Our third Album Of The Week comes in the form of a much underrated LP courtesy of one of my favourites, Oasis. Their 2005 effort Don't Believe The Truth was slated by NME fourteen years ago, but personally, it really doesn't warrant much criticism at all and has produced some of my favourite Oasis tracks.
Ten years on from the successes of their smash hit (What's The Story?) Morning Glory, Oasis are a different animal. The punch here is more refined yet slower. However, that doesn't mean it carries any less grunt. In fact, it probably carries even more. Opener Turn Up The Sun is especially fantastic since it reminds me of the later records from The Jam and bears a certain similarity to Set The House Ablaze from 1980's Sound Affects.
It did produce some superb live tracks, such as A Bell Will Ring, written by Gem Archer and the performance from the City Of Manchester Stadium from 2005 is particularly wonderful; it's energetic and the riff is haunting. Other highlights include obscurity Keep The Dream Alive, the only Andy Bell written song on the album and one that was never played live - it's one I could have seen blowing up in popularity if it had ever been performed. All band members barring drummer, Zak Starkey, get a writing credit.
With some great instrumentation, this is one album that even the most well-informed Oasis fans should delve into once again to find yet more hidden gems. As an Oasis fan, I'm a lover of their first two albums especially and there's a certain something about Don't Believe The Truth that's reminiscent of their earlier work. It's filled with some amazing songs and clever, but surreal lyrics. Noel Gallagher has been labelled one of the best songwriters of his generation, along with the likes of Richard Ashcroft and Chris Martin and it's easy to see why here. Like last week's Urban Hymns, it's difficult to find a bad, or even an average track. All the songs are standouts in their own right. It serves as an eclectic mix of different parts to the rock genre.
Despite Don't Believe The Truth being slammed by some critics, it stands as one of the best albums of the decade from one of the best bands of all-time. It's certainly worth a listen some fourteen years later in 2019 and stands up well against its contemporaries.
If you want to pick up a copy, I’ll leave an Amazon link here: https://amzn.to/3f8zYW3
Or, if you’d prefer, here’s a Spotify link:
More musical magnificence to come next week!
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