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Post by caats19 on Oct 18, 2011 15:28:42 GMT -5
The rote storyline that presents itself as a backdrop to Noel Gallagher’s solo debut is overwhelmingly obvious: Oasis splits, seemingly for good. Arch-brother Liam and the rest of the group form Beady Eye and release a largely dispassionate record, and in between legal sibling sparring, Noel unleashes a competing project, knowing but maybe not caring that the two are destined for endless and obsessive comparison. Of the two he always seemed less taken with the tabloid edge of things, but there’s certainly a fire in his tortured gut on the aptly named High Flying Birds. Noel’s intention to make at least some manner of statement is bracingly apparent —the anthemic orchestral swellings and searching vocals of “Everybody’s On the Run” operate on the epic scale of Oasis’ most confident songs, while “If I Had A Gun” is the spiritual offspring of “Wonderwall” without being disappointingly derivative of its mega-hit predecessor. While not everything has the focus of those standouts, there’s a bristling energy throughout as songs end in rave-ups, harrumph with lavish structure and otherwise revel in Noel’s appreciable compositional skill. Underneath the coke and yobbery, an earnest heart always beat within Oasis’ best work, and it’s this stream of their collective soul that Noel has always better tapped. For those diehard Noel partisans who feel like his vocals on “Acquiesce” might be the pivotal emotional moment in the Oasis catalog, this album provides an extra measure of proof that he’s the more indispensible of that particular duo of mop-haired misanthropes. Listening to the lyrics of “(I Wanna Live A Dream In My) Record Machine,” you almost forget that the moment of yearning it portrays comes not from a young artist straining himself bloody for an audience, but instead someone who has been to the mountain and back a few times over. Coming from a band that derives a certain amount of its notoriety from seeming jaded and indifferent, Gallagher’s solo flight is actually stunningly pure and beautifully rendered. www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2011/10/noel-gallagher-high-flying-birds.html
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Post by XTRMNTRSCREAM on Oct 18, 2011 15:44:43 GMT -5
these are the reviews you should care about. people getting worked up over the financial times review are hilarious.
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Post by matt on Oct 18, 2011 17:06:48 GMT -5
Now this is a brilliantly well written review - it's hard to disagree with anything he says here and it isn't sensationalist bullshit like the other reviews, most of which are poor scoring reviews.
Though I thought the Pitchfork one was very well written despite the score not being that great. It seemed pretty constructive in its criticisms even though I didn't really agree with it (i.e. Noel's vocals get a bit tiring).
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Post by AubreyOasis on Oct 19, 2011 5:40:24 GMT -5
Great review.
I think there is a big difference between UK reviews and reviews outside of the UK (Paste is an US magazine). In the UK it seems people's opinions about Oasis and the Gallaghers are very polarised: either you love them or you hate them and that is probably the reason why some of these reviews seem unrelated to the actual music.
Compare, for instance, the Uncut review and the Pitchfork review. When you read the Uncut review it seems that the guy hates Noel and/or his music for whatever reason or that he wants to make some kind of general statement using the album as an excuse; in turn, reading the Pitchfork review, it simply seems that the guy is not really into anthemic rock, but he does not seem to have any particular interest in slagging off Noel.
That is why I think reviews outside of the UK are being more positive in general (apparently, Germany reviews are being great and the first reviews I have seem in Spain are also quite good).
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