For the past five years, Oasis has been the punchline of many a pop culture joke. Liam and Noel's brotherly antics have landed them on countless VH1 countdowns, and they are even satirized in one of the world's hippest TV shows. Liam Gallagher is the not-so-subtle inspiration for LOST's Charlie Pace, from Driveshaft ("You All Everybody"). Charlie Pace and Liam Gallagher represent what we all love and look for in our rock gods: a healthy appetite for self-destruction and a fiery British temperament. But if there is one thing we all crave more, it is the comeback album.
Although they have recorded steadily over the past decade, Oasis feels trapped in their 1995 masterpiece "(What's the Story) Morning Glory." The album's mega hit, "Wonderwall," has reached an eternal spot in guitar history. It's like "Blackbird," "Sweet Home Alabama" or "Free Falling"?anyone who owns a guitar plays it. But even with tens of thousands of "Joe the Strummers" (Palin, I hold a copyright on that) massacring it all over the world, the song never gets old. Furthermore, that gem of a song managed to get us to sing something that doesn't mean anything. What the hell is a wonderwall? The album has other instant hits as well: "Champagne Supernova," "Some Might Say," "Don't Look Back in Anger"... The list goes on. Needless to say, it seems almost impossible to top that album. Oasis' newest release, "Dig Out Your Soul," proves just how true this is.
"Dig Out Your Soul" is not a bad album; it's just confused. There are very good parts and there are very weak parts of this release. The album has one crucial and unforgivable flaw: It's trying too hard. The first half of the album attempts to prove through hard-hitting, loud-playing and face-melting rock songs that Oasis is back. But the songs themselves are not interesting enough to win over even the most ardent Oasis fan. They lack the singability or the sweet simplicity of the songs of old. It seems that Oasis became preoccupied with the process of recording rather than writing solid songs. Each track is loaded with sound, blanketing the hard truth that none of these songs could have an acoustic version. Furthermore, the last 20 seconds of each track contains a recording of ambient noise. For example, one track's ending features an ambulance siren, while another has feet scuffling across a wooden floor. This feeble attempt at creating a unified album is ultimately unsuccessful.
The album does have some very redeeming qualities. Songs like "Shock of the Lighting," "I'm Outta Time" and "(Get Off Your) High Horse Lady," remind us of the old Oasis, an Oasis obsessed with melodies that made you want to sing as loud as you could. These songs are smaller and more intimate; the unnecessary layers of sound were stripped away, allowing the lyrics and vocals to step into the forefront.
"Dig Out Your Soul" feels unsuccessful because Oasis has abandoned what it did so well. Albums like "Morning Glory" were effective because each song was crafted to perfection, and they didn't let extraneous production cloud the intent of the song. Oasis of the '90s was successful, essentially, because they adopted a modern Beatles sound. Their punchy piano riffs, bold and simple drum beats and natural harmonies could easily have been written by McCartney or Harrison. Because the Beatles' influence exists over such a vast expanse of rock music, it's hard to depart from their style. That is not to say that Oasis is a note-for-note carbon copy of the Beatles. But once you sound like them, you're in, and once you stop, you're out. I never thought I'd say this, but the Beatles ruined everything.