Album Review

The title of the closing song on Dig Out Your Soul, Oasis‘ latest release, is “Soldier On,” and that’s a pretty apt title for a band that has seen its popularity, especially here in the U.S., take quite a nose-dive from the heights they reached in the late 90’s. The Gallagher boys are indeed still fighting the good fight, when they’re not fighting each other, as they attempt to sustain their unique combination of Beatlemania, bombast, and bad behaviour. But while it’s easy to blame their fall from grace on their often obnoxious antics, the fact is that their most recent albums have been sorely lacking in the anthems that made us want to put up with them in the first place. And though Dig Out Your Soul is polished and professional, it’s hard to remember much of it just minutes after you put down your headphones.

The good news is that this is a hard-rocking Oasis effort. Of the 11 songs on the album, only one is what you’d consider a ballad (the ELO-like “I’m Outta Time”). The band packs a wallop throughout, and bassist Andy Bell deserves credit for laying down memorable lines throughout. They even conjure up some of their old feistiness on the defiant “Ain’t Got Nothin.”

The Beatles references are still there. There are the obvious lyrical shout-outs (mentions of “revolutions” and love being a “magical mystery”) along with subtle musical touches that recall the Fab Four, often buried in the fadeouts of songs like “The Turning,” which features a “Dear Prudence”-style guitar riff, and “The Shock Of The Lightning,” with its backwards sound effects. I don’t suppose it’s a ringing endorsement to say that in many cases, the fadeouts are the best parts of these songs.

All too often, the framework is there for a huge song, but nothing ever comes of it. “Falling Down” has a seductive, trancelike feel and an insistent drumbeat, while “To Be Where There’s Life” couples Bell’s nifty riff with dronelike Eastern effects. But they never pay off. For a guy who used to deliver big choruses in his sleep, songwriter Noel Gallagher delivers tunes here that often lack any chorus at all.

All of that serves to swing more attention to the lyrics, and that’s where big problems arise. Even in the best of times, Noel always seemed to write lyrics not based on whether they made sense but whether they sounded good coming out of brother Liam’s mouth. The songs on Dig Out Your Soul shine a harsh light on these lyrics, even with Liam delivering them capably with his still powerful sneer and whine. There is nary a detail to be found in any of these ramblings, just hopelessly vague pearls of wisdom like “belief does not existence make” or “We live in a dying dream/If you know what I mean.” Well, actually, no, we don’t.

“Soldier On” turns out to be the ideal closer for this album. Despite an interesting melody and some neat instrumental touches laid on top of an ominous beat, more than half of the song is devoted to Liam chanting the title refrain ad nauseam. If Oasis expects us to soldier on along with them, they’re going to have to give us something more than hollow echoes of their former victories.

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