Noel Gallagher - Holy Mountain

Liams still singing the same ol Oasis mid paced ****e.

I'm having a listen on Spotify now. Apart from the first single I didn;t like it sounds good on first listen, different but better for it. Anyone else seen this video with the chick playing the fcuking scissors? :pac: I hope that was a piss take.

I've enjoyed both brothers having albums out. They are still capable of putting out great songs after 25 years on the go. So credit where credit is due.

Mr E wrote: »

The Irish times on Friday were particularly scathing.

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/noel-gallagher-s-high-flying-birds-who-built-the-moon-review-a-dried-up-oasis-of-dross-1.3299720?mode=amp#.Whgj1rJWyAk.facebook

"It’s the stale, musty sound of a glorified pub band going through the motions. Rock is dead; this is a pantomime."

That's as scathing a review as it can get. :eek:

- "Fort Knox, which appears tailor-made for the kind of advertisements they show at half-time on Sky Sports"

These were my exact thoughts as well when I listened to it the first, second and third time. Thought he surely made that for a few nice tv royalty cheques down the line.

I think the album deserves more than 1 star but many of arguments raised in that article are somewhat fair. Rock isn't necessarily dead though. There is still good music being made.

If 'rock is dead' it is primarily down to the fact that creative, outside the box pop music will struggle to find mass appeal nowadays. Music and music fans are so spread out because of the internet there will never really be another Bob Marley, The Beatles, Metallica, The Cure, or ACDC type 'movement'.
Am I being fair here?

MadYaker wrote: »

It isn't an amazing album but when I was reading that article I got a strong feeling that that particular journalist had an axe to grind and no matter how good the album was he was going to slate it. I think 3/5 is probably fair.

I think you are right and I wouldn't agree with him that rock is dead. The guy is probably some loser in his 40s. A lot of new rock music lacks innovation and is a bit stale, recent albums from Foo Fighters, Kasabaian and Muse come to mind but there is still quality to be found in smaller acts and some big bands too like Queens Of The Stone Age, Wolf Alice, Foals, Radiohead etc are all still releasing good music. The Arctic Monkeys are going to put out an album next year which will surely be good. People have been saying Rock is dead for decades but it will never die it just changes. For my money these I think there is much more interesting things happening in electronic music than in rock at the moment. But I think the days of mega acts like U2 and AC/DC selling out stadium tours for decade after decade are probably gone. I can't think of any band that has come up in the last 10 years that appear to be on that trajectory?

Saw an interview recently with the lead singer of Kasabian, and he was saying how is main musical influences have come from hip hop all throughout his career. So I think people are far more open to listening to a much broader spectrum of music than ever before. I agree that Kasabian's newest album was very playing it safe, although I like the main single off it. Queens new album is good, but again nothing earth shattering about it though.

Jools Holland seems to be the best way to get a feel of how good current music is, and his show consistently delivers on great songs and musicians.

People are less 'connected' with their music nowadays. 15 years ago I would have walked in town especially to buy an album (expensive albums that could cost £20:() and I would walk home reading the sleeve, artwork and lyrics wondering how the song would sound when I play it. Owning the actual physical copy of an album, that you bought with your money fosters a deeper connection to the music in my opinion. Its much more disposable now; but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Overall I think there is more good music now than before, but with less 'earth shatteringly unbelievable change the world' songs than past decades.

Irish_rat wrote: »

Don't think this is in the right forum but I might give them a listen anyway.

How is it not in the right forum? The Gallaghers/Oasis fit much more into indie pop than any other genre in fairness.

eviltimeban wrote: »

You can still do that. There's loads of places that sell vinyl nowadays, and while they can be pricey, you really do value it. I've been re-buying records for the last year and a bit now, and have about 100 vinyl records now (not many in the grand scheme of things, but as the pricing is restrictive it's the best I can do!)

As for the album, I've listened to it twice now and I think it's his worst album. The lyrics are awful, the tracks are mostly just aimless jams, which is fine if you are able to come up with a good jam, but he hasn't. Same chord progressions, and same lyrical stop-gaps. Throwing female vocals or alarm clocks over things doesn't make them "cosmic".

Whatever way it was made and whoever wrote it, Liam's album, as an album, is way better. Noel hasn't really made a great solo album has he? The first one was mostly Oasis outtakes, and the second one was I suppose a little more decent. I quite like the second one.

For a truly psychedelic version of a Noel song, check out the Amorphous Androgynous remix of "Falling Down" - it's incredible:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_onGF67ecs

Wow! I'm of the complete opposite opinion. Liam's album was so formulaic. Didn't really enjoy it at all. I'm really liking Noel's effort. Holy Mountain is class. Really great tune. Love the ooh ooh oohs in the chorus. First half of the album is really enjoyable. Tapers off a bit for me with the interludes but finishes strongly with who built the moon and dead in the water. Great to see him trying new things.

eviltimeban wrote: »

My problem is that there's no melodies. He's singing around his chord changes, which is the fallback of the songwriter with no songs (I've a bit of experience in this area). Most of the tracks have single-note melodies, sang in a similar meter, and he's done that a lot in the past (Mucky Fingers being one example). Makes for very uninteresting listening.

The songs I like are:

It's a Beautiful World
Careful What You Wish For
Black & White Sunshine
The Man Who Built The World

And that's it. The rest of them I wouldn't care about never hearing again.

Sure, Liam's album stuck to a particular formula, but at least it had some great melodies (Wall of Glass, Bold, For What It's Worth, Chinatown) and the production was interesting and top quality throughout. Noel's album sounds like you're listening to it with your fingers in your ears, and his voice is so processed that at times you can't even make out the lyrics (maybe this was on purpose).

Again I'm surprised with your opinion regarding the lack of melody. You left out three of the mpst melodic songs on the album. Holy Mountain- that sample of the tin whistle solo is the very definition of an earworm. If love is the law has got that 60's melodic pop vibe and she taught me how to fly is full of melody.

eviltimeban wrote: »

Wow, I really disagree with all that. Holy Mountain is a perfect example of the one note melodies I was talking about. Even the chorus is the same. The whistle, so what, it's a sample anyway, not a vocal melody.

Again, same with She Taught me How To Fly. You can imagine the chord progression / main riff was what they put together in the studio, and he sort of went "well I'd better sing something over it". He uses about two notes. He hasn't written a song here. Granted, the "put your money where your mouth is" (recycling his own songs this time!) is a bit stronger but overall the song is boring.

And therein lies the beauty of music! One man's trash is another man's treasure. I'm of the complete opposite opinion. Those three songs I mentioned have been stuck in my brain for a couple of weeks now. Really loving them. Noel album, a good solid 7/10. Liam's, a 4 or 5.