Don't Believe the Truth

Untitled

Don't Believe the Truth is the 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 had been delayed since it was in the works in late 2003 - early 2004. It has already reached #1 on the UK Album charts, and is being 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. Each member of the band contributed to the writing of tracks for the album and this is the first record to feature the drum work by Zak Starkey, son of Beatle Ringo Starr and ex-drummer for The Who, who is the full-time replacement of their longtime member Alan White. The first single, "Lyla", has reached # 1 on the UK singles chart and #19 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart.

The globe-trotting recording process for this album was much prolonged and troubled. It was originally supposed to be released in September 2004, with the band starting recording in December 2003 with the famous dance duo Death in Vegas Richard Fearless and Tim Holmes: after the departure of White, however, some of these tracks were scrapped. Oasis continued working with the duo, but because of Holmes and Fearless' other commitments, that was also abandoned part-way through. Then the band worked for a couple of months alone on the project, but after a decidedly mixed reaction to new material played at the Glastonbury music festival, the band dumped everything and stated that they were starting again, totally "from scratch". They holed up in an L.A. studio and after four months of sessions, Noel publicly stated in December 2004, that the record, produced by himself and American producer Dave Sardy (The Thrills), was complete and later it was mastered in a month. Notably, at several times during the recording, Liam attended lessons with noted vocal teacher Lisa Garvey, in an attempt to improve to his deteriorating voice after harsh criticism of his Glastonbury performance.

The album's lead-off single, "Lyla", is heavy yet melodic Who-influenced song. 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. Various influences permeating the record allegedly range from (perhaps unsurprisingly for Oasis) The Beatles to the Velvet Underground to The Coral to Bob Dylan.

Track listing

1. "Turn Up the Sun" (Andy Bell) - 3:59
2. "Mucky Fingers" (Noel Gallagher) - 3:56
3. "Lyla" (Noel Gallagher) - 5:10
4. "Love Like A Bomb" (Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer) - 2:52
5. "The Importance of Being Idle" (Noel Gallagher) - 3:39
6. "The Meaning of Soul" (Liam Gallgher) - 1:42
7. "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel" (Liam Gallagher) - 3:24
8. "Part of the Queue" (Noel Gallagher) - 3:48
9. "Keep The Dream Alive" (Andy Bell) - 5:45
10. "A Bell Will Ring" (Gem Archer) - 3:07
11. "Let There Be Love" (Noel Gallagher) - 5:31

Bonus tracks

• "I Can See It Now" (Japanese CD release)
• "Sitting Here In Silence (On My Own)" (Japanese CD release)
• "Pass Me Down the Wine" - 3:50 (US iTunes release, mentioned by Liam to be a b-side on the next single)
• "Eyeball Tickler" - 2:48 (UK iTunes release, and available as a b-side on the Lyla single)

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".

There have been rumors that Sony actually leaked the album themselves to give the band publicity. A full album leak didn't look likely until May 03 2005, when Apple accidentally put the album up for sale on their iTunes Music Store service in Germany. While there is no official comment as of yet, it is speculated that Apple simply got "May 30" confused with "May 03". Every track was near-CD quality.

Singles

Lyla

Lyla

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" will be released as the second single from the album in the UK on 22 August 2005.

Let There Be Love

It is rumoured that the second single for the American market will be "Let There Be Love", and that there is already a completed video.

Stop the Clocks and the 12 tracks

The stature of this tune is questionable among fans. Allegedly Noel claimed that he considers this song "the greatest fucking tune" he had ever written and that his friends consider it as the best after "Wonderwall". At first Noel said that the record will feature 12 songs, but then presented only 11 to the press. On a different website, he explained that "Stop the Clocks" has been big enigma for the band and they were still hesitating whether to put it or not. The album, released May 30th 2005, has this track left off, and features only the 11 tracks announced by the band.

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.

1. "Rock 'n' Roll Star" - 5:31
2. "Columbia" - 4:47
3. "Live Forever" - 4:19
4. "Cigarettes & Alcohol" - 4:18
5. "Supersonic" - 5:09