8- The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 3, 1995
RECORDS
Continued from page 5
Oasis
(What's the Story) Morning
Glory?
Epic
Oasis is a very predictable band. They
always start and end their shows with
the same songs, their lack ofstage move-
ment is surely a gimmick and they're
always so bloody cocky. The thing is,
they always sound so damn good,and
with theirpredictability also comes their
sweet consistency.
As is the case on the British group's
second LP, "(What's the Story) Morn-
ing Glory?" After last year's debut
"Definitely Maybe" was herald the fast-
est-selling debut in England's history
last year, it would only take time before
Oasis' music made it across the Atlan-
tic to the U.S. And it did - a little.
"Live Forever" was plastered all over
MTV and "alternative" radio, but the
band wasn't able to work up the same
hubbub that they were blessed with in
their homeland.
But with "Morning Glory," Oasis
sophomore effort is anything but a
slump, and could very well shoot them
over the top across the world. Guitarist
and occasional vocalist Noel
Gallagher's songs are all more mature
and varied than on "Definitely Maybe,"
and all come together to make one of
the year's best rock'n'roll records.
Oasis is to the Beatles as Lenny
Kravitz is to Jimi Hendrix, but probably
even worse (if that's possible). They'll
rip off anyone from the Fab Four to
Coca-Cola commercials, but it's the
skill and arrogance that they do it with
that makes the songs so counterfeited
yet original.
Of the album's 12 tracks, only 10 are
actual songs, and out of those, two
("Some Might Say" and "Roll With It")
were already released as import singles.
Nevertheless, the album holds together
very well, with much more developed
and intricate song structures and many
more delightful harmonies and textures
than on the first record.
"Hello," "Morning Glory"'s opener,
is the only track on the album that feels
left over from the "Definitely Maybe"
sessions, with its wall of sound thick-
ness that dominated the entirety of the
first record. With its loud siren-like
guitar sounds, Oasis announces their
arrival to the party on the jangly dis-
torted tune.
"Roll With It" and the title track
"Morning Glory" both capture Noel's
little brother Liam wailing out his
much-improved vocals that would
sound well at home on early Beatles
screamers like "Twist and Shout."
His vocals find more range this time
out, and the album has more vocal
variety than the monotonous, nasal
whine that covered the majority of
"Definitely Maybe."
"Some Might Say" is another of the
great faster tracks, while the ballads
"Cast No Shadow" and "Don't Look
Back In Anger" capture the band's
sweetness at it finest.
Also consistent is Oasis ripping off
of classic Brit rock, mainly the Beatles.
The piano intro to "Don't Look Back In
Anger" sounds looped off Lennon's
"Imagine," and riffs, choruses and vo-
cals are stolen too many times to count,
but stolen so well there's no need to
count them.
Since they are the kings of rip-offs, a
second album gives Oasis a chance to
do something they could never pull of
on a debut record - to rip-off them-
selves. "She's Electric" is blatantly
"Maybe"'s "Married With Children"
sped up a bit with a few new words.
The lyrical depth on "Morning Glory"
easily surpasses that of "Maybe," tak-
ing a step away from being a rock'n'roll
star and looking up in the sky, and
moving towards a realization of where
the band stands today. More personal
tales of love and dealing with a life of
rock'n'roll replace the party-all-the-
time songs, and help the album develop
a richer overall tone.
In the album's mellow closer, "Cham-
pagne Supernova," the layers of solo-
ing guitars and vocals come together
They've got 'Morning Glory' and life's a different story, everything's going Jackadory for Oasis.
forthe album's orgasm. The track shows
the band's progress, along with the re-
gression back to the days of "Sgt.
Pepper's" with Liam's entrancing rep-
etition of the line "We were getting
high." But whether Oasis is going for-
ward or backward, they're definitely
going in the right direction.
- Brian A. Gnatt
The Artist Formerly
Known as Prince.
The Gold Experience
Warner
Prince the songwriter to Prince the
producer: I've got this great sort of
twisted female empowerment tune ready
to go called "Pussy Control," what do I
do with it? Why, mix it loud and proud
and stick it smack at the beginning of
the album, what else?
Yep, Prince is as in your face as ever
(this time with actual new material!)
with his new release "The Gold Experi-
ence," and "Pussy Control" is only the
beginning. After getting by releasing
old material for the past couple years
(The highly underrated "Come" and the,
ancient "Black Album"), the purple one
has decided to get off of his laurels and
show the world the new direction he's
decided to head in. In a way, "The Gold
Experience" is Prince saying "I'm
through resting, I'll be on my way now
thank U very much." He said very much
the same thing with his masterpieces
"Purple Rain" and "Sign O' The Times";
and this new release just might ranLup
there with those pop classics.
In some ways, the new direction is
reverse. Much of the sound of the al-
bum is a throwback to the brighter,
more melodic days of Prince mania,
when keyboards and simple beats domi-
nated the tunes. The instant pop hit
"Dolphin" and the raunchy pornogra-
phy of "319" will have you rejoicing
the rebirth of the eighties.
On the other hand, much ofthe album
is more stripped down than anything he
has done in the past decade. It was
recorded with only a handful of mem-
bers leftover from the NPG, including
bassist Sonny T., keyboardists Tommy
Barbarella and Mr. Hayes, and the in-
credible drummer, Michael Bland. Also,
Prince seems to have decided that now
was the time to return to including a lot
more of what he does incredibly well-
playing bad-ass guitar. There are inter-
esting stringed attacks on almost all of
the tracks, most notably on the all-out
rocker "Endorphinmachine" and the
solo-filled majestic closer "Gold." He
puts down some really great subtle
acoustic tracks as well as some Sly
Stone / Stevie Wonder inspired all-out
funk guitar on "Shy," one of the discs
best efforts.
Other highlights include the inspired
"We March," the super-sappy (yet
somehow wonderful) "The Most Beau-
tiful Girl In The World," and the all-out
freaky dance tune "Now."
From "Pussy Control" to "Gold,"
"The Gold Experience" is sleek, yet
raw, danceable, yet listenable, and beau-
tiful, yet rockin'. It's a sure sign that
Prince hasn't lost his talents along with
his mind. And besides, you get to hear
him say things like "I'd rather do you
after school like some homework." Only
Prince could get away with sounding
cool saying that. Oh, and don't give me
any crap about him not really being
Prince. You can call him 0+> all you
want- you can call him $, &, @, or
even : ) for all I care -he will always
be known as Prince. Period.
- Mark Clison
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