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Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Self Titled
Released October 17th 2011
Sour Mash Records
Indie Rock


1. "Everybody's on the Run" 5:30
2. "Dream On" 4:29
3. "If I Had a Gun..." 4:09
4. "The Death of You and Me" 3:29
5. "(I Wanna Live in a Dream in My) Record Machine" 4:23
6. "AKA... What a Life!" 4:24
7. "Soldier Boys and Jesus Freaks" 3:22
8. "AKA... Broken Arrow" 3:35
9. "(Stranded On) The Wrong Beach" 4:02
10. "Stop the Clocks" 5:04







Debut solo effort from ex-Oasis gaffer Noel Gallagher. Written over rather a long, relaxed period of time, Noel Gallagher has spoke of the liberation he felt in writing without an audience. Obviously his audience will include many Oasis fans, but he has spoke of not yet knowing what a Noel Gallagher audience is.

The album reeks of someone writing for themselves and not overly concering themselves with the reception of his work. Of course it isn't a complete departure from Oasis, but there are certainly tracks on here I doubt would have made it to an Oasis record.

For Oasis fans, two tracks may seem familiar. "I Wanna Live in a Dream in My) Record Machine" is an unreleased (but leaked) Oasis demo that was re-recorded for the album, and Stop the Clocks is a ten year old track finally finished and complete to close the record out. Not even Oasis' Best of, that was actually named Stop the Clocks, could serve as a home for the track.

It's not mind-bending, ground-breaking genius. Noel Gallagher is the first person to admit to not being the best musician the world has ever produced. He is however a proud man, has told of how proud he is of this record, and after listening to it 4 times today I have to say I am enjoying it. It has the familiarity you would expect from a record penned by Noel Gallagher, but with a massive ensemble of musicians to support him, frequent use of brass and string sections, the Crouch End Festival Chorus choir, who are often seen performing at the BBC Proms, and a very mature approach to the recording of a debut album.