Heathen Chemistry

I keep this short and sweet. There will be arguments of which Oasis album is best but this is in the top 3 (fact), In my opinion 2nd. With great songs like little by little, Stop crying your heart out, she is love and songbird as well as quite a few other good songs, you can't go wrong it's a brilliant album.

Heathen Chemistry may just be Oasis's most consistent album. Every song is enjoyable to listen to, and the the album flows extremely well. For those of you who think this album doesn't rock enough, you obviously don't know what your talking about. "Hindu Times" is one of their best songs, and it contains some great guitar playing by Noel. In fact, the first three songs on this album all rock. "Force of Nature" and "Hung in a Bad Place" are some of there more underrated rockers. Another great rocker is the closing number "Better Man", which obviously has some influence from John Lennon. Also, after listening to "Born on a Different Cloud", I was amazed at how much Liam sounds like John Lennon, and I now feel that that song is a tribute to him. This album is highly critized because of sounding too much like the beatles, but I do not think that is a bad thing. In fact, Oasis through out their career have been bashed by many critics for ripping off the beatles. Here's a news flash for everybody, almost every band today has ripped off the beatles in one way or another, and I still fail to see how Oasis is any different than any other band. Noel and Liam are great song writers and they can play great music, even if they sometimes sound a little like the beatles. Now back to the album, the rest of the songs on this album are just as stong as the ones already mentioned. "Stop Cryin Your Heart Out" is a beautiful ballad. "Songbird" and "She is Love" show Oasis on a more accoustic note, and even show flashes of country. Overall, this album is a must buy for any Oasis fan, and I do feel that this album may help the band find their old magic again. I can't wait for their next album.

There's no reason to hate oasis, it's just that people got so sick of hearing wonderwall, that they forced themselves to hate them. Now anything new that comes out is overshadowed in the one hit wonder crap that gets their 2 months of airplay and then fades. At least that's the case in the states. In England, hell, the country can't get enough of this band. Maybe I should move there b/c I love the band.

Heathen Chemistry, although not yet a classic as What's the Story and not (in my opinion) as structured as Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, it still fits in nicely as the latest effort pulled out by the guys. What's to notice about this album is that only Noel and Liam are the only remaining members of the original band. Then again, they are the backbone of the band. It is obvious to any fan that the sound is much different than the first 3 albums though. It can be a good thing in some songs such as the "Hindu Times" which rolls through w/ much energy, and "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" which was somewhat of a recent hit and also in the movie "The Butterfly Effect" at the end. Another UK single, "Songbird" which rather short, was written by Liam. It should have been longer b/c it's a great song and very catchy.

Noel sings lead on "Force of Nature", "Little By Little", and "She is Love." Usually the songs he sings end up as B-sides, but can't forget his most famous "Don't Look Back in Anger" plus he did a nice job w/ "Where Did it All Go Wrong." Personally, "She is Love" should definately been scratched on this album. It doesn't really fit in w/ the sound of any other songs. Would have been a nice B-side that Oasis masters more than any other band of all time. "Force of Nature" is cool which shows some sarcasm in it. The last UK single, "Little By Little," is a great song w/ a nice chorus and good guitar solo. The video for LBL is sweet as well.

"Hung in a Bad Place" is somewhat of a filler, but still a great oasis song that ranks w/ any non-single they have. "A Quick Peep" is like the new version of the "Swamp Song" but just only over a minute. I'm sure they extended it somewhere down the line. "(Probably) All in the Mind" is a Beatlesque type song w/ a nice ring to it. Liam writes and sings "Born On a Different Cloud" This is his best song to date. "Better Man" also provides the album w/ a crisp new sounding oasis. The only thing that sucks is that they put a 30 minute gap until the hidden song. There's no lyrics and mostly just jumbled guitar play, w/ a nice drum beat and later on some kind of woodwind, maybe a flute. Anyway if you forgot to push stop, you'll eventually get to it.

You can bash oasis as much as you want for not putting out any u.s. singles since "Don't Look Back in Anger" but you shouldn't hate the music if you are an oasis fan. They are pretty much a whole new band, and actually for the better. Heathen Chemistry may not be the best oasis album, but it still is a great oasis album.