It’s widely known that the first two Oasis albums were quite popular with a lot of people. It’s widely known that their third album was not. Since then, Oasis released a further four studio albums and we all know how they turned out, don’t we? Or do we? Because as I’m about to reveal, with Dig Out Your Soul, Oasis very nearly made a third great album.
It’s taken me the best part of 4 years to admit it, but I really do like 6 of the 10 tracks that make up Dig Out Your Soul. If I compare this with how I feel about the rest of their output from the last 16 years, that’s not a bad percentage at all. Sure, I liked the odd single. I would go and see ’em live now and again. But I couldn’t honestly put my hand on my heart and say, “Oasis, your long players; Bravo!” Because there was just too much to pick at. The blatant rip-off of other artist’s material for instance (see Part of the Queue vs. The Stranglers Golden Brown etc) or the countless cringe inducing lyrics, such as the unforgivable “live for your toys, even though they make noise” etc etc. (The opening lines of Little By Little are just too ghastly for me to share.)
THEY COULDN’T EVEN BE BOTHERED TO CHECK THEIR GRAMMAR when naming one of their albums (Standing on the Shoulder of Giants) but all of this is a distraction from the point. And that is that this is a pro-asis blog, and that I believe if you look back at their post Morning Glory (drawn out) comedown, Oasis still had a good album left in them.
“When someone’s been kicking you in the balls for years, it’s a relative relief when they just slap you in the face.” Henry Yates for the NME. Read more at http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/oasis-rank-the-albums#UYzI27mMLakmbyIC.99
The first 20 minutes of 2008’s Dig Out Your Soul is what has brought this all on. From the foot-stomping opener of Bag It Up to the surprisingly well written (Liam) chorus of I’m Outta Time, Oasis made a pretty good attempt at showcasing why they remain “undoubtedly the nation’s most loved band.” (Q Editor Paul Rees) But barely a minute into Dig Out Your Soul’s 6th and decisive track however, it all goes wrong. (Get Off Your) High Horse Lady is pure drivel. It doesn’t just plod along, it stumbles and gargles like a gas-ridden amputee from the Great War. Their commendable efforts at the start of the album fizzle out and the second half just can’t keep up the pace of the first half. And it’s a shame. But all is not lost.
A few years previous to this record Oasis released Don’t Believe the Truth, which incidentally was considered by many to be something of a return to form for the band. (It is worth remembering at this point that Oasis do have a large and loyal following and all of their records have sold by the bucket load.) However, I personally found Don’t Believe the Truth to be problematic for reasons that I’ve already touched upon. Oasis always wore their plagiarism on their sleeves but I felt that several tracks on Don’t Believe the Truth took this a little too far. But, then again, that isn’t to say that they are all without merit.
Just as Dig Out Your Soul is some killer/some filler, Don’t Believe the Truth has a handful of moments that are actually half decent. And further more, they compliment the better tracks from Dig Out Your Soul rather quite well.
What I propose is simple enough. I have fleshed out the second half of Dig Out Your Soul with some tracks from the Don’t Believe the Truth sessions. And what we are left with is Dig Out the Truth. The third and final great Oasis album:
Dig Out the Truth.
01. Bag It Up
02. The Turning
03. Waiting for the Rapture
04. The Shock of the Lightning
05. I’m Outta Time
06. The Importance of Being Idle
07. Guess God Thinks I’m Able
08. Keep the Dream Alive
09. Lyla
10. Falling Down
11. Lord Don’t Slow Me Down
12. Let There Be Love
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3xA01gKCmhoeosDlLkUESh?si=nEdZ1h5GRWSnmR40MVTNOw
Make the playlist yourself, burn it and give it a go. If you’ve fallen out of love with Oasis this may just rekindle a bit of the ol’ fondness.
Enjoy!
Sitting Up Straight 