STANDING ON THE SHOULDER OF GIANTS (Big Brother)

"Fucking In The Bushes": Instrumental fusion of hip hop beats and prog, with Led Zep drums, Deep Purple organ sounds and multi-tracked chorale. Title comes from a sample of a curmudgeon complaining about hippies at the Isle of Wight festival "fuckin' in the bushes".

"Go Let It Out": The first single. Typical mid-paced Oasis with familiar chord changes. Liam’s voice sounds rough and not unlike "D'You Know What I Mean" only more conventionally tuneful. Lyric partly borrowed front reggae act The Heptones. Mid-paced, with psychedelic backwards guitar.

"Who Feels Love": Indian tablas and bdwards guitar, shades of Kula Shaker. "Thank you for the sun/The one that shines on everyone/Who feels love," sings Liam, his voice heavily phased. The loping beat is almost "baggy" class of '89 with musical quotes from 'Dear Prudence' and even Thunderclap Newman's 'Something In The Air".

"Put Yer Money Where Yer Mouth Is": More Seventies Deep Purple influences with a 'Smoke On The Water'-style heavy keyboard riff. "I bet you're going down on judgement day", Liam sings in full-on aggressive mode. Reminiscent of the title track of 'Morning Glory' with another multi-voiced chorale.

"Little James": Liam’s own 'Beautiful Boy' or 'Hey Jude', an ode to Patsy and Jim Kerr’s son, whom he is now bringing up. Liam getting all sentimental is a shock - like bearing Johnny Rotten sing 'Danny Boy'. But he’s come up with some interesting rhymes - "Plasticine/trampolene", "toys/noise", "smile/worthwhile". Musical references to "Don't Look Back In Anger" via Lennon's 'Imagine', before the tune is buried beneath all manner of trickery and ends with an extended coda a la 'Hey Jude'.

"Gas Panic!": Dark, moody and sinister with stark, Joy Division-type beats and industrial clanging. There's a vague air of menace and claustrophobia about it all, reflected in lyrics such as "My family don't seem so similar/My enemies all know my name". Then it goes all heavy noise-chaos with more Led Zep influences.

"Where Did It All Go Wrong": A slow rock ballad sung by Noel which recalls "Slide Away" from 'Definitely Maybe'. Lyrically there is again, a dark, mordant tone - "Do you keep the receipts for the friends that you buy". Very Weller circa 'Heavy Soul' with a swelling organ crescendo.

"Sunday Morning Call": Noel again and more misery, "Out you crawl to a day that couldn’t give you more/But what for?" Then he sings of tears, voices in his head at night and the price of "dancing till morning light". Despite a heavy guitar break it's slow and meandering, even listless. Perhaps it’s intentional, to denote a sense of ennui and disillusion.

"I Can See A Liar": Back to Liam on another song of vengeance. Faster and rockier with an almost Pistols-feel, like 'Liar' from 'Never Mind The Bollocks'. Classic rampaging Oasis, a la "It's Getting Better (Man!!)" with more Zeppelin-esque thunder and Bonham-style ballistics.

"Roll It Over": Slow and intriguing, stoned trip hop rock with Liam in plaintive mode. "I could think of 100 million reasons to build a barricade", he sings, Noel's lyrics again apparently pondering the predicament of fame. The in excelsis "Champagne Supernova" of the album, only instead of being celebratory, it's fearful, paranoid and suspicious of all the liggers drawn to Oasis: "Look around at all the plastic people who live without a care/Try to sit around my table but never bring a chair". Again prog rock looms large with shades of Pink Floyd circa Wish You Were Here and a girrly chorus reminiscent of 'Dark Side Of The Moon'.

• Uncut Album & Single Reviews - index

c 2000 Andrew Turner

aturner@interalpha.co.uk

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page