ALBUM REVIEW: Oasis - Don't Believe the Truth

    There is no two ways about it - Oasis was off the momentum by 2005. Even from the start of the decade, they had managed to find a potential new path in 2000's Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, but out of hesitance or not liking the mixed reviews or a short-term reaction from their shrinking audience, 20002's Heathen Chemistry effectively undid all of the work they did with Shoulder of Giants, and in its place the group course corrected so much that they lost what had made them good in the first place. Clearly, some direction was needed, and sooner rather than later. Well, if they wanted direction, that's exactly what they got. Dave Sardy had a handful of credits throughout the 90s and 2000s, mostly working as an engineer, including racking up credits with Johnny Cash and Marilyn Manson. Hardy was brought on to produce the band, and it seems that having a proper producer was just one of many things that helped give Oasis a true focus for the first time in five years. The results speak for themselves - Don't Believe the Truth show hesitant steps back to normalcy for Oasis, both in production and in the renewed standards for song quality throughout. It's not perfect, and it leaves plenty of room for improvement, but Don't Believe the Truth showcases Oasis back in some form of proper function, even as more cracks began to show.

    Oasis' rejuvenated focus is evident throughout, but it's especially obvious on two of the album's three singles, including the leading single in "Lyla". Now, is "Lyla" the best song on the album? No, and I'd argue that a couple moments on Heathen Chemistry may even be stronger, but "Lyla" signals for a definite return to how Oasis did things in the 90s, complete with a stellar performance from Liam Gallagher (one of a few, but we'll touch on that later). The song is immediate, and the earworm chorus helps the song stick the landing for a pop tune that would fit nicely in the group's catalog sometime between Morning Glory and Be Here Now. Then there's the Noel-sung "Importance of Being Idle", a song that is somewhat divergent from the typical Oasis sound with its prominent organ and somewhat foreboding sound, but with its fitting lyrics on being carefree and a strong Noel performance, the song itself may be the group's greatest song since "Roll It Over" closed out Standing on the Shoulder of Giants half a decade earlier, and it makes a strong case for their best single since the 90s. Noel keeps up his victories vocal-wise, apparent on the curious and equally pessimistic waltz-time on "Part of the Queue" or the pseudo Velvet Underground of "Mucky Fingers". Noel isn't the only Gallagher whose hitting a stride, albeit Liam's stride is in songwriting; "The Meaning of Soul" and "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel" are solid rock and roll numbers, and while it wouldn't be until the next album that Liam could properly match his brother's songwriting ability, both of these songs show a marked improvement over his previous material, which only adds to the feel of this album's increased bar of quality.

    Ironically, though, it's Liam that also showcases this album's weakest element - his own voice. As it turns out, years of singing with all the power you got in your throat while also being a habitual drinker and smoker alters your voice a bit. Even by Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, it was obvious that Liam's vocal ability wasn't what it used to be, but Don't Believe the Truth may be Liam's worst vocal showing on any Oasis album, evident straight from the opening track "Turn Up the Sun", itself already a somewhat weak opener penned by Andy Bell that's only made weaker by Liam's husky, strained performance. Similar performances on "Love Like a Bomb" or the closing "Let There Be Love" don't do him any favors, and even good moments like "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel" suffer from Liam's diminished vocal ability. There's also the fact that while Liam has begun to hit a songwriting stride, and Noel has found his element once again, Gem Archer and Andy Bell are noticeably weaker contributors. "Turn Up the Sun" is a fine example, but I think even more apparent is Bell's almost saccharine "Keep The Dream Alive", a song which reminds me of Heathen Chemistry's "Hung in a Bad Place" for all the wrong reasons, except the lyrics may actually somehow be worse. Impressive. Gem Archer fares a bit better, contributing the solid enough penultimate "A Bell Will Ring", but given that his name also is credited on "Love Like a Bomb", it seems that maybe he still had some learning to do with songwriting. Even Noel himself doesn't get off completely scot-free, as the closing "Let There Be Love", while not exactly bad, is a blatant Beatlesque pastiche that sounds like they're going for "Hey Jude" energy - I'm sure you can assume they don't match that energy.

     They may have been in free fall for a bit, but Don't Believe the Truth helped to give Oasis a direction they definitely needed. Even amidst its flaws, it's style, production, and tunefulness help to hearken back to the group's glory days in the 90s, even if doesn't quite manage to reach the same magnificence as their first three records. Not yet, at least. Still, compared to their previous release, Don't Believe the Truth shows a group that is not on the verge of sputtering out - on the contrary, it gives the listener enough good material for them to believe in Oasis again. The following album would have the group sticking with Dave Sardy, and it would follow in many of the same footsteps as this release here, but that's a review for another time, as always. With that all said, I can comfortably say that Don't Believe the Truth, even if it isn't the same "biblical" experience of their 90s work, is a good album. Sometimes, that's all a group needs.

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to Don't Believe the Truth.