Don't Believe The Truth is the sixth Oasis studio album-and a very proud success for this group! You get the awesome hit single "Lyla" as well as "Let There Be Love." It appears they saved "Let There Be Love" as almost the best for last since this is one of the most beautiful songs I personally have ever heard! No longer is Oasis stumbling though setbacks and comebacks-I get the strong sense that they have permanently emerged strong and very memorable with this CD being the proof of it. You still get that classic British guitar pop rock flavor running distinctly throughout. Yet with this CD Oasis finally gives us the strong lyrics consistently throughout the album and the musical arrangements are both instantly and all at once both free and secure-a very tough feat to accomplish! Simply put: Oasis is back on top!

The CD starts off running strong and hard with the opening track "Turn Up The Sun." There is a beautiful and thoughtful musical intro to this track-love those lyrics! And how's about that guitar on "Mucky Fingers?" AWESOME! In "Love Like A Bomb" you hear of a man's love for his woman; it's very memorable. "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel" is practically instantly memorable; and "A Bell Will Ring" has great lyrics.

And that song, "Lyla." The guitar and the vocals blend flawlessly on "Lyla" and this is without doubt a great song. "Lyla," as some of you may already know, is destined to be a long lasting hit song. It is well crafted, well arranged, and very well performed here by Oasis. In fact, the total sum of every song on this CD proves Oasis is rejuvenated and very much a strong force on the music scene.

A special note once again on that last track, "Let There Be Love." This song is destined to have a strong impact on the majority of people listening to it and reading this review. I think in some ways the album is worth it just for this one song! The song is remarkably inspirational; it begins with the gripping and oh so sensitive words "Who kicked a whole in the sky so that heaven could cry over me?" As you listen to the song, especially more than once, don't be surprised if you find yourself reaching for the phone to make up with that old friend who stopped talking to long ago; to go back to school to get that degree; or to follow whatever your dreams may be.

All in all, Noel and Liam are producing and singing some awesome, very fine music on this CD of theirs. They are amply aided by their peers. Zak Starkey, Ringo Starr's son, and Terry Kirkbride play drums; Lenny Castro plays percussion. Also look for Gem Archer on guitar with Andy Bell on bass guitar. This CD is an absolute must for Oasis fans who want the joy of knowing the group is very far from any setbacks! British pop fans as well as fans in general of rock and pop will be awestruck by this album. Great job, guys!

It hasn't alwaybs been easy being an Oasis fan. A decade of Albums that never really lived up to the impossible hype that hindered them. "Be Here Now" was an excessive mess, "Standing On The Shoulders of Giants" an experimental but underwhelming effort and "Heathen Chemistry", despite a few highlights was largely unnmemorable. They've threatened to be eclipsed by bands seen to be more "grown up" like Radiohead and Coldplay. Despite this Oasis have never lost the bulk of their fan base (their concerts have sold out in hours). "Don't Believe The Truth" is their least anticipated album in a decade, but is also by far and away their best.

This is the bands best since "Morning Glory". And a very different band it is. Gem Archer and Andy Bell have long settled into the fold and are penning songs, as is Liam who contributes many of the albums highlights.

Noel writes less than half of the songs here, a far cry from his hold on the band in the ninetees when he insisted on total creative control. Some of his include "Lyla", as good a signature single as Oasis have ever released, it's got an incredibly catchy chorus that borrows its verse melody from The Rolling Stones, but the whole thing sounds a bit like The Who. Noel takes lead vocals on three of his songs. "Mucky Fingers", a manic rocker that lacks melody, it's probably the album's worst song. "The Importance Of Being Idle" has an infectious rhythem and may be Noel's greatest vocal performance and "Part of the Queue" a song about being unknown in a big city. He also shares vocals with Liam on one of the albums finest songs, the closer "Let There Be Love" which is kind of a cross between "Champaign Supernova" and "Stop Crying Your Heart Out". A fitting anthem to finish.

Liam's three contributions show a songwriter coming of age. "Love Like A Bomb" and "Guess God Thinks I'm Able" all but eclipses his past efforts, the latter being an almost entirely acoustic and is possibly the albums best song. Andy Bell and Gem Archer chip in. Andy's "Turn Up The Sun" could have been considered for the first single, it continues the tradition of stomping Oasis track 1's. Gem's big contribution is the Beatles-esqe "A Bell Will Ring" and sounds like their "Revolver" period. Anyone who yearns for more might want to check out "Lyla's" excellent 2 b-sides. "Eyeball Tickler" is a Gem penned stomper and "Won't Let You Down" is another Liam acoustic song.

At this stage in their career Oasis must cease to be judged on their efforts a decade ago. "Don't Believe The Truth" could herald the beggining of a golden age for them. Believe That.

As someone who thinks Heathen Chemistry is a great album, I find this less a return to form, as it's generally being hailed, but as a continuation of this return. Always embracing their influences, I can hear plenty of traces of (of course) The Beatles, but also the Stones and an outro reminiscent to Mrs. Robinson in the song Lyla.

This is strong, confident, BIG rock and roll, and the songs are fantastic.

The difference between 4 and 5 stars for me is this: The lyrics are uniformly strong, but don't really take it to the next level. The biggest example is the use of the phrase "Blowin' my mind." Three songs in a row use this phrase: Mucky Fingers ("All the phoneys blowin my mind"), Lyla "I waited for a thousand years for you to come and blow me out my mind"), and Love Like a Bomb ("Blown' my mind, Blowin' my mind, Blowin' my mind"). This isn't a bad lyric in any of the songs, but the non-thematic repetition of this same phrase lessens the scope, for me, of the album as a whole. Perhaps spacing the songs out, or defining the album in such a way as to indicate the link between this repetition would have helped.

Nevertheless, "The Importance of Being Idle" is an absolute stunner, immediately one of the great Oasis songs. In fact, all of Noel's songs shine the brightest. He's writing and especially singing as well as he ever has. Truly, truly, an excellent album, worthy of the high praise it's receiving in all circles.

With Oasis' new effort I was curious whether they would attempt to keep moving forward with their music, or simply reach back to their roots for prior success. Well, they did a little of both, and rather well too.

For example, this album, more then any since "What's The Story (Morning Glory)" seems to return to that love of the Beatles; this is a resounding feeling with Oasis. However, Oasis realized a little while ago with their decline in popularity (and common sense) that they'd never match the fab four, so they've also added their own to the mix, which is of course necessary, but also quite fine.

`Lyla', their first single, strikes the listener clearly with the hooks and overall melodic feel. This is a single, so one must not forget that it is meant to be catchy (and succeeds). However, for songs that might not get as much notice "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel" is probably the best. The song is the epitome of that Oasis-Beatle combination I mentioned, and really a great listen.

So with nice sounds, both instrumental and vocal, I believe that "Don't Believe The Truth" will be another steady and good album for Oasis. Unlike Heathen Chemistry this disc has a lot less just `rock'. However, it also has a lot more classic Oasis, although still not completely progressing (or regressing) to the times of "What's The Story (Morning Glory)" or "Definitely Maybe".

Don't Believe the Truth may be Oasis's best album since What's the Story (Morning Glory)? Following the trend of the last album, the sound is stripped down, more back-to-basics, unlike the bloated, noisy Be Here Now. This time Oasis relies less on production tricks and multi-tracking and more on musicianship. Noel Gallagher is right: the current band members are superior players to the original line-up ("Bonehead," "Guigsy," and McCarroll). Zak Starkey - yep, Ringo's first-born - fills in admirably for Alan White who left and/or was kicked out of the band last year.

It's almost impossible to talk about Oasis without talking about their stealing and borrowing from others, most notably the Beatles and the Stones. This album, unlike others past, does not stand on the "shoulders of giants". It is quite fresh. If it sounds like anybody it sounds like Oasis. That's not to say that Oasis did not dip from others' wells for inspiration. "Mucky Fingers" is almost certainly intentionally lifted from "Come Together's" "monkey finger" bit. "Let There Be Love" is actually a retooling of a great old Oasis song formerly known as "It's a Crime," one of my favorite b-sides. The similarities between "Let There Be Love" and Lennon's "Real Love" and "Love is Real" are undeniable. Whatever the song suffers for being unoriginal it gains for being a duet Liam/Noel duet, each taking turns with alternating verses and choruses. "Lyla," the first single, does sound like "Street Fighting Man," at least in the intro. Beyond the intro, it's its own tune, with its own feel and energy.

Reading the lyrics out of the liner notes they are iffy at best. Poetry they're not. But when sung they are adequate or better. There are some great lyrics in spots. Oasis has finally retreated a bit from their tendency to be lazy when rhyming ("liar/fire") and somewhat cliche (". . . stars . . . faded away. . ."). They did put some version of "blow my mind" in back-to-back-to-back songs on the album. Before their lyrical weaknesses could all be pinned on Noel but not anymore. Noel only wrote about half the songs. Liam and Gem Archer wrote one together and Liam wrote two on his own. Andy Bell wrote two songs. The increasing contributions from the other members of the band, good or bad, has helped, on this and the last several albums, Oasis to expand their sound. It probably accounts for less plagiarism.

Here's a song-by-song review:

"Turn Up the Sun" - Starts slow with a dark, sad feel. It cranks up a bit and then ends like it started. Instrumentally it's a solid song. But it's not a single. I would have opened the album with a better song.

"Mucky Fingers" - A three-chord song that has a glam rock vibe. Noel sings it/shouts it. The harmonica and vocal style, as a friend of mine pointed out, sound like early electric Dylan. "Mucky Fingers" may grow on you.

"Lyla" - A catchy song. It doesn't hurt that it sounds like "Street Fighting Man". It is almost impossible not to like this song. In my opinion, it's one of the best rock and roll songs of the last year, up there with "Vertigo" (U2) and "Holiday" (Green Day).

"Love Like a Bomb" - Liam's best song on the album. Maybe his best ever, though that's not saying a lot. Some credit goes to Gem Archer as co-writer. The opening strumming is not entirely unlike "Hide Your Love Away," though it doesn't sound like a blatant rip-off. It's updated psychedelia.

"The Importance of Being Idle" - The best song on the album, bar none. It's Noel at his best, lyrically and vocally. Nice falsetto in the verses. "Idle" is a stew of "Wouldn't it Be Nice," "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" and "Alabama Song". I would buy this disk for this song alone.

"The Meaning of Soul" - A Liam effort, this is a two-chord mix of 60's rock and 70's punk.

"Guess God Thinks I'm Abel" - Another Liam-penned number. It's a medium tempo, acoustic and stripped down. Like so many Oasis songs, it has a positive message: "No one can break us if they try." It ends with a crash of the symbols and electronic noise.

"Part of the Queue" - "Every beginning is breaking its promise," is its best line. Noel takes the lead vocal. It opens with heavy drums and heavy acoustic strumming and gets warbly and psychedelic in the middle eight.

"Keep the Dream Alive" - This is Andy Bell's second song on the album. Great chorus and good guitar work. It's not clear what dream they're keeping alive. A nice effort. Oasis penchant for anthemic songs (like "All Around the World") carries through to this song with its "na na na's" and proclamations.

"A Bell Will Ring" - "A bell will ring inside your head" is, apparently, a good thing. The guitar work is my kind of stuff, reminiscent of "Paperback Writer," "Rain" and "She Said, She Said."

"Let There Be Love" - Fantastic as ballads go. I like it's Lennon-esque feel. It's also the only Liam/Noel duet I can recall.

All in all, this is a very good album. I hesitate to call it great because it's a bit hard to tell whether it will stand up over a few years. Be Here Now sounded great in 1997 but is hard to listen to in spots these days - Noel actually says it's a horrible record. Standing on the Shoulders of Giants' weaknesses are now more apparent than in March 2000. This album is stripped down enough that it should not suffer for its excesses. Don't Believe the Truth has the potential to be the third best record Oasis has ever made and it is about as good as just about any other rock album to come out in the last two or three years.