Oasis: Don't Believe The Truth By Nick Boldock

There was a time when it would sound faintly ridiculous to suggest that Oasis would ever again record a great album. Their last effort - 2002's Heathen Chemistry - suggested a renaissance, and despite mediocre media interest did contain some brilliance, most notably the Noel-sung numbers Little By Little and Force Of Nature. Certainly it was a sign of a band returning to form, helped by the introduction of Gem Archer and Andy Bell - and their talents as songwriters and musicians - to the fold.

It could have been a false dawn. It wasn't. Don't Believe The Truth is the album of the year - already - and it may even be the best Oasis album, even surpassing legendary debut Definitely Maybe and its follow-up, (What's The Story) Morning Glory. That may sound like blasphemy... but it isn't. This new release is utterly, wonderfully, monstrously, brilliant.

Album opener Turn Up The Sun is solid rock 'n' roll, the perfect opener to an Oasis album. Second track Mucky Fingers is the Velvets' Waiting For The Man all over (the riff is a straight rip-off) but somehow, you can always forgive Oasis for their relentless mining of other people's material. They've always done it - but always done it well - and Mucky Fingers isn't the only track here on which Oasis so obviously give away their influences.

New single Lyla borrows from the Stones' Street Fighting Man so obviously it's almost criminal, but it adds a killer chorus that Jagger and Richards would probably half-inch in return if they had the inclination. Part Of The Queue, one of the highlights here, is Badly Drawn Boy with a louder amplifier. Let's be clear though. Sure, they've borrowed other people's songs, but that isn't to say that this is one big tribute album. No, indeed. It rocks from beginning to end, with not a weak moment to be heard, and as a complete album, has to - absolutely has to - rank among their best work in years.

It doesn't have a weakness - a Little James or a Songbird - because every track is a corker. The band sound like they know it - Noel is more adventurous with his vocals than on previous efforts, and Liam has rediscovered the swaggering edge to his voice that made the early Oasis singles so exciting to hear. With Oasis comes hype. It's a part of their arsenal, and has seen them through a couple of patchy albums in Be Here Now and Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants, but on this occasion, you really can Believe The Truth - Oasis have just recorded the album of 2005.

Go and buy it, or be forever deprived of its greatness.

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