The October 2014 breakup of Oasis' Liam Gallagher's band Beady Eye made me realize something: it's certainly no coincidence that the guy who wrote all of Oasis' songs has the better solo career after his main band broke up. Indeed, six years after Oasis' breakup, Noel Gallagher continues to have a successful solo career, while Liam Gallagher's Beady Eye broke up suddenly and quietly late last year. On another, somewhat-related note, I love the Beatles, but let's be real--John, Paul, and George had successful solo careers because they were great songwriters, and poor Ringo was just kinda left in the dust, although he did have a few hits. But I digress. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' self-titled 2011 release remains a testament to the fact that you should probably have good songwriting skills to make it as a solo artist. I certainly never enjoyed Beady Eye's songs quite as much as Noel Gallagher's. So in this review, whenever I use "Gallagher", it's always referring to Noel.
In recent years, Gallagher has found himself in the press for one reason or another, such as his issue with Jay Z headlining England's prestigious Glastonbury Festival in 2008, among other things. That side, his 2011 album that I mentioned in the last paragraph is really quite good, with singles such as "If I Had A Gun" and "AKA... What A Life!" They certainly aren't as great as "Hey Now" or "Some Might Say", but they're still solid rock songs. I'd still take an Oasis reunion over this, but I'll always appreciate that at least one of the Gallaghers is trying to make good music.
When I found out that Gallagher was releasing new music in 2015, my curiosity and excitement were piqued. The lead single to be released ahead of his sophomore album is a song called "Heat of the Moment", and while it's not an Oasis song, it's similar to "If I Had A Gun" in that both songs are somewhat reflective. It's more rocking than "If I Had A Gun", however, and isn't as much of a slow burner. It was enough to keep me excited for some new music.
Chasing Yesterday opens with a trippy acoustic rocker called "Riverman". I say "trippy" because the song has a psychedelic vibe to it, like the type of song you'd play while driving into the sunset on a hot afternoon. Like "Heat of the Moment", it's a slower song, and typically I prefer faster, more upbeat songs to start albums (see my review of Charli XCX's Sucker from December 2014). "Riverman" is a good enough song that I'm willing to let it slide. Plus, it has a cool saxophone solo,
The next song, "The Girl With the X-Ray Eyes" didn't stick out to me as much, but is still a great song. The next tune, "Lock All the Doors", is another straight rocker. It's upbeat, and even for a Noel Gallagher song, it's actually pretty fun. It's the type of song I can rock out to it the car and get strange looks from the people around me when I'm stopped at a stoplight.
"The Dying of the Light" is another psychedelic trip through the sunset. While I definitely would rather have a rocker, this is the result of not having Liam Gallagher in your band, and that's a small price to pay. Noel's still writing good songs, even if they are slow, and I like that. Same with "The Right Stuff". These songs are really quite good, even though they all share the same feel and don't give me anything to work with otherwise. There are some cool arrangements on here though, such as the horns on "The Right Stuff".
Noel's biggest strength continues to be his songwriting. Like I said, if your main band breaks up into two bands, and you're the more established songwriter, then you're going to have a good career. One of my favorites is "Are you a sleeper or a mortal soul? / Are you the devil with a heart of gold?", from "The Right Stuff".
This album has two styles: straight-up rockers and slow, psychedelic songs. It's not really any different than what I've come to expect from Noel Gallagher, and I think that's part of why I like it. Maybe it's not something that longtime Oasis fans will enjoy, but it's something they should at least be able to appreciate, since it's now the closest thing to Oasis that we have.
Conclusion: While Chasing Yesterday doesn't offer anything new from Noel's debut effort, it's still a maintains the smart songwriting and simple--but equally smart--song composition that made the debut good. An enjoyable sophomore release.
Overall: 6/10
Favorite songs: Riverman; In the Heat of the Moment; Lock All the Doors; The Right Stuff; Ballad of the Mighty I
When I found out that Gallagher was releasing new music in 2015, my curiosity and excitement were piqued. The lead single to be released ahead of his sophomore album is a song called "Heat of the Moment", and while it's not an Oasis song, it's similar to "If I Had A Gun" in that both songs are somewhat reflective. It's more rocking than "If I Had A Gun", however, and isn't as much of a slow burner. It was enough to keep me excited for some new music.
Chasing Yesterday opens with a trippy acoustic rocker called "Riverman". I say "trippy" because the song has a psychedelic vibe to it, like the type of song you'd play while driving into the sunset on a hot afternoon. Like "Heat of the Moment", it's a slower song, and typically I prefer faster, more upbeat songs to start albums (see my review of Charli XCX's Sucker from December 2014). "Riverman" is a good enough song that I'm willing to let it slide. Plus, it has a cool saxophone solo,
The next song, "The Girl With the X-Ray Eyes" didn't stick out to me as much, but is still a great song. The next tune, "Lock All the Doors", is another straight rocker. It's upbeat, and even for a Noel Gallagher song, it's actually pretty fun. It's the type of song I can rock out to it the car and get strange looks from the people around me when I'm stopped at a stoplight.
"The Dying of the Light" is another psychedelic trip through the sunset. While I definitely would rather have a rocker, this is the result of not having Liam Gallagher in your band, and that's a small price to pay. Noel's still writing good songs, even if they are slow, and I like that. Same with "The Right Stuff". These songs are really quite good, even though they all share the same feel and don't give me anything to work with otherwise. There are some cool arrangements on here though, such as the horns on "The Right Stuff".
Noel's biggest strength continues to be his songwriting. Like I said, if your main band breaks up into two bands, and you're the more established songwriter, then you're going to have a good career. One of my favorites is "Are you a sleeper or a mortal soul? / Are you the devil with a heart of gold?", from "The Right Stuff".
This album has two styles: straight-up rockers and slow, psychedelic songs. It's not really any different than what I've come to expect from Noel Gallagher, and I think that's part of why I like it. Maybe it's not something that longtime Oasis fans will enjoy, but it's something they should at least be able to appreciate, since it's now the closest thing to Oasis that we have.
Conclusion: While Chasing Yesterday doesn't offer anything new from Noel's debut effort, it's still a maintains the smart songwriting and simple--but equally smart--song composition that made the debut good. An enjoyable sophomore release.
Overall: 6/10
Favorite songs: Riverman; In the Heat of the Moment; Lock All the Doors; The Right Stuff; Ballad of the Mighty I