Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds

Release date: October 17, 2011
Label: Sour Mash

Tracklist

  1. Everybody’s on the Run [MV]
  2. Dream On [MV]
  3. If I Had a Gun… [MV]
  4. The Death of You and Me [MV]
  5. (I Wanna Live in a Dream in My) Record Machine
  6. AKA… What a Life! [MV]
  7. Soldier Boys and Jesus Freaks
  8. AKA… Broken Arrow
  9. (Stranded On) The Wrong Beach
  10. Stop the Clocks

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds tackles subjects such as love and mortality. But when you listen to High Flying Birds, it’s impossible to avoid comparing it with Oasis’ past work. Songs like If I Had a Gun… and (I Wanna Live in a Dream in My) Record Machine come across as hat-tipping towards Noel’s musical past, with the former sounding Wonderwall-esque and the latter resembling All Around The World in terms of sounds and musical structure.

As far as Noel’s vocals goes, they are solid, expressive and melodic, but there’s also a sense of freedom and celebration which can be noticed throughout the album.

Most of the tracks on High Flying Birds sound familiar in structure thanks to its rich wall of sound composed of strings, pianos, chords, guitar and horns. However, AKA… What a Life! stands out for sounding different than the rest of the tracks — it’s a dance-rock song, something Noel hasn’t delved into before.

While the album may not show Noel Gallagher in a raw, stripped down tone — the production values overshadows his vocals at times — his solo album is actually great to listen to due to its consistent quality. High Flying Birds makes listening to Noel Gallagher feel fresh again, re-establishes him as a force to be reckoned with and keeps his songwriting skills and singing vocals intact.

Best tracks: If I Had a Gun… and AKA… Broken Arrow.

Rating: ★★★★¼ 

Preview it on Xiami.com | Like it? Buy it on Amazon or iTunes

P.S: The album will be released on USA and Canada on November 8, 2011.

Rodrigo

YAM Magazine contributor, has a B. Sc. degree in Science/Pharmacy and is a very lazy person.

2 Responses

  1. Dan says:

    I didn’t like the first track I heard off the album…not sure which one that was but I really like AKA. That you say it is very different to the rest of the album worries me as I hated Oasis’ final album (their weakest work in my opinion). But generally, I do like Noel’s work, especially the more acoustic stuff so I’ll give this one a proper listen.

    • Rodrigo says:

      @Dan, First track/single was The Death of You and Me. I also liked AKA, but I ended up preferring If I Had a Gun.

      I thought Standing on the Shoulder of Giants was the weakest album Oasis ever came up with, despite me liking the Go Let It Out song.

      I think you may easily enjoy this album in case you disliked the last Oasis album.

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