5 out of 5

Label: Warner Bros.

Produced by: Dave Sardy

During the battles, I was a Blur guy.  Damon Albarn was cuter, wrote way more interesting lyrics, and didn’t so directly wear his Beatles badge on his sleeve, which was fine by me since I wasn’t a Beatles fan.  Not to say that Albarn may not have been a gitty twit, but I couldn’t really stand all the Oasis posturing of the Gallaghers, along with their eye-rolling sibling bickering.  Oasis seemed to be the group you liked if you were into tabloid drama along with yer arena-filling jams.  I liked their Morning Glory singles okay when they happened, but they soon became one of the first bands that I just sort of hated for their place in culture, overriding any judgements I could have on their music.

So, yes, if not for loving producer Dave Sardy and thus giving ‘Don’t Believe the Truth’ and ‘Dig Out Your Soul’ a spin, Oasis would have likely remained a black hole in my listening catalogue.  But here we are now.  Oasis – or Noel Gallagher – have written some excellent songs over their career, wrangling a sound that sometimes seemed directly lifted from their influences that somehow became the band’s own.  Liam’s lyrics have generally listed toward vacuous for me (focused as they are on the elements that initially turned me off about the band – wanting to conquer the world; being in a popular band), but he certainly has an ear for meter and simplicity, and knows to lean on the Lenon-esque thing for drafting some pleasingly simple lovey dovey songs.  The return to basics that was ‘Truth’ proving that the group could still sound relevant, and loud, and catchy, ‘Dig’ is the perfect (what turned out to be, at least for now) swan song album: it’s huge and layered but relaxed at the same time, everyone sinking into their roles and removing that distance the Oasis sneer and in-band troubles always seemed to give their music.  The lyrics feel slightly more introspective; the jams – every single goddamn one of them – are assured.  I do want to give Sardy credit for being man enough to make this happen, working with a band with such a legacy, presumably helping to give them the tools and space they needed to stay focused but relaxed, allowing for his (to me) signature huge but raw production style to be fully taken advantage of.  The way the beat drops in on most tracks, and the way many songs build to layers and layers of sound isn’t outside the realm of the group’s past approach, but it just sounds so present in Sardy’s hands.

The best bit, though, and why I don’t think it’s sacrilege to call this Oasis best album, is the way it enhances the group’s whole catalogue.  ‘Dig Out Your Soul’ puts their whole career in perspective, and makes their earlier excesses and experimentations more accessible (if, say, you were a Blur guy like me) in the scope of being the road to such a mature final outing.  And in turn, re-listening to those earlier albums enriches ‘Soul’ as well.