Exiled Records

Reviews:

Every rock critic with an axe to grind and a reasonable chunk of open real estate in his or her local alt-weekly will be happy to tell you, in lurid detail, why Oasis' last album, 2002's Heathen Chemistry, sucked harder than Paris Hilton in a homemade night-vision porno. And they'd be right-with the glaring exception of "Force of Nature," an anthemic ode to goldbricking lady friends that allowed what was left of the Oasis faithful to cling desperately to the idea that, just maybe, their Britpop heroes hadn't completely deflated in a final death-wheeze of sappy irrelevance and bad Julius Caesar haircuts.

Don't Believe the Truth is the payoff. It's no (What's the Story) Morning Glory?-duh-but it still knocks the piss out of the band's last two records. Which isn't saying a lot, obviously, but the beatific falsetto pop of "The Importance of Being Idle" (if you're like me, you'll put this one on repeat and remember the good old days), the stadium-scorching opener "Turn Up the Sun," and the Stonesy power-stomp of "The Meaning of Soul" might just make you feel like the Gallagher boys still have some fight left in them after all. Even the chart-topping UK single "Lyla" is kind of okay.

Which is handy-especially because one might be inclined to suspect that the "truth" Oasis don't want you to "believe" is the fact that they're past their prime. And yet, Don't Believe the Truth makes that nearly impossible to say unequivocally. There are still some eye-rollers ("Guess God Thinks I'm Abel," "Keep the Dream Alive"). In the end, Oasis fans should be thankful the whole thing hasn't exploded in a massive ego-maiming cocaine punch-out. Yet.