From truth and beauty

Noel Gallagher's musical heroes originate known from the sixties and seventies, and so he makes repeatedly a thieving fun of it, to clarify this preference with quotes. That is equal to the first sentence of the first song: 'There's something in the way she moves me to distraction' (reference: "Something" by the Beatles).

In "Lock all the doors" he sings 'The prettiest girl I had ever seen' quite the same way as David Essex in his first hit "Rock On" in 1973. In "You Know We Can not Go Back" the refrain begins with stretched words 'But it's aaaaalright', which in turn is a very clear quote from "Jumping Jack Flash" by the Rolling Stones. The guitar riff in "The Mexican" has a certain resemblance to that legendary of "In-a-Gadda-da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly. In "The Girl With the X-Ray Eyes" occasionally comes to a little "Stairway to Heaven" atmosphere. And so on.

But anyway here is not to create the impression as if Gallagher a simple Kopist, because he is not. On the contrary: It has developed from an early age his own style as a songwriter. Very often, he composed such that a first verse is sung, then comes an increase in the form of a kind of 'Vorrefrain' before the tension finally dissolves in real chorus. This is followed by verse two, Vorrefrain two and two chorus. An instrumental bridge (usually the solo guitar) then forwards again to Vorrefrain and the chorus that will be repeated until the end a couple of times. That's the Gallagher style!

The hated younger brother Liam has been published with his band Beady Eye two albums, and now Noel therefore moves with the same. The uncommon, psychedelic fascination of his debut Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds in 2011 (England 1st place, Germany 11th place) has CHASING YESTERDAY (what a fitting title!) Not to, but still the man is again a compelling work written flowed.

Variety is trump. Hymnische songs, ballads, almost Snotty-punky ("Lock all the doors"), pure power pop with silly 'Na Na Na Na Na' chants ("In the Heat of the Moment") to downright Exprimentellem with Duogesang and casual jazzy horn sections ("The Right Stuff"), almost as if Bryan Ferry would have done it again with his former bandmate Andy Mackay together.

Noel Gallagher has always been a proletarian and an intelligent proletarian, but just now a elder statesman of the true and the beautiful in rock music. A real treasure.

A few days ago a recent concert of High Flying Birds ran on television. It was interesting to note that the songs of the first album by now are already classics, and that Noel still be so easily provoked as before. Question from the audience: "Where's the pretty one?" (Meant was probably Liam). Noels as well as irritated immensely repartee: "Well, Certainly not in your fu .. ing family!". That's Rock'n'Roll! :-)

Simply wonderful that there are people who are committed to truth and beauty, the time just once every two years to deliver an album with ten songs in 44 minutes none of which even mediocre, but more than half is just fantastic.