Top Ten Albums of 2011 - #02
Noel Gallagher's Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
Editor's Note: This is the 9th in a quasi-weekly series of reviews marking my favorite ten albums of 2011. The 10th edition is wrapped into the larger year-end post I call "The Ho Media Awards", which will be published next weekend. Stay tuned!
Yes, even after my strong defense of Liam and Beady Eye in general, I still have to give the edge to Noel's solo album. He kept it to just the right length by culling his batch of 15+ studio tracks down to the ten that fit together best. The album grabbed me from the first track. He doesn't take any time to do any vocal warm-ups - this is Noel at his most emphatic from the first line of vocals. And what a deliciously dark opener it is! This is one of the reasons that Noel gets the edge. Dark sounds, minor chords, and lots of strings are going to suck me in every time.
I'll admit that I was a little trepidatious after hearing the first single, "The Death of You and Me." Sounded like he was ripping off his own tune ("The Importance of Being Idle"). There's no doubt that he's still dragging some baggage from Oasis with him; witness the version of "Record Machine" that was beaten with 30 different instruments until you can barely make out the vocals or the guitar solo that birthed the song in the first place. It's like he wants to sound as little like the last few Oasis records as possible. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But for the most part, it stands pretty well on its own.
The b-sides are amazing for a couple of different reasons. First, they show a more experimental side that he was afraid to make prominent on the album proper. And second, they weren't touched by David-fucking-Sardy, the worst producer in the history of the world (stay tuned for his special year-end award). The DVD that describes the making of the album describes how he stopped Noel from releasing the album the way Noel wanted it; Sardy wanted to get his paws on every damn song. So you can blame the lost solos (tracks 5 and 10) and the sameness that borders on blurring together (tracks 7-9) on this jackass. Go find the b-sides and add them to the end of the album in this order:
"Alone on the Rope"
"I'd Pick You Every Time"
"Let The Lord Shine a Light on Me"
"The Good Rebel"
"A Simple Game of Genius"
This allows you to break the mess into two halves that work well alone or allows you to skip those ones at the end without much flavor.
The videos for the first three singles are supposed to tell a story. If this makes sense to you, you must know Russell Brand better than I do.
Album highlights: "Soldier Boys and Jesus Freaks" and the freak out that closes the album with "Stop the Clocks."
Yes, even after my strong defense of Liam and Beady Eye in general, I still have to give the edge to Noel's solo album. He kept it to just the right length by culling his batch of 15+ studio tracks down to the ten that fit together best. The album grabbed me from the first track. He doesn't take any time to do any vocal warm-ups - this is Noel at his most emphatic from the first line of vocals. And what a deliciously dark opener it is! This is one of the reasons that Noel gets the edge. Dark sounds, minor chords, and lots of strings are going to suck me in every time.
I'll admit that I was a little trepidatious after hearing the first single, "The Death of You and Me." Sounded like he was ripping off his own tune ("The Importance of Being Idle"). There's no doubt that he's still dragging some baggage from Oasis with him; witness the version of "Record Machine" that was beaten with 30 different instruments until you can barely make out the vocals or the guitar solo that birthed the song in the first place. It's like he wants to sound as little like the last few Oasis records as possible. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But for the most part, it stands pretty well on its own.
The b-sides are amazing for a couple of different reasons. First, they show a more experimental side that he was afraid to make prominent on the album proper. And second, they weren't touched by David-fucking-Sardy, the worst producer in the history of the world (stay tuned for his special year-end award). The DVD that describes the making of the album describes how he stopped Noel from releasing the album the way Noel wanted it; Sardy wanted to get his paws on every damn song. So you can blame the lost solos (tracks 5 and 10) and the sameness that borders on blurring together (tracks 7-9) on this jackass. Go find the b-sides and add them to the end of the album in this order:
"Alone on the Rope"
"I'd Pick You Every Time"
"Let The Lord Shine a Light on Me"
"The Good Rebel"
"A Simple Game of Genius"
This allows you to break the mess into two halves that work well alone or allows you to skip those ones at the end without much flavor.
The videos for the first three singles are supposed to tell a story. If this makes sense to you, you must know Russell Brand better than I do.
Album highlights: "Soldier Boys and Jesus Freaks" and the freak out that closes the album with "Stop the Clocks."
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