Regardless of your feelings about the former Oasis band-member – whether tired of the seemingly endless public spats with his brother, perturbed by the apparent hefty ‘borrowings’ from other’s music or put-off by yet another egotistical pronouncement- you’ve always had to concede, whether begrudgingly or not, that Noel Gallagher knows how to pen a bloody good rock and roll song.
True enough, Gallagher’s first solo effort represents some of his finest work since ‘Definitely, Maybe’ and ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’ There’s a lighter, looser feel to the music here than the last albums we heard from Oasis (consider the foot-stomping pomp and verve of ‘Dream On’ and ‘The Death Of You And Me’), and while ‘Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ may not represent a reinvention or high risk new exploration for the Mancunian, there’s definitely a sense of liberation permeating through that makes for a thoroughly entertaining album.