Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds – Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

Does anyone really care what Noel or his equally unpleasant and boring brother do at this point? Noel used all his limited ideas up on the first 2 Oasis LPs and then either ran out of ideas or snorted away any talent he may once have had. Of course this utterly pedestrian first solo LP could have been something else had he not bitten the very generous hand that had tried to feed him in the shape of Amorphous Androgynous.

He could have become a sonic innovator like his adored Beatles were before him, but instead chose to churn out more conservative plodding dad rock. He scrapped the LP AA made with him, possibly realising that all the good bits came from them and if he was going to be totally reliant on them for all the inspiration and interest in the music he was making, he would really struggle without them. So he played it safe and made more insipid and bland music for his 'base' who will no doubt buy anything he releases for all eternity convincing themselves he can still write something that impacts on them like the first Oasis records of their youth.

What happened to the finished LP he did with Amorphous Androgynous that was supposed to come out in place of this one? He claimed he destroyed the master tapes so nobody would ever hear it, saying it was shit. More likely of course that he realised if it did ever come out it would put the LP he did end up releasing in a whole new and very unfavourable light by comparison.

Let’s face it; Noel Gallagher is one of the the greatest songwriters England has produced, maybe ever. But after the lackluster last few Oasis albums Noel lazily threw songs on, we finally got to see the genius songwriter in his own element, and the long awaited curiousness did not disappoint. ”If I Had A Gun” is probably as close to “Wonderwall“‘s romanticism he’ll ever get, and “AKA…What a Life!” puts a new disco beat side to Noel’s musical palette. But the thing that hits you most in “High Flying Birds” is the absolute epicness of the album, something that never escaped Oasis, but seemed overblown and unneeded at the same time. Noel, not having his brother’s menacing stage prowess and strong Lydon-esque vocals, needed to compensate, and it worked marvelously.