Oasis
Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants
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Oasis
Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants
Epic, 2000
RiYL: The Verve, The Beatles, Travis, Paul Weller, Stone Roses |
After two mega-selling rock records that had millions of fans frothing and critics dropping the dreaded "next Beatles" tag, Oasis effectively boxed itself into a stylistic corner on its 1997 effort Be Here Now. It seemed like songwriter Noel Gallagher had run fresh out of compositional ideas in no time, instead resorting to ripping off his own riffs and wasting tape on 10-minute pub sing-a-longs such as "All Around The World." Be Here Now got by on rock bravado alone, but the band had already gone to the well one time too many.
And now, the fourth album -- the make or break moment where the Gallagher brothers can veer off their own well-traveled yellow brick road of Britpop, and pave some kind -- any kind -- of new sonic territory. Initially, it sounds like the band's work permit was yanked on the first day. On the first few listens to Shoulder, hardly three of the disc's 10 songs make any kind of impression at all. Instead, they seem to float by, content to do the absolute bare minimum to hit their marks and nothing else.
The distorted, menacing riffs of "Put Your Money Where Yer Mouth Is" clumsily retread not only the last album's opening cut, "D'You Know What I Mean," but also the title track of 1995's (What's The Story) Morning Glory. First single "Go Let It Out!" comes off as Oasis by-the-numbers, par excellence, with inane lyrics (go let it out / go let it in), the stock Beatles nod (in this case, the toot-toot organ from "Strawberry Fields"), and the kind of catchy melody that Noel can scribble out in a cognac stupor. What it boils down to is a song with hardly a whiff of the charm of previous chart-toppers such as "Some Might Say" or "Wonderwall."
Then, half-way through Shoulder comes "Little James," lead singer Liam Gallagher's much-ballyhooed songwriting debut. Dedicated to his wife and step-son, it's a doozy, and instantly a contender for the worst song in the Oasis canon. In front of a bland melody and fussy sonic extras, Liam somehow keeps a straight face through such lines as "live for your toys / even though they make noise / if you ever play with plasticene / even tried a trampoline." Horrid.
Perhaps the album's lack of immediate reward is intentional. Noel Gallagher would never be as foolish -- nor truly brave -- to put out an album that screams, "hey! look how different" on first listen. So with Shoulder, the devil is in the details. New producer Mark "Spike" Stent amplifies the new textures that first surfaced on Be Here Now: drum loops on raucous opening instrumental "Fuckin' In The Bushes" and "Go Let It Out!," and a found-sound finale of industrial noise, strings, and flute samples on "Gas Panic!"
Thus, it's only on repeat plays that Shoulder reveals its strengths. Particularly revelatory is album closer "Roll It Over," a slow-burn of an epic reigned in with a subtlety that Noel has rarely displayed. "Roll It Over" also features some of elder Gallagher's most inspired guitar playing, but this time, it's not shoved to the front of the mix. Instead, it's lurking underneath a choir of voices, free from the scripted bombast of Morning Glory's similarly grandiose closing track, "Champagne Supernova."
The album's second half includes three keepers, two of which are sung by Noel. Both "Sunday Morning Call" and "Where Did It All Go Wrong?" put the Oasis spin on the music of recent U.K. chart-toppers such as The Verve and Travis. The unusually tender "Sunday Morning Call" most recalls the latter, with its measured transitions and uplifting choruses (there's that choir again). The well-sung, mid-tempo rocker "Where Did It All Go Wrong?" would have fit nicely on The Verve's 1997 swan song Urban Hymns, its bitter ruminations littered with rhetorical questions ("do you keep the receipts / for the friends that you buy?") and assorted reality checks ("I hope you know / that it won't let go / it sticks around with you until the day you die").
Still, Noel's ability to at last get his songwriting excesses under control will likely be an ongoing battle. He can't resist recycling the intro to "Dear Prudence" for the middle break of "Who Feels Love?," and on the enjoyably thuggish "I Can See A Liar," he churns out another arena rock anthem with an empty message. On the other hand, at 49 minutes, Shoulder is almost a half-hour shorter than Be Here Now, which is certainly a step in the right direction.
Oasis now clearly know that they can't get away with the same tricks time and again, and Shoulder has just enough imagination to suggest worthwhile things for the future. Indeed, original rhythm guitarist Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs and bassist Paul McGuigan jumped ship just after this record was finished, making way for the addition of Heavy Stereo guitarist Gem Archer and Ride's Andy Bell, who could emerge as the songwriting foil that Noel so desperately needs. If nothing else, the album buys the Gallagher boys another lease, albeit a short one.
JONATHAN COHEN | Jonathan Cohen co-created Nude As The News with his Indiana University mates Troy Carpenter and Ben French. When not traversing the globe for business and pleasure, he holds down the fort as a senior editor for Billboard in New York. Stop him and he just may ask, "what for lunch?"