Council Skies: a Dwayne album

quite surprised he turned up on something like this.

thought someone big like rick beato would land an interview with him.

1) Noel ain't big time anymore.
2) He seems to be mates with one of the presenters.

www.radiox.co.uk/artists/noel-gallaghers-high-flying-birds/wrote-enough-music-in-pandemic-for-two-more-albums/



Might want to enquire about a certain singer's availability for some help with the latter album....

Look at Noel's little smile when he fucks up. Since Sara fucked off I feel he has earnt the name Noel again. Dwayne is DEAD. long live Noel! A solid album, a wonderful 2 hour guitar pedal special. He's back! I will now pay £170 to watch Oasis at Wembley stadium!

It's the audience's fault that he doesn't mix in new songs alongside older ones, of course.

www.nme.com/news/music/noel-gallagher-criticises-us-crowds-over-terrible-reception-to-new-songs-3457212

Please give generously:

exclaim.ca/music/article/noel_gallaghers_high_flying_birds_concert_evacuated_after_bomb_threat

Rolli did you call this one in?

When I said “this tour is a bomb!” that’s not what I meant! Honest!

august 5th show.

didn't play oasis until the 12th song.

I know most of you people didn't hear this album because you were waiting for my classic track-by-track review. I'm sorry I kept you waiting, here it goes:

1. I'm Not Giving Up Tonight
What's this shit? This sounds like one of those generic tracks that came pre-installed on cheap mp3 players in the mid 2000s. I've never been a fan of Noel's opening tracks, but this is just the worst he's done, ever.

2. Pretty Boy
I didn't know what to make of this at first. It sounds thin and frail at first, but the more I listened to it, the more it won me over. I'd say it's a song that has a huge, unassuming personality and oozes confidence without trying too hard. Eventually, I started to really like it.

3. Dead to the World
When the LP was announced I misread the title as "Death to the World" and thought this would be Noel's punk anti-establishment statement. This is the second time Noel fails my expectations - the first being Holy Mountain, which by the title alone I thought would be a colossal psychedelic monster of a tune but it turned out being a cover of Ricky Martin's "She Bangs". But back to DTTW, if you, like me, grew up listening to the Beatles, this tune is going to strike a chord with you. It's a modern version of I'm Only Sleeping, basically. And at some point it goes all French with the accordion - it's exquisite.

4. Open the Door, See What You Find
A run-of-the-mill pop rock tune, pleasant and sunny but ultimately unremarkable. And I can't get over the fact that the chorus is basically The La's' "I Am the Key".

5. Trying to Find a World That's Been and Gone
There are two songs on this record that sound AI generated, and this is the first one. It's like a robot put together all the leftovers from the other ballads into a tune and the result is absolutely soulless. Also, after 30 years in the music biz, Noel should know that if you use the line "wind of change" in a song you look like an absolute spastic.

6. Easy Now
It's a shame radios are largely irrelevant nowadays, because this is a perfect radio song and it's radio-friendliness is astronomical. This would have been literally anywhere 20 years ago. It's a great tune, nothing to say, you can twist and turn it and try and criticise it from a million angles, but it's well written, it sounds good and most of all, it's a tune.

7. Council Skies
This is the other AI generated song. I can't suffer it.

8. There She Blows!
The compulsory odd tune! It's not spectacular in any way, but it does provide a nice change of pace and it works well in the context of the album.

9. Love is a Rich Man
One of the best tracks of the album, it's a lovely Northern Soul-meets-George Harrison tune. This song has something mysterious about it, I can't quite put my finger on what it is though. It reminds me a bit of Round Our Way.

10. Think of a Number
This song is wonderful. It's urban, almost city-pop in its own little way. Makes me think of driving through the city on a rainy night. Pet Shop Boys have done a remix of this, but even they could not bring out the incredible inherent 80sness that this song has. This is probably the song with the most latent potential he's done in the past 25 years. If this song were released in 1981 with Stevie Nicks on vocals, everybody would know it.


In conclusion, I don't think Noel has ever put out a "strong" record, and this is no exception. Like Chasing Yesterday, which contained a handful of great tunes interspersed with absolute dogshit, this album has some excellent songs, but the low points are pretty fucking embarassing. Still, I'm a huge fan of the high points of this LP.
If I had to rank it amongst all of his records, this would be probably 2nd, after 1. Chasing Yesterday and before 3. Who Built the Moon.

Dead to the world, Easy now and the title track (which grew a lot on me) are the highlights. Also I chuckled at the Ricky Martin comparison, but I love that song (Noel's one, I mean). And I think his debut is his best one, although I haven't listened to it in a while.

The record is decent to good, which for Noel is not enough but at this point of his career is a pleasant surprise that he can still strike a chord with me once in a while. It might even feature in the bottom positions of my 2023 list, which I didn't expect before release.

NME:

this female journo found it all a bit blokey in wembley.

inews.co.uk/culture/music/noel-gallaghers-high-flying-birds-review-soulless-blokeyness-2811003

So are we criticising bands for not including female-friendly themes in the performance now?
Maybe a cardboard cut-out of Simone de Beauvoir next to Pep Guardiola would have made Emily feel more at ease.
Man I wish we still had these old journos from the Melody Maker who didn't have a master's degree in creative writing but they could tell you what was wrong with a record or a performance with great insight.

He’s really doubling down on this, huh?

Worst Christmas present ever.

Just let Dando release Purple Parallelogram u snake!