This is the third solo album by Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. The first two solo albums that Noel Gallagher made were promising, but although they were successful both critically and commercially, they had little recognition in comparison to the likes of the early Oasis albums such as 1994’s Definitely Maybe or 1995’s (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? Despite the fact he was no longer recording with his brother Liam Gallagher and under some long-term pressure to create a great solo album, Noel Gallagher pressed on with the output of his solo career with the High Flying Birds. The result was this album, his third overall since leaving Oasis. This is not seen as the best-received album made by Noel himself and although it went to #1 in the UK, it received fairly mixed reviews from both critics and fans alike. Let’s take a listen to this album and we shall hear where it stands in terms of overall quality today. The album artwork also features Noel’s then-wife, Sara McDonald, on the front cover of the album as well.

Fort Knox sounds awful from the start, with some of the worst sounds from a Noel Gallagher album. Aircraft flying is sampled, and this mediocre tune gets underway. This is not a really great listen at all. Period. This launches into a heavy bass guitar and drumming-led groove that is far from great. This awful song continues on, and even Coldplay after their 2000s peak is far better than this head-shakingly bad garbage. Some female vocal screams indicate the next section of music to enter. This is the disastrous 2008 Dig Out Your Soul Oasis album all over again, with a lazy, lethargic-sounding tune. Although this is experimental and Psychedelic, there is nothing worth listening to here. A huge disappointment for fans of Oasis or anyone who appreciated that sort of music. Terrible from the start, this is not a good song. Avoid it like the plague. The outro is also bad as well.

Holy Mountain sounds bad from the start as well. It launches into a terribly bad song that sounds very dated and forgettable to this day. This music is not a wonderful nor good quality song, and already you can hit stop and go and do something more productive with your day. Noel Gallagher proves himself to be yesterday’s man with this appalling song. It would have been better for him to bite the bullet and accept that he and Liam Gallagher indeed did have some musical chemistry between each other. This is an appalling album listen, and this sounds very bad indeed. Noel Gallagher digs his own musical grave with this whiny, horrible album and your ears will hurt as well. Seriously atrocious. In any case, this “hit single” is a disaster for Noel and pointed out he had nothing left to amaze people at this point. A disaster.

Keep On Reaching begins with bass guitar and pounding drums. This launches into a weird and not wonderful tune that is worse than anything on the 2000 album by Oasis, Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants. This garbage is just that, and Noel never sounded so old and obsolete on this album. He asks the listener, “Can you keep a secret?” Actually yes, but there is no secret that this album is absolutely horrid. It would have made more sense for Noel Gallagher to give up at this point. This music has no appeal to those of you who value great albums. His singing is whiny, borderline screaming, and uninspired. Avoid this track as well. This is the worst Noel Gallagher album so far, a disaster.

It’s A Beautiful World is more of the same, tired and lethargic music. It begins with some interesting textures but sounds so lazy and uninspired that you can probably throw this album out of the window. It has a particular Madchester vibe to it, but that is about it. Otherwise, this is another unoriginal New Order-sounding tune that you can avoid like the plague. It seems that Noel needed to find inspiration elsewhere in life at this point. The chorus is appalling and sounds like pretentious nonsense here. Noel Gallagher is best seen as a singer/songwriter, and that is where his talent lies, not in this electronically modified nonsense. In any case, this album falls flat, as does this song. The music here is extremely unimaginative. The breakdown in the second half of this song is rubbish, as is the take on spoken Spanish. Totally worth avoiding, if you want textures, then you should check out a DJ, not this nonsense. Absolutely bad, and worth forgetting about. A trite piece of music.

She Taught Me How To Fly begins with more ordinary textures, and sounds really bad. Autoned vocals enter, and this tune gets tragically underway. A very poor composition by Noel Gallagher and the song sounds very predictable and regrettably forgettable for this kind of music. The music here is nothing at all special, and this sounds absolutely awful. Noel clearly could not care at all about his music at this point in time. Gone are the anthems from Oasis’s heyday, instead is some digital garbage that has no appeal at all musically. Noel needed a reality check here, and this song is another appalling example of what not to do on a solo album. This is painful to listen to. Yes, the Oasis album, 1997’s Be Here Now is far better than this trash. It sounds like Noel Gallagher wrote all these songs about his ex-wife Sara McDonald as well. Terrible and a joke, and this is one of the better-received songs from the album itself. Just don’t listen to this album, and you will be fine. Pathetic.

Be Careful What You Wish For begins with some predictable acoustic guitar and some awful sounds in the background, and enters into another poor song. This is a slightly better song, but by no means wonderful or valuable. Noel Gallagher goes into ego overdrive here. The only sort of person who could appreciate this album is a hardcore Noel fan. Even then, this is difficult to stomach. This pathetic and textured music proves that, although Noel Gallagher himself was talented, he lost it along the line somewhere. This dreadful and pathetic listen is nothing anyone really should hear. The music and melodies are extremely lame, and Kid Rock at times made for a better listen than this. This album is one of the worst listens of the 21st century. The solo section is also terrible, and you can skip ahead or turn this off if you wish. A terrible album to listen to, which references some of Oasis’s worst songs as well. A really bad song, and it goes on well past its welcome. This is the worst album out of either Oasis or Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds so far. Bad.

Black & White Sunshine is another frankly bad song from the start. Noel Gallagher makes a poor listening experience over an ordinary guitar riff and he makes some more mediocre music. Fortunately, this song is shorter but it is still really terrible. The lyrics, music and production make for a very difficult listening experience and it seems that Noel himself had no musical direction at this time. In any case, you don’t need to listen to this album, and nor should you. If anything, this whole album sounds like junk that only Noel Gallagher and Sara McDonald could stomach. There is a weird solo section that, again, is lacking. Liam Gallagher was getting his solo career started at this time, yet it seems that Noel Gallagher did not care about this particular album. A lost cause for a listening experience.

Interlude (Wednesday Part 1) is a two-minute long piece that has some random acoustic guitar parts and some electronically treated drumming. This is an instrumental that isn’t worth paying attention to. This album is proof that unless you are The Beatles, poor album recordings are made and this album is a really poor listening experience. In any case, this music is nothing particularly special here. Could it be that this is the best example of this frankly bad album? Quite possibly. It wraps up quickly.

If Love Is The Law begins with some weird Theremin-styled keyboard parts, before going bang into another ordinary song. Again, this is ordinary music to listen to and sounds like another song that Noel probably wrote about his ex-wife. Weird music is here regardless, and it sounds turgid musically. Noel Gallagher was definitely lacking in terms of musical consistency around this time. In any case, you can definitely skip ahead if you wish. The music present is nothing special and lacks. The parts on this album also sound like they are all mixed at the same volume. The harmonica solo present in this song is really atrocious as well. Nonetheless, skip ahead or hit stop. Save your hearing from this nonsensical music.

The Man Who Built The Moon sounds absolutely awful from the start. A very bad and headshakingly poor mixture of sounds and playing is here from the start. This album deserves a medal for being one of the worst releases in the 21st century. Noel Gallagher eventually gets singing a bad song that has nonsensical lyrics and poor sounds galore. Like fingernails down a blackboard here, this is a terrible listening experience. This leaves a sour taste in one’s mouth, and the music throughout is really awful. Fortunately, this is reaching towards the end of this disaster of an album. Avoid this garbage, and you will be okay. This is one of the worst songs Noel Gallagher has ever created, to this very day. Nothing worth mentioning here, just get as far away as possible from this junk. It ends eventually after over four minutes. A nightmare to listen to.

End Credits (Wednesday Part 2) leads in with those repeated acoustic guitar riffs and launches into the conclusion of this terrible album. Again, nothing special is here to listen to. As this album concludes, it makes one wonder why Noel Gallagher put it out in the first place. Honestly dude, why? This wraps up, leaving the listener shaking their head and wanting to go put something far better on musically. A sour listening experience, and nothing really great here. It wraps up with repetitive acoustic guitar parts, and this album, at last, ends.

This is such a bad album listening experience that, it is not just the worst Oasis/Noel Gallagher album release to this day, but also one of the worst albums ever made in the 21st century. Noel created music here that, instead of being solidly consistent songs, are just textural sonic soundscapes that sound very, very bad. Avoid like the plague, do not listen to this album, even if you are slightly tempted to do so. It is just not worth it.

Appallingly bad.

2/10