of the first three works, which has "repositioned" Oasis on a different track from the previous one, but certainly still rather qualitative.