viernes, mayo 30, 2025

Rocktrospectiva: The Sharp And Crisper "Don't Believe The Truth" Turns 20

Released on 30 May 2005, "Don't Believe The Truth" was the sixth studio album by English rock band Oasis, it reached number one in the UK Albums Chart and entered the US charts at number 12, the album spawned three singles "Lyla", "The Importance Of Being Idle", & "Let There Be Love".

Don't Believe The Truth had significant writing contributions from members other than chief songwriter Noel Gallagher, 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 was the first Oasis record to feature the drumming of Zak Starkey, an auxiliary member of Oasis, who performed and toured with them following the departure of longtime drummer Alan White. Liam Gallagher also had a larger impact on the album through his developing songwriting. Noel has said that the album is his favourite of Oasis' last four, because all members contributed to it. This, he claims, has given it a different feel from a typically Noel-written Oasis album.

The recording process for Don't Believe the Truth was prolonged. The recording finally began after Alan White's departure in January 2004 at Sawmills Studios in Cornwall, though the group were not satisfied with the results, as Noel Gallagher 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 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 ten songs were worked on with Death in Vegas  of which, according to Noel, six 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".

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 US Hot 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".

The album received critical acclaim from reviewers and was considered a return to form for Oasis, with the songwriting from all band members being praised. The album has been placed on several ranking lists since its release, particularly from British rock and indie music magazines, due their sharper and crisper sound with some experimental slices praising certain tracks such as "The Importance Of Being Idle" and "Part Of The Queue" as essentials on the album 
 
The Importance Of Being Idle Tracks: 
 
1. Turn Up The Sun
2. Mucky Fingers
3. Lyla
4. Love Like A Bomb
5. The Importance Of Being Idle
6. The Meaning Of Soul
7. Guess God Thinks I'm Abel 
8. Part Of The Queue
9. Keep The Dream Alive
10. A Bell Will Ring
11. Let There Be Love

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