Getting ready for Heathen Chemistry's 20th anniversary

also fuck that guy in Fukuoka

I listened to the full thing yesterday and yeah it's got to be the worst record they have done. I didn't realize 20 years ago but the production is absolute shit on this. I wonder why they did it themselves and didn't get a producer?

Realized as well, Liam was only around 30 years old when this came out. Sometimes I look back and forget how fucking young they still were.

Karl still has me pumped up with The Hindu Times (Demo) I wish Liam was singing on it.

How is this album worse than Don't Believe the Truth?

How is Turn Up the Sun better than The Hindu Times?
Is Let There Be Love a better uber-ballad than SCYHO? Nonsense.
Mucky Fingers a better punch-the-air-sing-along-pub-rock tune than Force of Nature? I don't think so. If anything, it's a goofy attempt at Bob Dylan '75 + The Velvet Underground '67 that unfortunately sounds like The Strokes with firefighter's lung cancer.
How are Love Like a Bomb, The Meaning of Soul, Keep the Dream Alive, A Bell Will Ring and especially Guess God Thinks I'm Able better than all the other tracks on Heathen Chemistry?

Sure the three tunes Liam wrote for HC absolutely destroy the three he wrote for DBTT. BOADC alone has more ideas than the three put together.

Is A Bell Will Ring better than Probably All In the Mind?!
Well...excuse me...THEY ARE THE FUCKING SAME SONG!! The only difference is that ABWR is worse in every way.

Yeah, probably a couple Noel's tunes on DBTT are a bit better than some on HC, but as an entire album cmon gimme Heathen Chemotherapy any day of the week.

Bob Dylan '75 + The Velvet Underground '67 that unfortunately sounds like The Strokes with firefighter's lung cancer. -> Fuck yes, amazing song

its because dbtt doesn't have anything as bad as she is love or force of nature. dbtt isn't great but it's fairly consistent throughout. HC has some real fucking lows.

fan edit, sounds SHIT but worth a listen I guess 

Really enjoying this thread mates, keep it up!

Some very interesting opinions. Honestly, since this thread kicked off, I've listened to Heathen Chemistry about 3 times and I honestly don't think it's as bad as I've been saying it is for all these years. The production is horrible, I don't think anyone of sane mind is going to argue about that. And there are low moments - for me, those moments come in the form of Force of Nature, Hung In A Bad Place and She Is Love. Out of them, I think it's only She Is Love that I find truly horrendous. While Don't Believe The Truth is consistent, I don't think the standout tracks are as good as the standouts on Heathen Chemistry.

Standout tracks on Heathen Chemistry (for me personally)
- The Hindu Times
- Stop Crying Your Heart Out
- Songbird
- Born On A Different Cloud
- (Probably) All In The Mind

I'm not sure Don't Believe The Truth has any songs that I prefer over any of those. Simone, some of your HC vs DBTT comparisons, I totally agree with. Though I do think Force of Nature is a lot worse than Mucky Fingers, and while I prefer (Probably) All In The Mind, I still really like A Bell Will Ring. Oh yeah, and Meaning of Soul, great song. But Love Like A Bomb, Guess God Thinks I'm Abel, Keep The Dream Alive, meh, I can listen to them but they're are not amazing.

I guess to summarize, its hard to separate HC from DBTT for me. HC has some real standout tracks, a couple of not so good tracks and one absolute stinker. DBTT has mostly decent to good tracks but nothing completely amazing, but then nothing completely horrendous like She Is Love.

BUT, where does Dig Out Your Soul sit next to these 2 albums? There's something to think about. Let's make this sucker a TRIPLE THREAT match.

I can tell you something I really enjoy Born On A Different Cloud !

Dig Out Your Soul is another album I probably haven't listened to it 10 years. I did an Oasis quiz a while back and it was naming the song titles on each album and let me tell you, I had major trouble coming up with all the titles for that album. I probably should turn DOYS soon and try and re-visit it.

EYEBALL TICKLER > THE STOOGES

DOYS is one of the most frustrating albums to me, because I really really like the first 4 songs but it's all downhill from there. On a good day I'd extend it to the 8 first songs (though the live version of To Be Where There's Life was better), but I find the last 3 quite underwhelming

Sorry if this is going off topic... is it possible to make a worthwhile record out of HC & DBTT? B-sides allowed.

I'm not convinced.

Personally Tucker?
I think DOYS is magnificent. Better than HC and DBTT combined.
I mean, Bag it Up alone is to die for
Falling Down, The Shock of the Lightning, I'm Outta Time being the most sophisticated tune Liam had written up to that point
The Turning...which we all thought said "Shake your reptile baby"...should have been the real lyrics tbh
Even the songs by the other two cunts were at least decent, if not oddly brilliant
What an album...if I didn't have so many teenage memories tied to BHN, DOYS might as well be my third favourite Oasis record

And the production still holds up immensely well

shit, I meant don't believe the truth and HC. Forget DOYS

Yes, take most of the songs with (N. Gallagher) as a writing credit, add songbird and turn up the sun, and bang goodnight.

Turn up the sun
The Hindu times
The importance of being idle
Stop crying your heart out
Lyla
Songbird
Idler's dream


....actually, this is harder than I thought, especially if you want to have Liam around. The point where Noel took more than one vocal per album is where things really went off a cliff.

(fakeedit): which goes to barny's point about side 1 of dig out your soul: 3 songs written by noel and sung by Liam, which is any many as the previous two albums put together.

Yeah let me try
(due to popular demand I won't be adding my personal favourite Force of Nature)


A1 The Hindu Times: a natural opener, although I prefer the more psychedelic demo, and especially the lyrics of the demo.

A2 Part of the Queue: the second track has to be a bit of an oddity, and I think this tune, with its odd time signature, does a pretty good job.

A3 Lyla: here you need an injection of rock'n'roll and Lyla is a great tune, no question about it

A4 Songbird: after Lyla you really need to slow down and relax and clean your ears

A5 Stop Crying Your Heart Out: the uber-ballad to close side-1, I think it works well

B1 The Importance of Being Idle: this sets the tone for side-B, which is going to be slightly more offbeat compared to side-A

B2 Eyeball Tickler: need a r'n'r shock here

B3 Probably All in the Mind: I had no choice

B4 Born on a Different Cloud: nice

B5 Idler's Dream: the mass is ended, go in peace

[30 seconds of silence]

B6 Just the first line of Eyeball Tickler: LISTEN TO THE MONKEY! [ends abruptly]
I think it's fun after Idler's Dream

jp's don't believe the chemistry

1, turn up the sun
2, mucky fingers
3, eyeball tickler
4,the hindu times
5, stop crying your heart out
6, lyla
7, idler's dream
8, a bell will ring
9,songbird
10,born on a different cloud
11,i can see it now

that's a fucking decent album

Look how mad for it everyone is in this thread. Glorious times.

Move the section outside please