Oasis. Dig Out Your Soul

Hooray for Brit rock!

Christmas time once again, and it's time for the traditional exchange gift, which is just a glorified way of buying yourself your own gift. This year though, no one's complaining, as my brother got for himself Oasis's new album Dig Out Your Soul. Well, it's not really brand new (it came out late September), but it is their latest one this year.

The thing with this album is their sound has evolved (as should all bands), yet the only disappointing thing is that there are only eleven songs. There still are heavy guitar riffs, and this time Noel Gallagher doesn't hold back on the electronics, sprinkling heavy doses of it, especially on my favorite track, "The Shock of the Lightning" (oh man I love this song). Still heavily Beatle-influenced, the eleven tracks are not penned by Noel alone: three tracks are by his brother Liam, while the other musicians Gem and Andy Bell share one track each, which adds to the diversity. Zak Starkey (first-born child of that cute Beatle Ringo) plays drums on all tracks except the last track.

British bands rarely disappoint, as they are not as musically limited as the American bands, willing to experiment more with new sounds and new directions. Let me warn you though, that this album is nothing like (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, if that's the kind of Oasis sound you're looking for. It's 2008, for crying out loud. This is the new Oasis, and this is their new sound.


*Warning: Track 4, "The Shock of the Lightning," gets better the more you listen to it. It takes several listens before it hooks you, but once it does...



Rating: Four and a half stars.