The Beat Surrender

The first one is Love Like a Bomb, and is my farourite track on the album. Acoustic guitars always do it for me and this track has plenty, along with an optimistic, fresh, uplifting feel. In contrast, The Meaning of Soul is fast paced and aggressive, and, if I had to chose one, would be my least favourite track on the album. Liam’s third lyrical offering of Guess God Thinks I’m Abel is more ballad-like, slowing down and presenting an acoustic dominance which I love, surprisingly turning quite lively in a Beatles-esque way at the end.

The rest of the tracks are written by a combination of Noel, Andy Bell and Gem. The introductory track of Turn Up The Sun is classic “thrashy” Oasis; it’s dramatic and quite dark in it’s sound. The rocky, uplifting Mucky Fingers is another of my favourites, featuring a bit of the old harmonica (Kevin take note – you’ll make it yet) and a melody that works well as a result of it’s simplicity. With it’s guitar and percussion lead, Lyla is widely viewed as the best track of the album. I tend to disagree, purely because I think others are stronger. The Importance of Being Idle and it’s strong Shadows like guitar riffs is moody and wouldn’t be out of place as soundtrack to a dark satire. Part of The Queue just has to be the one that reminds everyone of The Stranglers’ Golden Brown, but it works, and is different to it’s comparative track, forming an identity of it’s own almost immediately. Another acoustic dominant track comes in the form of Keep The Dream Alive, a simple, anthemic song building up to a crescending finish. The penultimate track, A Bell Will Ring, has it’s lyrics written by Gem and presents the rocky feel again, with the strong drum beat in command, kicking in just under a minute into the track. Much was expected of Let There Be Love by many critics, who then took pleasure in ripping it to shreads. But it’s Lennon-esque ballad feel, with Noel and Liam sharing lead vocals, is the perfect finish for this eclectic offering from the band who typified Britpop for so long.

For me, nothing beats what I class as quintessential Oasis – “Talk tonight”, “She Is Love”, and now “Love Like A Bomb”, but maybe that’s my rarely-seen romantic side emerging. As such, I don’t feel that this is Oasis’ best album, as other’s have described it, but look how I felt on my first listen. This album is a grower. I said I was determined to love it, and I wasn’t too keen on first listening. How do I feel now? I’ve fallen desperately in like with it, and I’ll probably end up loving it. In my experience, that’s what happens with “growers”....

I don’t consider Oasis as becoming “flabby” or “lifeless”. Quite the opposite. They’re just older, wiser (?) and have developed beyond a point which other bands could only ever dream of. Maybe they just don’t want to do the “same old same old”, but they’ve definitely still got me listening.