On This Day In Oasis History...

On July 2nd 2005 Oasis played the second of three dates at the City Of Manchester Stadium, footage from the gig was included on the bonus DVD/ BluRay of 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down'.

On This Day In Oasis History...

The video below is from June 25th 2004 when Oasis played at the Glastonbury Festival.

On This Day In Oasis History...

On June 24th 2005 Oasis played at the Tweeter Center in Boston USA, below is a video of the concert.

Another On This Day In Oasis History...

Below are a number of videos from June 11th 2005, when Oasis played at the Southside Festival in Neuhausen ob Eck, Germany.

On This Day In Oasis History...

The videos below are from the 3rd June 2005, when Oasis appeared on Bearing & Van Dorp in Holland and performed 'Lyla' and 'Don't Look Back In Anger'.

On This Day In Oasis History...

Don't Believe The Truth is the sixth studio album by Oasis, released on 30 May 2005. It reached #1 in the UK Albums Chart with first week sales of just under 238,000, and is the 32nd fastest selling album ever in the UK. The album entered the U.S. charts at #12, with 65,000 copies sold in the first week, the highest any Oasis album has reached there since 1997's Be Here Now, although its chart stay was brief. Don't Believe the Truth went triple platinum in the U.K. in the first week of 2006 (900,000+ sales), and in the U.S. has sold more than 200,000 copies. As of November 2008, Don't Believe the Truth has sold around 5 million copies worldwide.

Every member of the band contributed to the writing of tracks for the album, and the album is the first where all duties were divided between the band members. On some of the tracks regular bass player Andy Bell handled guitar, while Gem Archer and Noel Gallagher contributed bass to other songs. Don't Believe the Truth is the first Oasis record to feature the drumming of Zak Starkey, who replaced Oasis' longtime drummer Alan White.

Liam Gallagher also had a larger impact on the album by his developing songwriting. Noel has said that this album is his favourite of Oasis' last four, because all members have contributed to it. This, he claims, has given it a different feel to a typically Noel-written Oasis album.

The band embarked on a massive worldwide tour that started off at the London Astoria for their Don't Believe the Truth Tour, visiting 26 countries and playing to 2 million people at a total of 113 concerts. This resulted in the making of Lord Don't Slow Me Down, a film later released on DVD.

Recording

The recording process for Don't Believe the Truth was prolonged. The album was originally supposed to be released around summer/autumn 2004, with an initial 3-4 week session produced by Death in Vegas. The recording finally began after Alan White's departure in January 2004 at Sawmills Studios in Cornwall, though the group wasn't satisfied with the results, as Noel said "Unfortunately, after the recording process we decided we didn't like anything we had played/recorded during those three weeks, and because of commitments with Death In Vegas, Richard Fearless and Tim Holmes couldn't find any more time to give to the project."

Noel has commented since on numerous occasions that there was no problem with the work done by Death In Vegas, but he felt the songs they were working on were simply not good enough to form a record, and felt a break was needed in which new material would have to be written. In Noel's words: "We were trying to polish a turd". Around 10 songs were worked on with Death In Vegas of which, according to Noel, 6 were "not even good enough to make the b-sides". Four of the tracks which eventually appeared on the album were worked on with Death In Vegas, those songs being: "Turn Up the Sun", "Mucky Fingers", "A Bell Will Ring" and "The Meaning of Soul", although all of these had extra work done to them or were re-recorded before being released.

After a short break in which many new songs, including "Let There Be Love", "Lyla" and "Part of The Queue" were written, the band reconvened at their Wheeler End Studios with Noel as producer. The band were joined on these sessions by The Who's drummer Zak Starkey. In June 2004, Oasis debuted two new songs from these sessions, the Liam-written "The Meaning of Soul" and the Gem-written "A Bell Will Ring" at two live shows in Poole and at the Glastonbury Festival.

After hearing of the band's production problems from Oasis manager Marcus Russell, American producer Dave Sardy expressed interest in taking over production duties. Sardy was given tapes of existing recording sessions to mix, and after his work was praised by the band, he arrived in the UK to oversee new recording sessions at Olympic Studios in London. These sessions did not last long before he asked the band to travel to Los Angeles and re-record most of the album there, as he felt more comfortable working in a studio closer to home. With the band eventually agreeing to this, recording sessions began at Capitol Studios in October 2004 with the band spending around 9 weeks there.

Release

The decision to have the lead-off single, "Lyla", on the album was a controversial one, prompted by the label's feeling that there wasn't a suitable lead single among the tracks originally presented. As a result, the decision was taken to record "Lyla", a song which Noel had written and demoed a year previously, but which wasn't recorded by the band during the previous recording sessions. It was decided that Dave Sardy would remix Noel's original demo with Liam recording a set of lead vocals and Zak adding a fresh drum track. "Lyla" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and number nineteen on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks chart. After having initial reservations about the choice of the first single being taken out of the hands of the band, Noel, who initially wanted "Mucky Fingers" to be the first single, has now reluctantly conceded that the song has indeed "done the business".

In April 2005, four tracks from a promo disc leaked: "The Meaning of Soul", "Mucky Fingers", "Keep the Dream Alive", and "Let There Be Love". The full album found its way onto the Internet on 3 May 2005, when Apple Inc. accidentally put the album up early for sale on their iTunes Music Store service in Germany. While there was no official comment by Apple or by Oasis management, it was speculated that Apple simply got "May 30" confused with "May 03" or "May 3".

Reception

Considered a rebirth for the band, Don't Believe The Truth received extremely positive reviews. The album won two Q Awards: a special People's Choice Award and Best Album. Critics praised the new sound and the straightforwardness of the drumming of Zak Starkey after a decade of the drumming presence of Alan White.

During interviews, the band has commented very positively on the album about the creation of it, have complimented Archer and Bell on their creativity and contribution of their multiple tracks making the record sound, described by Noel as "Fresh and a Breath Of New Life for Us all." Noel Gallagher said to NME: "The finished album is my favourite one of the last four. Because we're all contributing to the songwriting there's a different feel to it. In fact, the only songs that sound like Oasis are Andy Bell's funnily enough." On 'Rock Profiles' Interviews, both Gallagher and Bell had commented that during their hiatus in 2004, that they had to make a record for their fans and to inspire the people who had become interested in them in the first place. Stating that they had nothing to lose since most of their fans and critics had been displeased since the release of Be Here Now, they could make a new and defining record.

In 2008, Don't Believe the Truth was voted the 14th best British album of the last 50 years by a poll conducted by Q Magazine and HMV.

Track listing

"Turn Up the Sun" (Andy Bell) – 3:59
"Mucky Fingers" (Noel Gallagher) – 3:56
"Lyla" (N. Gallagher) – 5:10
"Love Like a Bomb" (Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer) – 2:53
"The Importance of Being Idle" (N. Gallagher) – 3:40
"The Meaning of Soul" (L. Gallagher) – 1:43
"Guess God Thinks I'm Abel" (L. Gallagher) – 3:25
"Part of the Queue" (N. Gallagher) – 3:48
"Keep the Dream Alive" (Bell) – 5:46
"A Bell Will Ring" (Archer) – 3:08
"Let There Be Love" (N. Gallagher) – 5:29

Bonus tracks

"Can Y'see It Now? (I Can See It Now!!)" – 4:19 (Japanese CD release)
"Sittin' Here in Silence (On My Own)" – 2:00 (N. Gallagher) (Japanese CD release, and available as a b-side on the "Let There Be Love" single)
"Pass Me Down the Wine" – 3:50 (L. Gallagher) (U.S. iTunes release, and available as a b-side on the "The Importance of Being Idle" single)
"Eyeball Tickler" – 2:47 (Archer) (UK and Canadian iTunes release, and available as a b-side on the "Lyla" single)

Special editions

A limited edition version of the album was released in the UK which included a 30 minute DVD featuring interviews with the band and other staff who worked on the album, the promo video for "Lyla" and additional cover artwork. These features were released in the U.S. on the DualDisc edition of the album.

As part of a promotional spot for Oasis' latest lp "Dont Believe The Truth" Best Buy stores released an exclusive, limited edition, free live 5-song cd enclosed in copies of D.B.T.T. This features music from their 1994 Metro Club Show in Chicago Il. USA. Track listing includes: 1. Rock and Roll Star 2. Columbia 3. Live Forever 4. Cigarettes and Alcohol 5. Supersonic.

Music Videos

On This Day In Oasis History...

'Lyla' was the first single from British rock band Oasis' sixth album Don't Believe the Truth, released on May 16th 2005.

The song was written by Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher, who has varyingly described the track as "specifically designed for pogoing", "annoyingly catchy", and the “poppiest thing since "Roll With It". Noting the varied influences of the song, Gallagher says that it's "a bit like... The Soundtrack of Our Lives doing The Who on Skol in a psychedelic city in the sky, or something".

Similarities

However critics have argued that "Lyla" is perhaps more than simply influenced by other bands, noting the striking similarities between the song and "Confrontation Camp" by The Soundtrack of Our Lives and to a lesser extent "Street Fighting Man" by the Rolling Stones. The first line of the song reinforces the notion that the song was also partially inspired by The La's.

Noel has also joked with the fact that the Lyla in the song is actually the sister of the Sally mentioned in the Oasis single "Don't Look Back in Anger". Also, he had said that the song is a "love song", being about Sally Cinnamon's sister.

Originally claiming that he wasn't very fond of the song, Noel has said that "Lyla" isn’t "even the fifth best track on the album". The song had existed as a demo since the early recording sessions for the album but was all but forgotten until practically the last minute. However, on the Lock the Box feature on the Stop the Clocks, Noel admitted that he "didn't realise how good it was until [we] played it live," and admitted he loved the "guitars, the drums, and the vocals" of the song.

Origins

Noel says that the song existed in an early form as a song called "Sing" and dated from the Heathen Chemistry-era. He also says that the title for the final song should have been "Smiler", but was changed seeing as guitarist Gem Archer's previous band, Heavy Stereo, also had a song called "Smiler".

Sony's insistence that it should be released as the first single from the album has helped to fuel the tension between the band and their record label, which has led to Oasis not renewing their contract with the record label following the release of Don't Believe the Truth.

"Lyla" became the band's seventh UK number one when it reached top spot in its first week of release. The song also debuted at #31 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart and has reached #19 since then. It is the first Oasis song to appear on any US singles chart since 2000 when "Go Let It Out" hit No.14 on the Modern Rock chart.

Live Performance

When performing on the UK music chart show Top of the Pops, Liam, who was forced to mime to the music, made no secret of the fact, walking away from the microphone with his mouth closed mid-way through lines that he was supposedly 'singing'. It would be Liam's last performance on the programme before its demise in late 2006. However, Noel and the rest of the band would return in August 2005 to perform "The Importance of Being Idle."

The song leaked on the internet during late March 2005, weeks before its May release date, after an unauthorised early airing on Polish radio station Radiowa Trójka.

'Lyla' was covered by Foo Fighters during a performance at BBC Studios.

The song is included on Oasis' compilation album Stop the Clocks. It is also included in FIFA 06 as a track.
Track listing

CD RKIDSCD 29
"Lyla" (Noel Gallagher) - 5:12
"Eyeball Tickler" (Gem Archer) - 2:47
"Won't Let You Down" (Liam Gallagher) - 2:48

7" RKID 29
"Lyla" (Noel Gallagher) - 5:12
"Eyeball Tickler" (Gem Archer) - 2:47

DVD RKIDSDVD 29
"Lyla" - 5:14
"Lyla" (demo) - 5:29
"Can You See It Now?" (Documentary) - 9:22
The DVD also contains a hidden piece about new drummer Zak Starkey. The video lasts for 1:16 and is accessed by highlighting the word 'Credits' on the main menu, then pressing right until you see the name Zak appear. Then press 'Play' or 'Enter' to view the video.

On This Day In Oasis History...

Below is a video from May 12th 2005, when Oasis played at the Alcatraz in Milan, Italy.

On This Day In Oasis History...

The videos below are from March 10th 2006, when Oasis headlined the Hot Festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The band had previously played at the Hot Festival in 2001 when they co-headlined with Neil Young & Crazy Horse.

On This Day In Oasis History...

Below are a number of videos from February 14th 2007, when Oasis picked up the Outstanding Contribution award at the Brit Awards.

Another On This Day In Oasis History...

The video below is from February 3rd 2009, when Oasis appeared on Le Grand Journal in Paris, France.

On This Day In Oasis History...

"I'm Outta Time" is a song by Oasis, and featured on their seventh studio album, Dig Out Your Soul. The second single from the album, succeeding "The Shock of the Lightning", "I'm Outta Time" was written by Liam Gallagher and released on 1 December 2008.

Composition

The song bears similarity, in style, to John Lennon's work in the early 1970s. The piano which features on the track partly emulates that of Lennon's "Jealous Guy", with the three octave jumps in C major. The song also has a backing piano part similar in content to that of The Beatles' "A Day in the Life", which also contains a three octave jump in C major. Liam jokingly claims that it took him nine years to write the song. However, in a different interview Liam Gallagher claimed that he wrote the song "While sitting on the end of my bed".

The song features a short speech sample from John Lennon taken from one of his last interviews in 1980. The speech sample says: "As Churchill said, it's every Englishman's inalienable right to live where the hell he likes. What's it going to do, vanish? Is it not going to be there when I get back?".

Reception

The song has been noted as one of the highlights of the album by fans, as well as the band themselves, with guitarist Noel Gallagher labelling it "deceptively brilliant". It has also been praised by music critics, with NME calling it a return to form, and comparing it to the music of Oasis-admired rock band The Beatles.

It charted at number 12 in the UK Singles Chart – the first Oasis single to miss the top ten since 1994, ending the band's streak of 22 consecutive top tens. It spent only two weeks in the UK top 75, the least ever by any Oasis single. Although only peaking at number 48 in France, the song spent a total of 28 weeks in the French Singles Chart, the most ever by any Oasis single.

Music video


The music video for "I'm Outta Time" was released in November 2008. Filmed in black and white, it shows Liam Gallagher, the only band member to appear in the clip, on a "surreal journey through a moon-lit English landscape". Directed by W.I.Z., it was filmed around Bourton-on-the-Water. At the end of the video, Liam is filmed in a close-up profile shot lying down. This bears resemblance to the back cover artwork for John Lennon's album Imagine. It also resembles the cover of Lennon's 1973 album Mind Games.

On This Day In Oasis History...

Let There Be Love" is a song on the British rock band Oasis' sixth album, Don't Believe the Truth. Written by Noel Gallagher, it is the second Oasis song to feature Liam and Noel on lead vocals, the first being the B-Side "Acquiesce". It was released on November 28th 2005 as the third single from the album in the UK, and the second single in the US. It reached number two in the UK charts, capping a very successful year for the band. Many critics cited this song as proof that Oasis had returned to form we had seen in the mid-90's.

A demo for the track was recorded during demo sessions for Standing on the Shoulder of Giants. A bootleg of these demo sessions was leaked onto the Internet in early 2000. This track was given the unofficial title "It's A Crime" on many bootlegs as the track was unknown and unreferenced anywhere before then. The album version of the song is structurally almost exactly as the same as the demo with a slight change in melody in the part that Noel sings. The lyrics to the chorus remains intact, but the verses and bridge have totally rewritten lyrics.




















The single version of the song omits the second verse and chorus.



A second, Noel-sung demo was released on the "Let There Be Love" DVD single. It has the same lyrics as the album version, and in fact the album version takes some elements from the demo such as the piano. It was probably recorded sometime in 2003 or 2004, prior to the main Don't Believe the Truth recording sessions.

The video is a montage of some of Oasis' live shows during the summer of 2005 including clips of the gigs at Hampden Park and the City of Manchester Stadium. The clips don't actually show the band playing 'Let There Be Love'.

The song has only been played live once, on an Italian radio show in late 2005.

On This Day In Oasis History...

Stop the Clocks is an album by British rock band Oasis made up of Oasis' favourite songs and moments of their career so far and was released on November 20 2006. “Unlike most albums of this nature, Oasis have sat down and undertaken the almost impossible job of picking what they consider to be their finest moments ever. So 'Stop The Clocks' is imbued with the sort of willfulness that has helped make Oasis the favourite band of millions of people worldwide and its running order will no doubt provoke equal parts adulation and bar discussions from the millions of Oasis fans worldwide. Could it ever be any other way?” . It released in November 2006. The "retrospective collection" is an 18-track double album with the featured songs chosen by Noel Gallagher. It went 3x platinum in the UK with sales as good as any album there since Be Here Now.

The album has come about due to the end of Oasis' recording contract with Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Noel Gallagher has gone on record before on numerous occasions saying that Oasis wouldn't release a greatest hits album unless the band were about to split up. However, in an interview with news.com.au in December 2005, he hinted that Sony were planning to release one anyway, and that despite his misgivings, he would have to get involved with it otherwise it'd be "shit". This was clarified in September 2006, when he told the NME that when he made it clear to Sony that the band were not going to re-sign to them, the record label decided to release a greatest hits album. Gallagher then explained that he insisted that it had to be a 'best-of' because he felt a compilation of the best singles, album tracks and b-sides would produce a stronger album than a compilation of singles.

To address some fans' concerns that the release of a greatest hits album was a sign that the band were about to finish, based on some of Noel Gallagher's previous comments, the press release for the album confirmed that they are merely taking "a well earned sabbatical prior to starting work on new material, destined for similar levels of success in the future. As such, this is not a full stop, but merely a time out; a dream set list, and a chance for the world to review the immense contribution that Oasis have made and continue to make to rock 'n' roll."

To celebrate the release of the album, the band will be unveiling their first full-length film - Lord Don't Slow Me Down, shot during the Don't Believe the Truth world tour, from May 2005 to March 2006, the film was shown in November 2006 around the world in selected picture houses, theatres and cinemas to winners of fans competitions and the press. It was also broadcasted on Channel 4 in the UK.

The album debuted at #2 in the UK charts selling over 50,000 copies in its first day of release and 216,000 in its first week of release, surprisingly not selling enough to knock off the top spot to The Love Album, by the boy-band Westlife. It also debuted at #89 on the U.S. Billboard 200, starting with 18,000 units sold. It did however enter the Japanese Oricon album charts at #1, selling 87,462 copies in its first week.

In Japan, a box set was also released of all their singles to coincide with the album.

The Songs

Stop the Clocks focuses heavily on the band's most popular albums, Definitely Maybe and (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, with each contributing five tracks, plus four B-sides (also included on the band's other compilation album The Masterplan) from this era. Only two tracks appear from Don't Believe the Truth, and one track each from Standing on the Shoulder of Giants and Heathen Chemistry, whilst Be Here Now is overlooked completely.

When the release of Stop the Clocks was first announced in July 2006, speculation was rife that the unreleased song of the same name would be included on the record as a bonus track. However, Noel Gallagher told fans at a Q&A session that the song was considered for inclusion, but they weren't happy with any of the many versions they have recorded.

Gallagher also confirmed that the title was chosen to sum up what was described in the initial press release as being "merely a time out; a chance for the world to review the immense contribution that Oasis have made and continue to make to rock 'n' roll." Noel Gallagher revealed in an interview in April 2005 that 'Stop the Clocks' was the original title for the band's early recorded material in early 2004, which turned eventually into Don't Believe the Truth.

Gallagher revealed to Billboard that he was approached about including some new songs on the album as well, but that he opted not to "because it takes the focus away from what you're actually trying to say with a retrospective."

Gallagher told the NME in September 2006 that he picked the tracks on the album, and there were about eight songs that "should be on there, but aren't". He explained that his original vision was for a 12-track album on one CD, but, after whittling down from an initial 30+ tracks, the track-listing was finalised. He admitted that he's had arguments with people about the tracklisting but that "someone has to pick the tracklisting, and I've picked it and that's the end of it. But that must mean we're pretty good, if people are arguing about what's not on it, it's brilliant!"

During an interview on Radio 1 in October 2006, and later during a question and answer session with The Sun, Liam Gallagher, who got a songwriting credit with his "Songbird", claimed that he was happy with the tracks Noel had selected for the album, although he said that he would have liked "Rockin' Chair" and "D'You Know What I Mean?" to be included. Noel, however, admitted that "D'You Know What I Mean?" was to be included on the album up until the moment it was being mastered, explaining that the length of the song "upset the flow of the album".

In the special boxed-edition of 'Stop the Clocks' at the end of the 'Lock the Box' interview, when Liam was told 'Whatever' was not on the track-listing he said "Thank fuck for that".

Track listing

All songs written by Noel Gallagher except "Songbird", written by Liam Gallagher

Disc one
"Rock 'n' Roll Star" (from Definitely Maybe)
"Some Might Say" (from (What's the Story) Morning Glory?)
"Talk Tonight" (from The Masterplan)
"Lyla" (from Don't Believe the Truth)
"The Importance of Being Idle" (from Don't Believe the Truth)
"Wonderwall" (from (What's the Story) Morning Glory?)
"Slide Away" (from Definitely Maybe)
"Cigarettes & Alcohol" (from Definitely Maybe)
"The Masterplan" (from The Masterplan)

Disc two
"Live Forever" (from Definitely Maybe)
"Acquiesce" (from The Masterplan)
"Supersonic" (from Definitely Maybe)
"Half the World Away" (from The Masterplan)
"Go Let It Out" (from Standing on the Shoulder of Giants)
"Songbird" (from Heathen Chemistry)
"Morning Glory" (from (What's the Story) Morning Glory?)
"Champagne Supernova" (from (What's the Story) Morning Glory?)
"Don't Look Back in Anger" (from (What's the Story) Morning Glory?)

Cover





















The cover was designed by Sir Peter Blake, best known for his design of the sleeve for The Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, but also well recognized within the genre for his work on the cover of Paul Weller's Stanley Road album.

According to Blake, he chose all of the objects in the picture at random, but the sleeves of Sgt. Pepper's and Definitely Maybe were in the back of his mind. He claims, "It's using the mystery of Definitely Maybe and running away with it." Familiar cultural icons which can be seen on the cover include Dorothy from Wizard of Oz, Michael Caine (replacing the original image of Marilyn Monroe, which couldn't be used for legal reasons) and the seven dwarfs from Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs.

Blake also revealed that the final cover wasn't the original one. That design featured an image of the shop 'Granny Takes A Trip' on the Kings Road in Chelsea, London.

On This Day In Oasis History...

Dig Out Your Soul is the seventh studio album by English rock band Oasis, released on the 6th October 2008.

The first single, "The Shock of the Lightning", was released on 29 September 2008.

In promotion of the album, the band embarked on a world tour, debuting in Seattle, at the WaMu Theater.




In 2009, the tour concluded (due to Noel Gallagher quitting the band) with major dates at some of the UK's biggest stadiums, notably the new Wembley Stadium, Heaton Park, Sunderland's Stadium of Light and Edinburgh's Murrayfield as well as Ireland's Slane Castle.

Noel's departure from the band potentially means this will be the final Oasis album ever to be released, although the future of Oasis has yet to be confirmed by any of the remaining bandmembers. As of June 2009, Dig Out Your Soul has sold 2 million copies worldwide.

Concept and sound

A January 2007 interview for NME, Noel Gallagher gave new details on his vision for the album: "All the tunes I've written recently have been on the kind of acoustic side, you know? But for the next record I really fancy doing a record where we just completely throw the kitchen sink at it," he explained. "We haven't done that since Be Here Now. I'd like to get, like, a 100-piece orchestra and choirs and all that stuff. I think since Standing on the Shoulder of Giants we've been trying to prove a point of just bass, drums, guitar and vocals and nothing fancy. But I kind of like fancy! I'd like to make an absolutely fucking colossal album. You know? Like literally two orchestras, stuff like that."

In October 2007, Noel revealed more about the record to BBC 6 Music: "Funnily enough, we all write separately, but for some reason all the songs sound like they've got a common thread. We've been focusing round the grooves more this time, the last album was quite 'songy,' if that makes any sense, I don't know. But it was quite 'songy:' "The Importance of Being Idle", "Let There Be Love" - it was quite a British, retro, 60s sounding album. This is kinda focusing round the grooves more. Saying that, we've only done two tracks but all the demos that we've done are great."

Noel also revealed details about his lyrics for his new songs: "I've literally got nothing left to write about: I've wrote about being a youth, and I've wrote about being a rock star, and I've wrote about living life in the big city. I've been re-visiting some of my more psychedelic trips of a younger man, because I remember them all you see...putting them to music."

In a November 2007 interview with Reuters, singer Liam Gallagher revealed more details on how the record is going: "All the songs are wrote (sic), this record's gonna be fuckin' rockin'. There's no acoustic on it, man. We rehearsed about 10 tunes before coming in. Three are mine. Some are Noel's, some are Gem's, some are Andy's. We're there for a long time, so we just keep pickin' em off the tree, man. Some are sounding really fucking heavy, and then we're picking some out, and you go, 'Well that doesn't sit with that, right.' So we just keep moving about. We've got plenty of songs. We're not gonna go bored." Gallagher also revealed that the record,"Will have everything thrown at it. Let's just hope that Noel's learnt his lesson in the studio this time!"

In the 15 June 2008 interview with talkSPORT, Noel said the album was "colossal", "rockin'" and added "it's gonna sound great live, which is the most important thing." In further interviews, Gallagher was also quick to challenge the belief that the album would be a continuation of the band's Britpop history, claiming "It's not Britpop... some of it sounds a bit glam. There's no pop singles on it."

Recording



Sessions were due to begin in July 2007, but it is believed proper band sessions did not begin until the start of August, during which Noel and Liam were photographed outside Abbey Road Studios with fans.

There was a brief period of confusion in which it seemed that Oasis would have to forgo recording in the Abbey Road studios because the band U2 had reserved the recording areas that Oasis wished to use far in advance. The issue was soon resolved, however, when Noel bought U2's spot in cash without the bands knowledge- this was possible due to the fact that the studios gave preference to cash payments over credit, which U2 had been booked with.

Singer Liam Gallagher summed up the essence of the affair when he said "U2 were booked in there with Rick Rubin. I was like, 'U2! U2 have to have a fucking six-hour meeting [as to] whether to get tea or coffee in the rehearsal room! So we got em' banned didn't we. They are not coming in here any time in the next five years.'"

Sessions were halted in September 2007 due to the birth of Noel Gallagher's second child, telling BBC 6 Music: "We done a few tracks in Abbey Road about six weeks ago. Then we've taken some time off for me to get acquainted with my new son and then we start back in Abbey Road on 5 November. - we'll probably work through a couple of months there, have Christmas off, then go and mix it and see where we're at."

On 8 November 2007, the band's official website confirmed that they returned to the studio on 5 November, and they were working with Don't Believe the Truth producer Dave Sardy.

In Liam Gallagher's Reuters interview on 13 November 2007, he revealed more about the expected timespan of the recording sessions: "We've got six weeks there, seven weeks. We'll have it done by then, without a doubt. It'll be done by Christmas. It'll be done by the 15th of December, if everything goes well. Then we'll have Christmas off, and we'll go to L.A., mix it and maybe do a bit more over there. But not too much."

Oasis announced, through its website on 5 February, that the band was in Los Angeles to finish off recording the album and to mix the record.

In a 28 February 2008 radio interview for LA radio station Indie 103.1 [10] with former Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, Liam, Noel and Gem said mixing had been slowed down by the equipment constantly breaking, but that they hoped to be finished in a couple of weeks.

In an appearance on Russell Brand's BBC Radio 2 show on 8 March 2008, Noel declared he would be going home on the next Wednesday, 12 March, suggesting that work was finished in LA and, subsequently, on the record, although this wasn't confirmed.

Oasis had also booked tour dates; a further indication the album was finished.

Also in the interview Noel said that the album title came from one of Gem's lyrics on his song "To Be Where There's Life".

On 14 April 2008 Noel Gallagher announced in an interview that the album was indeed completed and the band were in discussions with several record companies with which to release it. In August 2008, Reprise Records announced that it would distribute Dig Out Your Soul in North America.

Reception

Critical reception of the album was generally positive. Many critics lauded Dig Out Your Soul as one of the strongest albums ever recorded by the band, and noted that "it seems Oasis have made something that can happily play alongside Morning Glory."

Jonathan Cohen of Billboard says that with Dig Out Your Soul, the group "[Gets] back to its stripped-down rock roots" and that the opening song, "Bag It Up" harks back to Definitely Maybe's "Columbia".

Luke Bainbridge of The Observer gave the album 4 stars out of 5, saying "You could say that if Definitely Maybe was their Stone Roses, Dig Out Your Soul is their Second Coming. It won't win them any new fans, but those that believed the truth last time will dig this."

In the UK, the album sold 90,000 copies on its first day of release, making it the second fastest selling album of 2008, behind Coldplay's Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. It debuted on the UK album chart at #1, with first week sales of 200,866 copies, making it the 51st fastest selling album ever in the UK.

The album debuted at #5 on the US Billboard 200 with 53,000 copies sold. It is the highest chart position of any Oasis album in the US since 1997's Be Here Now which debuted at #2, but fewer total opening week sales than Don't Believe the Truth.

It has so far spent a total of 29 week in the French Albums Chart, the most ever by any Oasis album.

Promotion

Official advertising




The album was legitimately advertised through television advertising and the use of billboards throughout major cities in the UK. Advertising was also taken in national newspapers around the time of the albums release. The album was also advertisied for free on social networking website, Myspace. The comedian Russell Brand- a friend of Noel Gallagher, lent his voice to the albums TV campaign.

Guerilla marketing in various parts of UK

Spray Tag at Liverpool Lime Street Underground StationIn London, Leeds, Glasgow, Brighton and Liverpool, coinciding with the launch of the album, the logo of the album appeared as a spray tag on pavements, including on the forecourt of the just newly opened Shepherd's Bush station.

Busking in New York



Sheet music and lyrics were given to several busking bands around the New York area. It was reported through the bands official website that four songs ("The Turning", "(Get Off Your) High Horse Lady", "Bag It Up" and "The Shock of the Lightning") were performed by the bands on the streets of New York. It was reported by the New York Times that these buskers were selected after applying online through the bands' official website. An official video from the band's website shows Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Liam Gallagher present during the rehearsals of the new songs.

Songbook



To coincide with an "Oasis extravaganza" issue of NME magazine on the 16 September 2008, a free songbook was included. The songbook featured chords and lyrics to three songs: "Bag It Up", "The Turning" and "(Get Off Your) High Horse Lady". There are also various album and band images in the booklet. Also included is a CD-ROM with interviews from all band members, wallpapers, various competitions and a two-part video tutorial on how to play "Supersonic".

Other media

"Bag It Up", "The Shock of the Lightning" and "Waiting for the Rapture" is featured as downloadable content in the Oasis Track Pack for Guitar Hero World Tour. The rest of the album was made available on 29 January 2009.

Music videos

On This Day In Oasis History...

"The Importance Of Being Idle" is a song on the British rock band Oasis' sixth album, Don't Believe the Truth, written and sung by lead guitarist Noel Gallagher. It was the second single released from the album in the UK, on August 22, 2005, where it debuted at #1. It was also the first time that Oasis earned two successive #1's in the same calendar year. It was written by Gallagher sometime during the summer of 2004, before the band made their final attempt at recording what would become Don't Believe the Truth. He got the title from the Mark Twain book of the same name which he found whilst cleaning out his garage (it belonged not to him but to girlfriend Sara McDonald.)

Musically, as Noel has commented, the song sounds like tunes from two British bands, The Kinks and The La's. In particular, the sentiment expressed is noticeably similar to The Kinks' "Sunny Afternoon" and "Dead End Street", and the use of falsetto for every other verse line recalls The La's "Feelin'". The guitar sound is similar also to The La's b-sides; "Clean Prophet" and "Over". It also is a breakaway from the sound of Oasis's latter albums, especially the straight ahead rock 'n' roll anthems of Heathen Chemistry. The keyboard used on the pre-chorus sections was bought by bassist Andy Bell from the auction website eBay.

Noel has said that the lyrics of "The Importance of Being Idle" are inspired by his own laziness. Some of the second verse, with the reference to begging his doctor for "one more line", seems to be referring to an actual event as this resembles Noel's account of how he gave up cocaine in 1998.





















Most reviewers acclaimed the track as one of the highlights of Don't Believe the Truth, which itself was widely praised as a marked return to form. The band mentioned in interviews in June that it would become the second single, after the UK Number One "Lyla". The b-sides are Liam Gallagher's "Pass Me Down the Wine" and Gem Archer's "The Quiet Ones."



The promo film was directed by Dawn Shadforth, (whose previous videos include Kylie Minogue's award-winning "Can't Get You Out Of My Head"). Shadforth's film for "The Importance of Being Idle' starred Welsh actor Rhys Ifans and homages the style of early 1960s kitchen sink drama British films, and is set during the build up to a funeral procession in a northern town, with the extravagant undertakers parading the coffin at the video's climax and Ifans playing the part of a high-kicking funeral director. The video is based on the film and play Billy Liar with Ifans playing the role of Billy. Noel and Liam therefore play Shadrack & Duxbury, the owners of the funeral parlour where Billy works. The rest band (Gem,Andy and Zak) make a brief appearance as lazy workers playing cards in an undertaker's office. It was widely acclaimed at the time as being probably the best video Oasis had ever made, not least by the band themselves, who were said to be very happy with the finished product. The video is very similar in style and concept to the music video for "Dead End Street" by The Kinks.

Q Magazine readers placed the song at #1 in a list of 2005's greatest tracks.

The video for the song was voted the video of the year at the NME Awards.

The song is included on Oasis' 'best-of' album Stop the Clocks.

On This Day In Oasis History...

The video below is from August 20th 2005, when Oasis played at the V Festival in Chelmsford, England.

On This Day In Oasis History...

Below is a video from August 13th 2005, when Oasis played at the Summersonic Festival in Osaka, Japan.

On This Day In Oasis History...

The video below is from August 7th 2005, when Oasis played at the FIB Heineken Festival in Bennicassim, Spain.

On This Day In Oasis History...

The video below is from July 2nd 2005, when Oasis played the second of three nights at the City Of Manchester Stadium.