Who Built the Moon

Whilst most of the Oasis phenomenon passed me by in the 90s, a personal reappraisal in recent years has left me an ardent fan of Noel's songwriting. My favorites include "Stop Crying Your Heart Out", "Half A World Away" and now many of the High Flying Birds output.No doubt he will be criticised by many dyed-in-the-wool Oasis fans for his embrace of other styles but I think he has grown musically by "scales of dimension" in a way that totally suits my ear. What great songwriter hasn't embraced other music styles and reinvented echoes of chords and melodies.I write this review as a self-confessed non-musician but I write also as a passionate listener of music for nearly 6 decades.All power to your elbow, Sir, and long may you continue to grow and entertain.

I fail to see what there is to like about this album. The vocal tracks are mixed down and the electronic sounds driven over the top of that.The mix is trying to be kaleidoscopic and it falls flat with me. No wonder Black Star Dancing was released separately. This album would have tied it down. Whereas BSD just is what it is, this is trying to hard to do something different.One or two tracks hint at what might have been. Prince managed to invent and change direction with bravery, but you know it's Prince because the changes never eclipsed the elements that make the artist. You can hear on tracks 9+10 the elements but listen to the mix trying to be Radiohead, Later Oasis. Track 10 is OK. But it's a poor version of a brazenly sampled 'Whatever''Get back on the bus (Noel) Cause on fuss, Get a grip on yourself....'Dead in the water is an example of how Noel could have pursued the overall sound. Vocals on this track are bold, with electronics in the right place. Where did it all go wrong?Oh yeah.... The packaging is absolutely poor. WHY ME WHY NOT is far superior in song writing, mix and vocal abilities.

I wasn't sure I was going to like this album. I heard one track from it on the Graham Norton show and it didn't gel with me at all at first. I thought it was fairly dull and uninspiring to be honest but once I heard the whole album a couple of times it grew on me and I think it's really good. It's different to the previous two albums and this new direction took a bit of getting used too. Highlights for me are It's A Beautiful World, the instrumentals Wednesday Part 1 & 2, The Man Who Built The Moon and Dead In The Water.

Love this album, some great standout tracks and generally a really good bit of music from start to finish. 'It's a beautiful world' and 'The man who built the Moon' are the albums triumphs in my opinion, although there are many other great tracks on there.

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  I’m a massive Noel fan, saw him live on this tour and so I am always going to be slightly biased with his material. This album, however, is honestly a fantastic piece of work, and a brave, bold move away from the normal song writing process to try unchartered territories with producer, David Holmes who forced Noel into a different of writing music. 180g Vinyl, some of the nicest artwork I have ever seen, it’s a must have for any Oasis/Noel fans, it’s miles better than anything Liam (our kid) has done (imo!).