Oasis
Dig Out Your Soul

Review By Jeremy Willets

At this point in Oasis’ career, it’s reached the same point that the Rolling Stones did right around 1980. A new record is nothing more than an excuse to play loads of gigs where they’ll trot out the old tunes and make a bundle of cash. For an act that hasn’t been relevant in America since 1997’s Be Here Now, Oasis still has plenty of bluster. It continues to play enormo-domes back home in the UK, even though it’s now resigned to playing mid-sized venues on this side of the Atlantic. With every new record comes talk of the band returning to the form of its first two albums. Alan McGee – founder of the legendary Creation record label, and the man who first signed the band – is mounting the charge this time.

On his blog, McGee’s declared Dig Out Your Soul is on par with the Beatles’ Revolver, which is regarded by many as the quintessential record of all time.  Dig Out Your Soul is far from that, though. If it returns any bit of Oasis’ former luster, it’s because the band seems to be turning to the recent UK music scene for inspiration instead of endlessly aping the Beatles. The piano and drum groove in “The Turning” sounds cribbed directly from Kasabian’s catalog, as do late album tracks “To Be Where There’s Life” and “Ain’t Got Nothin’.”  In fact, “The Shock of the Lightning” is really the only track on Dig Out Your Soul that immediately sounds like the band’s former work.