Don't Believe The Truth＜限定盤＞

ローリング・ストーンズ「ストリート・ファイティング・マン」を彷彿させる「ライラ」やヴェルヴェット・アンダーグラウンド「僕は待ち人」をイメージして作られた「マッキー・フィンガーズ」など、60年代のロックからの影響が色濃く出た2005年発売の6作目。ノエル、リアム、アンディ、ゲムの4人が持ち寄った楽曲のクオリティも高く、英国ロック好きには堪らない傑作だ。

『Heathen Chemistry』から3年振り、オアシス通算6作目のオリジナル・アルバム。今回は初めて"4人で"作り上げたアルバム。ノエルとリアムも、初めて2人で一つの曲を歌った。「そこに愛がありますように(Let There Be Love)」というフレーズが繰り返され、強く美しい余韻が残す。「『Definitely Maybe』を別格にすれば今までで一番気に入っているアルバム(ノエル)」というセリフから伺える"自信"。そして『真実を信じるな(Don't Believe The Truth)』という強烈なメッセージを掲げたアルバム・タイトル。4人のメンバーはそれぞれの体を通過した英雄達をその血に取り込み、誇らしげに、惜し気なく、その全ての恩恵をこの一枚に叩き込んだ。ここに響くのはロックの歴史であり、自身もその一部となっているロック伝説そのもの。オアシス誕生から10年・・・新たな歴史の瞬間を見逃すな!

Since Oasis has an instantly identifiable, seemingly simple signature sound -- gigantic, lumbering, melodic, and inevitable, as if their songs have always existed and always will -- it can be hard to pinpoint what separates a great Oasis song from a merely mediocre tune. It could be anything from overblown production to a diminished swagger, or it could be a self-satisfied laziness in the songwriting, or a panicky attempt to update their defiantly classicist pop with an electronic shine. All of these problems plagued the group's records since their blockbuster 1995 blockbuster second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, and while none of the three albums that followed were outright bad, by 2002's Heathen Chemistry it seemed that even Noel and Liam Gallagher had lost sight of what made Oasis great. While that record had its moments, it often seemed generic, suggesting that the group had painted itself into a corner, not knowing where to go next. Surely, all the reports from the recording of their long-gestating sixth album suggested a faint air of desperation. First, the electronica duo Death in Vegas was brought in as producers, bringing to mind the band's awkward attempts at electronica fusion on Be Here Now and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, but those recordings were scrapped, and then their second drummer, Alan White, left only to be replaced by Zak Starkey, the son of Ringo Starr, suggesting that the Gallaghers were coming perilously close to being swallowed by their perennial Beatles fixation. All of which makes the resulting album, Don't Believe the Truth, a real shock. It's confident, muscular, uncluttered, tight, and tuneful in a way Oasis haven't been since Morning Glory. It doesn't feel labored nor does it sound as if they're deliberately trying to recreate past glories. Instead, it sounds like they've remembered what they love about rock & roll and why they make music. They sound reinvigorated, which is perhaps appropriate, because Don't Believe the Truth finds Oasis to be quite a different band than it was a decade ago. Surely, Noel is still the first among equals, writing the majority of the songs here and providing the musical direction that the rest follow, but his brother Liam, bassist Andy Bell, and guitarist Gem Archer are now full and equal partners, and the band is the better for it. Where Noel struggled to fill the post-Morning Glory albums with passable album tracks (having squandered his backlog of great songs on B-sides), he's now happy to have Bell and Archer write Noel soundalikes that are sturdier than the filler he's created over the last five years. These likeable tunes are given soul and fire by Liam, who not only reclaims his crown as the best singer in rock on this album, but comes into his own as a songwriter. He had written good songs before, but here he holds his own with his brother, writing lively, hooky, memorable songs with "Love Like a Bomb," "The Meaning of Soul," and "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel," which are as good as anything Noel has written for the album. Which is not an aspersion on Noel, who has a set of five songs that cut for cut are his strongest and liveliest in years. Whether it's the insistent stomp of "Mucky Fingers" or the Kinks-styled romp of "The Importance of Being Idle," these songs are so good it makes sense that Noel has kept them for himself, singing four of the five tunes himself (including the soaring closing duet "Let There Be Love," the brothers' best joint vocal since "Acquiesce"). But the key to this new incarnation of Oasis is that this move by Noel doesn't seem like he's hoarding his best numbers, or a way to instigate sibling rivalry with Liam. Instead, it emphasizes that Oasis is now a genuine band, a group of personalities that form together to form one gang of charming rogues. Apart from the tremendous, rambling "Lyla" that channels the spirit of the Faces and the occasional ramshackle echo of Beggars Banquet, there's not muc to be continued...

96年にUKに行ったとき、街でアディダスの三本線ジャージを着て、もみあげを伸ばしている連中をやたらと見かけた。オアシスのライヴを観に行くとさらにそんな連中ばかりで、最初から最後まで大合唱。しかも2日間で25万人。みんな〈なりきりリアム〉だった。オアシスとはそういうバンドだ。普遍的なメロディーを特別な声を持ったヴォーカリストが歌う。それが人々の心を惹きつけてやまない彼らの最大の魅力であり、それは今も変わることはない。約3年ぶりとなるこの新作はノエル・ギャラガー以外のメンバーによる楽曲が約半数を占めた初のアルバムである。それは今作を語るうえで重要なトピックではあるが、曲作りの比率は変わろうとも、間違いない良質なメロディーと歌が詰まった逸品に仕上がっている。特に“Let There Be Love”は最新にして最高レヴェルのクラシック!　また〈なりきりリアム〉が大量発生するのかな。
bounce (C)浅井 克俊