Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds - Back The Way We Came (Vol. 1)

Upon launching his solo career in 2011, Noel Gallagher found himself in a position he hadn’t occupied for nearly twenty years; facing an unknown future. His former band Oasis were so well-established that their cycle was unwavering: write, record album, tour, repeat. Whatever the virtues of their material (which were frequently decried), the iconic band could always rely on selling out tours and playing to the masses.

Ten years on, we have a clearer picture. Liberated by numerous different factors, Noel Gallagher has simply reaffirmed his position as one of the UK’s foremost songwriters, ably demonstrated by this retrospective.

The self-titled debut was his strongest collection of songs for a decade and a half, with the album being so successful that any doubts he may have had now probably seem ridiculous. The grandiose ‘Everybody’s On The Run’ may be lyrically insignificant (his default setting of preaching positivity) but proceedings are more about bombast and scale, completed by a sublime string arrangement. After spending a decade apologising for Be Here Now, Noel Gallagher was going big again, with the Crouch End Festival Chorus supplying added grandeur for good measure. His first solo single, ‘The Death Of You And Me’ (how we speculated over that title) take it’s cue from ‘The Importance Of Being Idle’, but the inclusion of some New Orleans jazz hinted Gallagher was tip-toeing away from the confinements of his former band.

https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2021/06/review-noel-gallagher-back-way-came/