My Review Of Oasis' Dig Out Your Soul
By
Stop Crying Your Heart Out
on
October 02, 2008
Dig Out Your Soul offers the first glimpse of an Oasis that doesn't constantly rely on past glories for reference. The fact it works on so many levels, elegantly and delicately exploring new territory in some instances, furiously and unrestrained breaking apart in others means that the 7th edition of the manifest effortlessly blows things around it into comparative insignificance.
'Bag It Up' is the next logical step from Lyla, it's brooding and unpredictable with a mild psychedelic taste, basically setting the scene for the rest of the album. It's best quality is arguably it's greater reliance on Noel and Liam's vocals which are a collective force throughout the album.
A fair number of seasoned Oasis fans have been desperate for a return to the sounds of the coke circus that was the 'Be Here Now' recording sessions and after the undoubtedly safe ground of the previous three 'Mark II' albums, 'The Turning' is perhaps the first time Noel's fearlessly put out a real belter that could have fit that bill of tracks. The chorus certainly could have sat amongst any of the tunes in the excess of the 1997 tour. The groovy intro has been compared to a couple of Stone Roses tunes which is evident in some areas but the relaxed airport lounge feel to the first verse is perfectly offset against the breathless choir backing in the heavier parts, if 'Falling Down' would be a great 3rd single, 'The Turning' wouldn't be an popular 4th if they wanted one.
'Waiting For The Rapture' is a proper stomper, how many other times it's been used to describe the most 'Beatlesy' tunes they've put out is irrelevant, if there's an Oasis song to stomp to it's this, you could stomp lying down. The 'Hey!' before the last chorus could almost be from John Lennon. And for the first time in this album, the blatant Beatles nick's come off really well. Noel has been trying more adventurous melodies for a while now, best results recently being 'The Importance Of Being Idle' where he produced a falsetto vocal that avoided any Bee Gee's glances and could as well be shouted back at him live, so similarly 'Waiting For The Rapture' is a compromise between a more experimental groovy element and a traditional pint in hand sing'a'along STOMPER!
'The Shock Of The Lightning' is definitely a highlight, which definitely sits between the Pistols and The Beatles, definitely no problem and we all agree with Liam on that. There can't be too many criticisms with it in all fairness, it's been played so much that no summary or comment will offer a new insight into how it works, it just does and needs little analysing, another listen is far more effective. Commercially, wastefully casual listeners might hover over it accepting it's another 'rocky Oasis tune' but you don't have to search that far for the essence of the track which is clear to see whilst it simply hammers away. Probably best heard when watching Liam stand eerily still whilst the band behind him plough away during that awesome last minute or so.
'I'm Outta Time' definitely lives up to the hype created by the comments circulating about the nature of the album's next stand out single. As with 'Songbird' and 'Born On A Different Cloud', it's sensitivity in the case of the former, or self reflection in the latter shows a rare glimpse of the Liam not plastered in the papers. In a way it represents how Oasis are at their best when shattering perceptions of some sort, 'Wonderwall' came after they were viewed by the majority as incentive could only stretch to Rock 'N' Roll. So whilst 'Meaning Of Soul' and 'Nothing On Me' are more than convincingly menacing, 'I'm Outta Time' has more arguably more depth than anything he's done so far and it's as good a ballad as Noel could write.
It's fair to say the feel of through '(Get Off Your) High Horse Lady) - with it's puzzling arrangement of brackets could have been predicted after a scan through the tracks Noel picked for last year's Radio One 40th Anniversary special where there was an undertone of psychedelic and drop D tuning grooves throughout. This track passes unnoticed in some respects and the fact that Noel remarked it could have been on Heathen Chemistry is hardly surprising, it's interchangeable with a few of the fillers on that album including hidden track 'The Cage'. It's a short rest in the album, the slow ascent up the roller coaster before the pulsating drop, which comes next.
'Falling Down' stands out for a number of reasons, firstly, it's difficult to imagine it anywhere in the Oasis back catalogue, if not for the the heavy psychedelic notches after the mostly acoustic introduction it could have perhaps been the best song on 'Don't Believe The Truth'. It has a pretty deep chorus, which most likely means nothing but it sounds cool whatever it supposed to say. 'I tried to talk to God to no avail' is set against a huge screen of strings, piano ladel blocks of epic chords changes, all that make it sound like a morbid interpretation of George Harrison's attempts to talk God in 'My Sweet Lord'. A Beatles nod certainly, but the next track basically nods with a mop top.
There are no guitars on 'To Be Where There's Life'. There's two sitars if the band are to be believed. Andy and Noel indulged themselves in the Abbey Road echo chamber with the instruments which were scattered over Gem's bass line, and if it had been attempted by any other band, such a blatant Beatles rip off would have been hilariously dismissed. It actually works pretty well, the psychedelic aesthetic works constructively under Noel's control, Liam sort of just turns the knobs as far as his vocal is concerned, but 'The Chief's' carefully placed harmony lines will be magic live. Ironically, their cover of Harrison's 'Within You Without You' sounds loads better than this track which sinically could also be described as a cover. Partly because their version of the tune last year was amazing but also because the ratio of Liam and Noel and Gem and Andy to John and Paul and George and Ringo is slightly out of sync. 'To Be Where There's Life' is more 'fab four' than anything else and in parts can sound a bit 'Listen to the Flower People' by Spinal Tap. It's just missing a ''We Love You'' whisper before the chorus.
'Ain't Got Nothin' has been out for a while, in spring 2008 a demo from the Don't Believe The Truth sessions leaked containing the track. It has a belting chorus and lyrically is not too dissimilar to Liam ranting about some band he hates, but musically it feels a bit too much like 'Meaning Of Soul' and it's a consolation that unlike that effort which had been so promising based on it's airing at Glastonbury 2004 with full live guts and attack, this track hasn't been 'Elvis'd' and we get the full heavy version that will sound huge later this month when the band play it live.
If there is a dark horse on the album, it's 'The Nature Of Reality'. It's as snarling and dirty as anything they've done and captures the live guitar sound they've had since Gem and Andy joined. It's the only song on the album contributed by Mr Bell which is a shame considering the quality of output that's come from him in the past eight years. It's opening guitar line sounds like 'Helter Skelter' and it's another track written in drop D giving it a rather trippy feel, as Liam sings 'It's only in your miiiiiiind' you can sort of imagine a scene from 'Apocalypse Now'.
'Soldier On' features one of the most crisp sounding Liam vocals on the album, the song itself it a bit sludgy and and something a little more epic ala 'Roll It Over' or 'Let There Be Love' would have been cool but as it stands it's still a good track. It conjures an image of a lion retreating back into his cage after mauling some unfortunate beast mercilessly for three quarters of an hour, savouring the aftertaste of it's victim. Like it knew just what it had done, and it tasted great.
5 stars out of 5
Thanks to Tom Carter for all the help with information...