Dig Out Your Soul is the seventh studio album by English rock band Oasis, released on the 7th 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
