OASIS - Don’t Believe The Truth

Oasis: namely, the only band in the world capable of going, within the space of a few years, from being hailed as a work of pure genius and heirs to the Beatles (!), to being considered the most overrated band in the history of the globe since the fall of the Roman Empire.

Usually, in cases like this the truth lies somewhere in the middle, although we're inclined to lean heavily towards the theory that puts the musical worth of the Gallagher brothers on a par with that of Nero fiddling away.

However you look at it, it's hard to deny that after '95 there was a drop in quality, and what little good the Oasis had managed to produce got lost along the way.

This, in fact, is also the Gallaghers' own thesis, as put forward when presenting their penultimate studio album, "Heathen Chemistry".

And that record really did mark a turning point in the band's discography. With their popularity in sharp decline, squarely in the sights of a turncoat press, Noel Gallagher decided to build an actual band (bringing in guitarist Gem Archer and bassist Andy Bell) and to strip the Oasis sound of that wall of noise and guitars in the arrangements that had culminated in the bloated mess of "Be Here Now". But the result, contrary to the proclamations and good intentions, was an album that turned out to be infinitely bland - perhaps the worst of their career.

"Don't Believe the Truth", released three years later, comes across as a continuation of the direction taken by its predecessor (the only thing safeguarding its identity being Liam's voice).

While the single "Lyla", a long, vaguely blues-rock ride, ranks among the most forgettable of its kind, the album does show a few steps forward (more in intent and craft than in actual results, truth be told). "Turn Up the Sun", the opening track, is perhaps the most original thing (for them) that Oasis have ever written (not by chance, it's a Bell composition). Over a sweet, shimmering guitar riff, Liam declaims, with Noel on backing vocals, a blues-rock number that never chases an easy hook, before it all builds to an instrumental finale that revisits the song's opening theme.

Matching it is "The Meaning of Soul" (written by Liam), a Manchester take on a short country-punk stomp built on handclaps and harmonica. These are practically the best tracks on the record (to which, in fairness, we should add "Part of the Queue", a more conventional electric ballad, but one with a melody among the best Noel has written in years).

Further hints that something has changed for the better come from "Mucky Fingers" (a blatant "tribute" to the Velvet Underground) and the delicate "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel" (finally arranged and counterpointed with some real craft) - filler tracks and nothing more, but ones whose construction reveals meticulous care.

The real, serious problem with "Don't Believe the Truth" is that there's nothing else.

The steps forward taken on the individual tracks described so far end up diluted across the length of the whole record, which isn't sustained, unfortunately, by enough inspiration to fill its three-quarters of an hour - only enough for a third of it.

The pitiful "Keep the Dream Alive" (the more electric one) and "Let There Be Love" (more laid-back, with the two Gallaghers trading vocals) are among the worst tracks in the catalogue, while the rest of the songs are, at best, forgettable.

In short, as mentioned above, Oasis did grow, but more in intent than in substance.

We'll see with the next record whether the steps forward taken here manage to bear more concrete fruit.

Sure, talking about a successful band as if it were a toddler learning to walk isn't exactly flattering, but there it is.

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30/04/2026