Oasis

Liam Carey reviews

Oasis
Heathen Chemistry Distributed by
Big Brother

• Year: 2002
• Rating: 7/10
• Cat. No: RKIDCD25

Track listing:

1. The Hindu Times
2. Force Of Nature
3. Hung In A Bad Place
4. Stop Crying Your Heart Out
5. Songbird
6. Little By Little
7. A Quick Peep
8. (Probably) All In The Mind
9. She Is Love
10. Born On A Different Cloud
11. Better Man

---

When your second album shifts close to 4 million copies, becoming the biggest-selling album in the UK that isn’t Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, it’s fair to say everything will probably be downhill from thereon. For Oasis, however, few expected the bubble of commercial invincibility to burst so soon, as 1997’s third opus Be Here Now fell on its own sword of bloated indulgence and murky production.

Three years later, Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants saw a modified line-up (featuring a totally new rhythm section) attempt to reclaim lost territory, with mixed results. The band had become a strictly fanbase-only attraction, albeit with the biggest core fanbase around of some 400,000 loyal followers.

---

Heathen Chemistry couldn’t reverse the trend either, another patchy affair bolstered by a clutch of cracking singles (The Hindu Times, Stop Crying Your Heart Out, Songbird) but bogged down by distinctly average pubrock fare (Hung In A Bad Place, Force Of Nature). Resolutely sticking to what they know (and do) best, Oasis in 2002 at least reign in their excesses, even if the tunes aren’t always there anymore.

This album is an undoubted improvement on its two predecessors, occasionally reminiscent of Oasis in their mid-90s pomp. The swagger, though, is more leaden-footed than it was then, and it’s the lightness of touch on the breezily brief Songbird that impresses most.

They won’t win many new admirers with Heathen Chemistry, but the faithful should find plenty of reassurance that Oasis have gone some way to stopping the rot.

Review copyright © Liam Carey, 2003. E-mail Liam Carey

[Up to the top of this page]