Artist: Oasis
Album Title: Don't Believe The Truth
Label: Sony
Bones:
Summary: Still the biggest band in the world (just ask them)...
Reviewed By: Dave Gillespie

The great bands, the truly great bands, the bands whose songs you recognise as being their own even if it's the first time you are hearing a track all have a hallmark, a calling card in their writing and production. Odds are if you don't like a particular band, it is for the very same reasons that another person worships the very ground they walk on. Few bands over the past 10 years have divided music lovers the way Oasis have. From the launch of Britpop and their own supernova-size egos to the hazy excess of the late 90's and a re-birth of sorts in the new millennium, they have walked the line of credibility and relevance more finely than any other band. None of their Britpop brethren have the pulling power Oasis have retained, and only Blur ever matched them in terms of popularity and what a band could mean to a generation. Damon Albarn seems content to play part-time cartoon character these days while lamenting the loss of a guitarist he helped oust from his band, but you won't see regret fall from Oasis' interviews with regards to the loss of their 2nd drummer, largely due to the fact that in his place the famously Beatle-mad Gallaghers picked up the finest piece of Beatles memorabilia going - Ringo Starr's son.

If you like Oasis, the swagger they carry themselves with probably has a lot to do with it. If you dislike Oasis, the same still applies. Few bands can take a stage as assured as they can of their own phenomena, even when tainted with poorly reviewed albums, largely due to the fact that 11 years on, they can still sell out Madison Square Garden in 2 hours. Cited by some as a return to form, 2002's Heathen Chemistry still failed to ignite the masses the way Definitely Maybe and Morning Glory had. Noel however did the interview circuit touting it as their finest work since Definitely Maybe which, funnily enough, is the same thing he is saying about Don't Believe The Truth.

The difference this time around is that for probably the first time in their career, Oasis are functioning truly as a band. Noel still leads the pack in terms of songwriting and production, but the album's highlights arguably come from bassist Andy Bell. Opener 'Turn Up The Sun' contains every ounce of confidence even the boldest Oasis songs carry, and drips with the determined self belief of Rock 'n' Roll Star. Bell's other effort, 'Keep The Dream Alive' rests back in the order at track 9 but wrenches the listener out of the haze of distorted guitars with a poetic lyric and a chorus that soars above the songs that come before it. Followed by Gem Archer's contribution 'A Bell Will Ring', it helps bring the album to a ballsy optimistic closer on the cigarette lighter anthem 'Let There Be Love', the finest Gallagher duet since classic track 'Acquiesce' was sent to die as the B-Side to 'Some Might Say'.

With other members taking the time to pen the tunes that sound like Oasis, Noel Gallagher has spread his wings a little and tackled other subjects and styles. He and Liam still wear their influences on their sleeves more flagrantly than any of their contemporaries, but that ceased to be a reason to knock them some time ago. There's nothing here that matches the majesty of Live Forever of Wonderwall, but as one reviewer has said about the album, we don't need another one of them. Despite moments of "What were you thinking Noel?" as 'Mucky Fingers' and 'The Importance Of Being Idle' roll through your speakers, Gallagher Senior's writing chops still far outweigh that of Liam's. His efforts on Heathen Chemistry pointed to a bright future, one that could potentially overshadow his older brother's contributions one day, though with the exception of 'Love Like A Bomb', we'll have to wait for their next outing to see if he has it in him.

So in the end, we're left with, basically, another Oasis album. There are songs that will blow the roof off whatever venue you see them in, and there are songs that you will probably skip each time they come on (but even Morning Glory had 'She's Electric', and the less said about Digsy's Dinner the better). They may yet return to Supernova Heights and this album certainly doesn't have them moving in the opposite direction. More so, it sounds like the work of a band whose place in Rock History is assured for all time, with very little left to prove; if Oasis took themselves back to a moment where that spot in Rock Royalty was still up for grabs, you get the feeling they could change the world.

Again.