Let's get ready and talk about this album for the next 13 months, shall we
Heathen Chemistry is often considered their worst effort but it’s a nice album with good songs, undermined by terrible production that makes it sound as if it were made by a bunch of 70-something year old ex-rockers but really the guys were just in their mid-30s, with Liam being just 29 at the time of recording. It’s a great summer album that brings back a lot of great memories. It doesn’t matter what life throws my way, I can always put this album on and travel 20 years into the past. This record was very important to all of us, it was important for the development of this community, and it’s about time we stop sweeping it under the rug and face reality.
But don’t take my word for it, take a look at the stats and see how each song stacks up against its direct competitor in the discography. This might as well be Oasis' 6th best album...even 5th on a hot summer day.
1. THE HINDU TIMES ★★★★☆ Better than D’YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?, TURN UP THE SUN Not as good as ROCK’N’ROLL STAR, HELLO, FUCKIN’ IN THE BUSHES, BAG IT UP
2. FORCE OF NATURE ★★★★★ Better than SHAKERMAKER, ROLL WITH IT, MY BIG MOUTH, MUCKY FINGERS, THE TURNING Not as good as GO LET IT OUT
3. HUNG IN A BAD PLACE ★★☆☆☆ Better than NOTHING Not as good as LIVE FOREVER, WONDERWALL, MAGIC PIE, WHO FEELS LOVE?, LYLA, WAITING FOR THE RAPTURE
4. STOP CRYING YOUR HEART OUT ★★★★☆ Better than PUT YER MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS, LOVE LIKE A BOMB Not as good as UP IN THE SCYHO, DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER, STAND BY ME, THE SCYHO OF THE LIGHTNING
5. SONGBIRD ★★★☆☆ Better than HEY NOW, LITTLE JAMES Not as good as COLUMBIA, I HOPE I THINK I KNOW, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING IDLE, I’M OUTTA TIME
6. LITTLE BY LITTLE ★★☆☆☆ Better than THE MEANING OF SOUL Not as good as SUPERSONIC, SOME MIGHT SAY, THE GIRL IN THE DIRTY SHIRT, GAS PANIC!, FALLING DOWN
7. A QUICK PEEP ★☆☆☆☆ Better than GUESS GOD THINKS I’M ABLE Not as good as BRING IT ON DOWN, THE SWAMP SONG, FADE IN-OUT, WHERE DID IT ALL GO WRONG?, (GET OFF YOUR) HIGH HORSE LADY
8. (PROBABLY) ALL IN THE MIND ★★☆☆☆ Better than SUNDAY MORNING CALL Not as good as CIGARETTES & ALCOHOL, CAST NO SHADOW, DON’T GO AWAY, PART OF THE QUEUE, TO BE WHERE THERE’S LIFE
9. SHE IS LOVE ★★★☆☆ Better than KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE, AIN’T GOT NOTHING Not as good as DIGSY’S DINNER, SHE’S ELECTRIC, BE HERE NOW, I CAN SEE A LIAR
10. BORN ON A DIFFERENT CLOUD ★★★☆☆ Better than ALL AROUND THE WORLD, A BELL WILL RING, THE NATURE OF REALITY Not as good as SLIDE AWAY, MORNING GLORY, ROLL IT OVER
11. BETTER MAN ★★☆☆☆ Better than LET THERE BE LOVE Not as good as MARRIED WITH CHILDREN, CHAMPAGNE SUPERNOVA, IT’S GETTING BETTER (MAN!!), LET’S ALL MAKE BELIEVE, SOLDIER ON
STATS
Word Count (no repetitions)
LOVE : 9 times SHINE: 7 times DREAM: 6 times SUN: 5 times STARS: 2 times BANANA: 1 time SKY: 0 times
« Last Edit: May 23, 2021 14:17:36 GMT by shenandoah »
Let's get ready and talk about this album for the next 13 months, shall we It’s a great summer album that brings back a lot of great memories. It doesn’t matter what life throws my way, I can always put this album on and travel 20 years into the past.
My sentiments exactly. Very nicely put. Think I'll listen to it while I clear up the kitchen from lunch.
Great memories, bland album. Although I must say that I never really minded SIL, FON or AITM. They are fillers but I think not as bad as what most people make them out to be. Great production could have saved most of them I think. HIABP I really dislike though, that chorus is the most boring thing they've ever done
6.5/10
« Last Edit: May 23, 2021 14:44:47 GMT by bossbruce »
Definitely their weakest album, but I do recall getting the leak link from alt.music.oasis, and I also went to the local midnight release event (first and last time) and scored a free poster.
PAITM and BOADC are the strongest tracks. I don't hate HIABP.
I think the only track I genuinely hate on it is She Is Love, but even then, I think it kind of fits in with the whole flow of the album. Or maybe it's just because I'm familiar with the flow it feels right. While Force of Nature and Hung In A Bad Place are low points, I still don't skip them. I actually had a great time singing along to Force of Nature yesterday while loading the dishwasher.
Oh man, I've got Stop Crying Your Heart Out on now and I'm transported back to June 21st, 2002. Getting up at 7am, showering while blasting The Hindu Times. Meeting my mates then walking to the pub with cans of Stella, stopping off for a pork pie on the way. Owen putting is in front in 23 minutes, absolute pandemonium. What an amazing moment. Beer everywhere, hugging total strangers, screams of pure fucking delight. I'll never forget it. I was sure we were gonna win the World Cup at this point. But fast-forward to the end of game and it's all over; we're out. And of course, Stop Crying Your Heart Out played over the end credits of the coverage. Completely heartbreaking. I remember walking through the shopping centre on our way back home, drunk as fuck and it wasn't even lunch time. I was probably crying tbh
We stopped off on the way home, must've been about 8 of us in total, and all bought a crate of Stella each. Then we spent the day in my back garden. The weather was glorious. My Mum cooked us some chicken in her rotisserie. There was dancing on the roof of my Dad's shed and somebody gave my dog some lager and he was sick. Somebody claimed to be going to the upstairs toilet and after he was gone for about an hour, I went and found him asleep in my parents bed (not with my parents) My Dad has a photo taken on that day that I'll have to get off him and share. Pretty sure the dog, pre-lager-induced puking, is in the picture as well.
And we listened to Heathen Chemistry, back-to-back, all day that day.
The more I think about it, the more special I think this album is for me. I was 17, earning decent money (well, a full-time wage from working in a call centre) with the rest of my life in front of me. It was summer, it was the World Cup, and this was the first Oasis album with new members being involved. Anticipation for it was high. I was fucking EXCITED. Some bloke used to give me lifts home from work in his knackered old Mini Cooper, sure he was called Peter. He burnt me a copy of the album because he was also a massive Oasis fan. Initial reactions, at least back then, were that Heathen Chemistry was fucking amazing. It soundtracked so much of that summer. So when you listen back to it now, it's hard to not let nostalgia get in the way.
Just had one of the most embarrassing moments of my life and I'm blaming you Tucker. Decided to give Heathen Chemistry a go as I was walking home from work through Norwich city centre. Pulled my phone out of my pocket and accidentally pulled my headphones out so FORCE OF NATURE was blasting out of my phone for all to hear. Absolute disaster.
I'll allow for the nostalgic memories associated with it, but it's objectively a honking piece of absolute steaming shite, every single song is shit and collectively it's shit, the songs are shit, the production is shit.
Shit.
Force of Nature is shit.
No, Songbird is not good, it's shit.
Stop Crying Your Heart Out is a cynical and mawkish pile of shite.
Truly one of the worst things, in the broadest possible sense, ever.
Gotta agree with Kev. It's awful. Worse than all of Noel's albums.
Liam's vocals are like a silly cartoon and it also marks the beginning of some shit things they would do for the next 20 years (Noel claiming shit songs are out there and amazing rather than boring rip offs / really insipid use of strings that would eventually evolve into dank keyboard sounds / etc).
Man what I'd give to be coming back from a meeting a community centre being told I'd have to paint Church fences with a load of naughty kids to get my dole money only to have Rollinice send the album over to me on MIRC over a space of 5 hours!
Great memories of the albums leak, the release, their appearance on CDUK/TOTP then the 3 gigs at Finsbury Park, Brighton at the end of the year then staying up Stockport Lad's gaff for the Manchester gig the following summer.
Album is completely shit though. I mean at best there was an EP's worth of songs worth keeping from that era
................... The Hindu Times (Demo) Hung in a Bad Place (It's not good, but I never thought it was as bad as everybody said) Stop Crying Songbird Born on a Different Cloud Thank You for the Good times ....................
sorry Rod I know you love LxL, perhaps yeah 2/5 is a bit unfair
Sure, if my memory serves me correct, it was a Friday night, I just came back from vandalizing things and logged into IRC to see how my chat was doing #madferit. At this point we were at war with mp3oasis and live4ever. But me being the savvy son of a bitch that I was realized it was about getting the latest bootlegs as quick as possible and having people ready to share them with broadband connections. Anyway, we built up quite the reputation after partnering with the-masterplan.com through my friendship with Oscar. All of a sudden, I am in the chat, this guy appears and he is like I have something for you sends me a link to an FTP and there is the album. No one had anything at this point, so we immediately started sharing with the help of bigred3 aka Steve. That's how I recall it, I remember crying to Stop Crying Your Heart Out and being amazed by Songbird.
