Don't Believe the Truth
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Don't Believe the Truth is the acclaimed sixth studio album by Oasis (the band's eighth release overall), released on May 30 2005 internationally and a day later in the United States. The album went triple platinum in the UK in the first week of 2006. It reached #1 on the UK Album charts on 5 June, and has been compared to Definitely Maybe and (What's the Story) Morning Glory?. In an unexpected revival of fortunes, Don't Believe The Truth entered the US charts at #12, the highest any Oasis album has reached there since 1997 with Be Here Now, although its chart stay was brief. Each member of the band contributed to the writing of tracks for the album and this is the first record to feature the drumming of Zak Starkey, son of Beatle Ringo Starr and drummer for The Who, replacing Oasis' longtime member Alan White. The first single, "Lyla", reached number one on the UK singles chart and number nineteen on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Overview
The globe-trotting recording process for this album was prolonged and troubled. It was originally supposed to be released around the Summer / Autumn of 2004, with an initial 3-4 week session produced by Death in Vegas duo, Richard Fearless and Tim Holmes. Recording began in January 2004 at Sawmills Studios in Cornwall, the same place where Oasis had recorded their debut album Definitely Maybe. These sessions were completed but the band weren't happy with the results. Noel has commented since on numerous occations that there was no problem with the work done by Death In Vegas, but he felt the songs they were working on were simply not good enough to form a record, and although Fearless attempted to convince Noel of the worth of the work done, Noel felt a break was needed in which new material would have to be written. In Noel's own words: "we were trying to polish a turd". According to Noel, around 10 tracks were worked on with Death In Vegas of which 6 were "not even good enough to make the b-sides". Four of the tracks which eventually appeared on the album were worked on with Death In Vegas, those songs being: "Turn Up The Sun", "Mucky Fingers", "A Bell Will Ring" and "The Meaning Of Soul", although all of these had extra work done to them or were re-recorded before being released. Noel has also said that the one great thing to come out of those sessions was "a great idea for a b-side which will come out sooner or later".After a short break in which a bunch of new songs, including "Let There Be Love", "Lyla" and "Part Of The Queue" were written, the band reconvened at their Wheeler End Studios with Noel in the producers chair. The band were joined on these sessions by The Who's drummer Zak Starkey. Although they were happy with the songs they were recording, Noel was uncomfortable with taking such a head-on role and making harsh decisions seeing how the band was supposed to be a democracy with everyone writing and recording.
In June 2004, Oasis debuted two new songs, the Liam-written "The Meaning Of Soul" and the Gem-written "A Bell Will Ring" at two live shows in Poole and at the Glastonbury Festival. Both the new songs and the band's overall performance got mixed reviews, but Noel denies that this had any effect on decisions to change the production duties.
After hearing of the band's production problems from Oasis manager Marcus Russell, American producer Dave Sardy expressed interest in taking over production duties. Sardy was given tapes of existing recording sessions to mix, and after his work got the thumbs up for the band, he arrived in the UK to oversee new recording sessions at Olympic Studios in London. These sessions didn't last long before he asked the band to travel to Los Angeles and re-record most of the album there, as he felt more comfortable working in a studio closer to home. With the band eventually agreeing to this, recording sessions began at Capitol Studios in October 2004 with the band spending around 9 weeks there.
- ["Lyla"] ([file info])
- *
- * Problems listening to the file? See [Media helpmedia help].
Liam has also apparently made a big impact on the album with his developing songwriting. Noel has also claimed that the Dylanesque album is his favourite of the last four, because all members have contributed to it. This, he claims, has given it a different feel to a typically Noel-written Oasis album. (Interestingly, he claimed the same for Heathen Chemistry, where the songwriting duties were divided in a similar way.) Various influences permeating the record allegedly range from (perhaps unsurprisingly for Oasis) The Beatles to the Velvet Underground to The Coral to Dylan and to The Kinks.
The album is the first where regular duties were divided between the bandmembers. On some of the tracks regular bass player Andy Bell handled guitar, while Gem and Noel contributed bass to other tunes. Newest member, drummer Zak Starkey, described the sessions with the band as "amazing", referring to the musicality of each member: "They are all songwriters. They are all guitar players. They are all producers. And they are all fucking drummers."
The album won the award for Best New Album in the 2005 Q Awards. Oasis also picked up the Peoples Choice Award.
The Leak
In April 2005, four tracks from a promo disc leaked: "The Meaning of Soul", "Mucky Fingers", "Keep the Dream Alive", and "Let There Be Love".The full album found its way onto the Internet on May 3 2005, when Apple accidentally put the album up for sale on their iTunes Music Store service in Germany. Whilst there was no official comment by Apple or by Oasis management, it was speculated that Apple simply got "May 30" confused with "May 03" or "May 3".
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This track was initially slated to be on the album at track 7 in between The Meaning Of Soul and Part Of The Queue. It was decided not to release it as the band were not totally happy with any other versions they had recorded.Track listing
- "Turn Up the Sun" (Andy Bell) - 3:59
- "Mucky Fingers" * (Noel Gallagher) - 3:56
- "Lyla" (Noel Gallagher) - 5:10
- "Love Like a Bomb" (Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer) - 2:52
- "The Importance of Being Idle" (Noel Gallagher) - 3:39
- "The Meaning of Soul" (Liam Gallagher) - 1:42
- "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel" (Liam Gallagher) - 3:24
- "Part of the Queue" (Noel Gallagher) - 3:48
- "Keep the Dream Alive" (Andy Bell) - 5:45
- "A Bell Will Ring" (Gem Archer) - 3:07
- "Let There Be Love" (Noel Gallagher) - 5:31
- Terry Kirkbride plays drums on Mucky Fingers
Bonus tracks
- "Can Y'see It Now? (I Can See It Now!!)" - 4:19 (Japanese CD release)
- "Sittin' Here in Silence (On My Own)" - 2:00 (Japanese CD release, and available as a b-side on the Let There Be Love single)
- "Pass Me Down the Wine" - 3:50 (US iTunes release, and available as a b-side on the The Importance of Being Idle single)
- "Eyeball Tickler" - 2:47 (UK and Canadian iTunes release, and available as a b-side on the Lyla single)
UK Special Edition
A Special Edition of the album was released in the UK which included a 30 minute DVD featuring interviews with the band and other staff who worked on the album, the promo video for "Lyla" and additional cover artwork. These features were released in the US on the DualDisc edition of the album.
Singles
Lyla
"Lyla", released by Big Brother on May 16 2005. It was the band's seventh UK number one when it reached the spot in the first week of its release. The song also debuted at #31 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart and has reached #19 since then. The song leaked on the Internet during late March 2005, weeks before its May release date, after an unauthorised early premiere on Polish radio station Radiowa Trójka.
The Importance of Being Idle
"The Importance of Being Idle" was released as the second single from the album in the UK on 22 August 2005. It went on to become #1 in the UK charts on the 28th August 2005. The next week, British tabloids built up the rivalry between Oasis and Blur again when Blur frontman Damon Albarn's virtual group Gorillaz single "DARE" was released, and knocked "The Importance of Being Idle" out of the top position.
Let There Be Love
"Let There Be Love" was released on the 28th November 2005, reaching #2 in the Official UK singles Chart. The promo video consisted of a montage of Oasis live performances from 2005 at venues including Hampden Park, Glasgow and the City of Manchester Stadium.Live at the Metro
At Best Buy stores in the United States, the album was packaged with a bonus Promotional disc featuring tracks from a June 11 1994 performance at The Metro club in Chicago, Illinois.Track listing
- All tracks written by Noel Gallagher.
- "Rock 'N' Roll Star" - 5:31
- "Columbia" - 4:47
- "Live Forever" - 4:19
- "Cigarettes & Alcohol" - 4:18
- "Supersonic" - 5:09
Release
The album was released in various countries in May 2005.| Country | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
| Japan | May 25 2005 | Sony Music Japan | CD | EICP 515 |
| United Kingdom | May 30 2005 | Big Brother | LP | RKIDLP30 |
| CD | RKIDCD30 | |||
| CD/DVD | RKIDCD30X | |||
| United States | May 31 2005 | Epic | LP | E 94493 |
| CD | EK 94493 | |||
| 2CD (Live at the Metro) | EK 94583 | |||
| DualDisc | EN 94582 |
| Oasis |
| Liam Gallagher | Noel Gallagher | Gem Archer | Andy Bell | Zak Starkey |
| Ex-members: Tony McCaroll | Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs | Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan | Alan White |
| Other musicians: Scott McLeod | Johnny Marr | Jay Darlington | Mike Rowe | Steve White |
| Discography |
|---|
| Albums: Definitely Maybe | (What's the Story) Morning Glory? | Be Here Now | The Masterplan | Standing on the Shoulder of Giants | Heathen Chemistry | Don't Believe the Truth |
| DVDs: Live By The Sea | ...There And Then | Familiar to Millions | Definitely Maybe - The DVD |
| Related articles |
| Britpop | Owen Morris | Alan McGee | Big Brother |
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