Believe this...

This album kicks ass. If you've ever been an Oasis fan but found yourself losing interest, buy this disc. Your faith will be restored. I've always thought Oasis were at their best when blatantly ripping off other bands, usually the Beatles. (If you've never heard the similarities, anyone who's ever even thought of being a rock critic will gladly drum it into your head.) But on Don't Believe the Truth, the Brothers Gallagher begin to branch out. Here you'll find them ripping off lots of bands, most notably the Velvet Underground and the Kinks. But hey, who isn't these days? There's a great psychedelic feel to the whole disc, and it's delivered with a newfound energy, stemming from both the songwriting contributions of bassist Andy Bell and guitarist Gem Archer, and from the Gallaghers feeling a need to prove to younger bands who they've influenced that Oasis still has what it takes. As this album shows, they do.

For me, this one's especially good, because I've always enjoyed the songs where Noel sings lead, and this album's chock full o' Noelly goodness. He takes lead vocals on three of the 11 songs (or 12 if you buy it on iTunes like I did), and duets with Liam on a fourth. One of the three Noel-sung tracks, "Part of the Queue" is shaping up to be my favorite Oasis tune... of... all... time. Rawk!