Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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90 of 114 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Self-Assured, Forceful and Melodic: The Resurrection Album! , May 31, 2005
Don't Believe The Truth is the sixth Oasis studio album-and a very proud success for this group! You get the awesome hit single "Lyla" as well as "Let There Be Love." It appears they saved "Let There Be Love" as almost the best for last since this is one of the most beautiful songs I personally have ever heard! No longer is Oasis stumbling though setbacks and comebacks-I get the strong sense that they have permanently emerged strong and very memorable with this CD being the proof of it. You still get that classic British guitar pop rock flavor running distinctly throughout. Yet with this CD Oasis finally gives us the strong lyrics consistently throughout the album and the musical arrangements are both instantly and all at once both free and secure-a very tough feat to accomplish! Simply put: Oasis is back on top!
The CD starts off running strong and hard with the opening track "Turn Up The Sun." There is a beautiful and thoughtful musical intro to this track-love those lyrics! And how's about that guitar on "Mucky Fingers?" AWESOME! In "Love Like A Bomb" you hear of a man's love for his woman; it's very memorable. "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel" is practically instantly memorable; and "A Bell Will Ring" has great lyrics.
And that song, "Lyla." The guitar and the vocals blend flawlessly on "Lyla" and this is without doubt a great song. "Lyla," as some of you may already know, is destined to be a long lasting hit song. It is well crafted, well arranged, and very well performed here by Oasis. In fact, the total sum of every song on this CD proves Oasis is rejuvenated and very much a strong force on the music scene.
A special note once again on that last track, "Let There Be Love." This song is destined to have a strong impact on the majority of people listening to it and reading this review. I think in some ways the album is worth it just for this one song! The song is remarkably inspirational; it begins with the gripping and oh so sensitive words "Who kicked a whole in the sky so that heaven could cry over me?" As you listen to the song, especially more than once, don't be surprised if you find yourself reaching for the phone to make up with that old friend who stopped talking to long ago; to go back to school to get that degree; or to follow whatever your dreams may be.
All in all, Noel and Liam are producing and singing some awesome, very fine music on this CD of theirs. They are amply aided by their peers. Zak Starkey, Ringo Starr's son, and Terry Kirkbride play drums; Lenny Castro plays percussion. Also look for Gem Archer on guitar with Andy Bell on bass guitar. This CD is an absolute must for Oasis fans who want the joy of knowing the group is very far from any setbacks! British pop fans as well as fans in general of rock and pop will be awestruck by this album. Great job, guys!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Believe It, A Great Oasis Album, May 31, 2005
It hasn't alwaybs been easy being an Oasis fan. A decade of Albums that never really lived up to the impossible hype that hindered them. "Be Here Now" was an excessive mess, "Standing On The Shoulders of Giants" an experimental but underwhelming effort and "Heathen Chemistry", despite a few highlights was largely unnmemorable. They've threatened to be eclipsed by bands seen to be more "grown up" like Radiohead and Coldplay. Despite this Oasis have never lost the bulk of their fan base (their concerts have sold out in hours). "Don't Believe The Truth" is their least anticipated album in a decade, but is also by far and away their best.
This is the bands best since "Morning Glory". And a very different band it is. Gem Archer and Andy Bell have long settled into the fold and are penning songs, as is Liam who contributes many of the albums highlights.
Noel writes less than half of the songs here, a far cry from his hold on the band in the ninetees when he insisted on total creative control. Some of his include "Lyla", as good a signature single as Oasis have ever released, it's got an incredibly catchy chorus that borrows its verse melody from The Rolling Stones, but the whole thing sounds a bit like The Who. Noel takes lead vocals on three of his songs. "Mucky Fingers", a manic rocker that lacks melody, it's probably the album's worst song. "The Importance Of Being Idle" has an infectious rhythem and may be Noel's greatest vocal performance and "Part of the Queue" a song about being unknown in a big city. He also shares vocals with Liam on one of the albums finest songs, the closer "Let There Be Love" which is kind of a cross between "Champaign Supernova" and "Stop Crying Your Heart Out". A fitting anthem to finish.
Liam's three contributions show a songwriter coming of age. "Love Like A Bomb" and "Guess God Thinks I'm Able" all but eclipses his past efforts, the latter being an almost entirely acoustic and is possibly the albums best song. Andy Bell and Gem Archer chip in. Andy's "Turn Up The Sun" could have been considered for the first single, it continues the tradition of stomping Oasis track 1's. Gem's big contribution is the Beatles-esqe "A Bell Will Ring" and sounds like their "Revolver" period. Anyone who yearns for more might want to check out "Lyla's" excellent 2 b-sides. "Eyeball Tickler" is a Gem penned stomper and "Won't Let You Down" is another Liam acoustic song.
At this stage in their career Oasis must cease to be judged on their efforts a decade ago. "Don't Believe The Truth" could herald the beggining of a golden age for them. Believe That.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Blowin' my mind, May 31, 2005
As someone who thinks Heathen Chemistry is a great album, I find this less a return to form, as it's generally being hailed, but as a continuation of this return. Always embracing their influences, I can hear plenty of traces of (of course) The Beatles, but also the Stones and an outro reminiscent to Mrs. Robinson in the song Lyla.
This is strong, confident, BIG rock and roll, and the songs are fantastic.
The difference between 4 and 5 stars for me is this: The lyrics are uniformly strong, but don't really take it to the next level. The biggest example is the use of the phrase "Blowin' my mind." Three songs in a row use this phrase: Mucky Fingers ("All the phoneys blowin my mind"), Lyla "I waited for a thousand years for you to come and blow me out my mind"), and Love Like a Bomb ("Blown' my mind, Blowin' my mind, Blowin' my mind"). This isn't a bad lyric in any of the songs, but the non-thematic repetition of this same phrase lessens the scope, for me, of the album as a whole. Perhaps spacing the songs out, or defining the album in such a way as to indicate the link between this repetition would have helped.
Nevertheless, "The Importance of Being Idle" is an absolute stunner, immediately one of the great Oasis songs. In fact, all of Noel's songs shine the brightest. He's writing and especially singing as well as he ever has. Truly, truly, an excellent album, worthy of the high praise it's receiving in all circles.
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An Amazon.com Best of 2005 selection.
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by Oasis 
