STANDING ON THE SHOULDER OF GIANTS (Big Brother)

So what exactly did you expect, eh? Ten songs about the paranoia of technology? Nah, that's Radiohead, mate, and Thom Yorke is hiding behind the washing machine. Ten songs about the celestial wonders of far-seeing narcotics? Nah, that's Richard Ashcroft, innit, and he's toking mad. Ten songs which sound like all your favourite bands rolled competently into one? Now you're talking.

True, 'Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants' is like no other album because you won't be getting another album from Oasis for quite some time. There are band members to break in, soundbites to learn, nappies to change, the usual flotsam and jetsam of a band who have reached the very top of the mountain they began scaling over six years ago and are now looking for new challenges. 'Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants' isn't where Oasis go wild in the country, but it is where they realise that they are a rock & roll band and nothing - not even hanging out with Goldie or The Chemical Brothers - can ever change that.

So they get on with things. Noel Gallagher bangs out songs which remind you of various artefacts from the Lennon/McCartney canon, Liam Gallagher writes a song called "Little James" about his stepson which could be cute or crass depending on what side of the bed you got out of and, with the exception of the opening barrage of 'Fucking In The Bushes' (very Prodigy go Led Zep round about '95), everything sounds exactly like it should. If you like Oasis, chances are you will like 'Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants'. There is no massive seachange, no shifts to right or left, just really more of the same. Noel's "Sunday Morning Call" and "Where Did It All Go Wrong?" are retrospective strums, Val Doonican for the pils and pills brigade with just the right veneer of resigned indignation.

You know "Go Let It All Out" and you know it sounds like a cup of weak tea. Try "Put Yer Money Where Your Mouth Is" and it might be more to your taste, a right ragbag of mod cuts and guitar-led fandangos. That's Oasis, guitars and verse and chorus and verse and middle eight and chorus and chorus to fade. Now, come again, exactly what did you expect?

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c 2000 Andrew Turner

aturner@interalpha.co.uk

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