Oasis Dig Out Your Soul CD

Continuing a career revitalization that began in earnest on the previous DON'T BELIEVE THE TRUTH, 2008's DIG OUT YOUR SOUL is precision-crafted to approach the heights of prime Oasis, with the Gallagher brothers and company soaring above most of their own turn-of-the-century work. "Bag It Up" announces the SOUL's arrival with a scrappy sense of majesty, while "Waiting for the Rapture" (sung by guitarist/songwriter Noel Gallagher) stomps like a no-nonsense "I Am the Walrus." Always an ensemble ready to blatantly reference the Beatles, Oasis sticks with Fab Four nods on "The Shock of the Lightning," where frontman Liam Gallagher evokes a "magical mystery" amidst a flurry of driving guitar lines. In fact, down to its neo-psychedelic collage cover, SOUL echoes mid-period Beatles, in intent if not studio experimentation, without sounding overly beholden to the legendary band. Arguably Oasis' heaviest and most immediate record, DIG OUT YOUR SOUL is easily one of the group's strongest albums, and proves that it remains in fighting form.

Maturity always seemed an alien concept to Oasis. The brothers Gallagher may have worshiped music made before their birth but there was no respect to their love: they stormed the rock & roll kingdom with no regard for anyone outside themselves, a narcissism that made perfect sense when they were young punks, as youth wears rebellion well, but the group's trump card was how their snottiness was leveled by their foundation in classic pop. This delicate balance was thrown out of whack after the phenomenal success of 1995's (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, when the group sunk into a pit of excess that they couldn't completely escape for almost a full decade. When Oasis did begin to re-emerge on 2005's Don't Believe the Truth they sounded like journeymen, purveyors of no-frills rock & roll.

All this makes the wallop of 2008's Dig Out Your Soul all the more bracing. Colorful and dense where Don't Believe the Truth was straightforward, Dig Out Your Soul finds Oasis reconnecting to the churning psychedelic undercurrents in their music, sounds that derive equally from mid-period Beatles and early Verve. This is heavy, murky music, as dense, brutal, and loud as Oasis has ever been, building upon the swagger of Don't Believe and containing not a hint of the hazy drift of their late-'90s records: it's what Be Here Now would have sounded like without the blizzard of cocaine and electronica paranoia. Dig Out Your Soul doesn't have much arrogance, either, as Oasis' strut has mellowed into an off-hand confidence, just like how Noel Gallagher's hero worship has turned into a distinct signature of his own, as his Beatlesque songs sound like nobody else's, not even the Beatles. His only real rival at this thick, surging pop is his brother Liam, who has proven a sturdy, if not especially flashy songwriter with a knack for candied Lennonesque ballads like "I'm Outta Time." To appreciate what Liam does, turn to Gem Archer's "To Be Where There's Life" and Andy Bell's "The Nature of Reality," which are enjoyable enough Oasis-by-numbers, but Liam's numbers resonate, getting stronger with repeated plays, as the best Oasis songs always do.

But, as it always does, Oasis belongs to Noel Gallagher, who pens six of the 11 songs on Dig Out Your Soul, almost every one of them possessing the same sense of inevitability that marked his best early work. Best among these are the titanic stomp of "Waiting for the Rapture" and the quicksilver kaleidoscope of "The Shock of the Lightning," a pair of songs that rank among his best, but the grinding blues-psych of "Bag It Up" and gently cascading "The Turning" aren't far behind, ei

Japanese only 2 x CD paper sleeve pressing includes two bonus tracks 'Turnin' (Alternative Version) and 'I Believe In All.' Sony. 2009.

Recording information: Abbey Road Studios, London England (2007).

Personnel: Noel Gallagher (vocals, electric guitar, keyboards, drums, electronics); Liam Gallagher (vocals)Spin (p.102) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "'Waiting for the Rapture' sports a killer T. Rex trash-glam groove; and 'The Shock of Lightning' rides a hurtling krautrock beat. You won't be able to blast these jams loud enough."
Spin (p.46) - Ranked #38 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2008" -- "DIG injects a darker rhythmic urgency, plus a newfound, psych-swirling reflection."
Entertainment Weekly (p.73) - "[T]he heftily rocking first single, 'The Shock of the Lightning,' and the airier, more psychedelic song 'Falling Down' are fab enough to have appeared on one of Oasis' terrific first two albums."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.105) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "'I'm Outta Time' is one of the record's two champagne moments, an exorbitantly arranged weepy in the style of Travis as produced by Jeff Lynne..."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.64) - Ranked #50 in Mojo's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2008" -- "A nasty, brutish rock album that saved Oasis's soul..."
Blender (Magazine) (p.76) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he payoffs include the two best songs singer Liam Gallagher has yet written: the strident, balladic 'I'm Outta Time' and the snarling 'Ain't Got Nothin'."
Clash (magazine) (p.120) - "One of the biggest surprises on the album is the development of Liam Gallagher as songwriter....'I'm Outta Time' is PLASTIC ONO BAND era Lennon, with a sweetly sung chorus that displays Liam's vulnerable side."
Clash (magazine) (p.66) - Ranked #18 in Clash's "The 40 Best Albums of 2008" -- "DIG OUT YOUR SOUL is the sound of a band finally cemented in its present state."