Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday (Deluxe Album Review)

So at the moment everyone is talking about Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Bird's new album, but I honestly did not rate it that much at the beginning. The whole album appears to be very constant at first. However after giving the album a proper listen; I've started to favor it a lot more
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'Ballad of the Mighty Eye' being the most well known song of the album is not at all as great as everyone is making out, the guitar is commendable and the vocals are really strong from start to finish but, it is a very constant song and does not change much throughout. The lyrics which stood out the most to me were;

“I’d give you the world if you take my hand, but you left me alone in the sinking sand.”

This tells me that you could give somebody everything but no matter how much you give somebody; they will never be content with how much love you give them nor capable of giving you back half as much as you give them; they are completely oblivious to what is going on around them - someone would give them the world and they can’t even give them a hand out of a dissolving substance which could consequently lead to their death.

The guitar on 'The Right Stuff' is phenomenal and outshines the drums and the vocals, which has a positive effect on the song as it does not just focus on the vocals of Gallagher. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds is a band, it is not just a front-man and a few instruments in the background; perhaps that’s why people praise and admire this band so much? Or perhaps their fans are just hoping that they will become a re-incarnation of oasis?

Moving on; 'In The Heat Of The Moment (Toy Drum Mix)' has a great sound to the song and a very indie feel to the song. The drums are very powerful and the guitar also presents a very strong performance during the song from start to finish. The guitarist is by far the strongest member of the band; the saxophone throughout the songs also creates a 1960’s jazz vibe too which is different.

My favorite song on the album is 'The Girl With X-Ray Eyes'  as personally I think that it is a very underrated song off the album as the lyrics are very well thought-out. Gallagher says:

 “So she took me by the hand and followed through the sand.”

Which then leads on to him saying at the end of the verse

“When the deed is done, in the morning she was gone.” 

Was this the first half of 'Ballad of the Mighty Eye'?

'In The Heat Of The Moment' is more of a rock song compared to the other songs with the heavy guitar and sharp drums, this song also has very catchy lyrics.

In conclusion; I did not think much of the album when I first played it and thought that all of the songs on the album  were very similar and very constant but when I gave the album a second chance I started to realize what a good, and quality album that it is. However I didn't particularly fall in love with it at first listen... Which led to my first opinion on the band and album as a whole being deemed as very overrated.

Gallagher wants his band to be another Oasis, but everyone knows that, that will never happen. Nonetheless I think that the album is getting all of the appreciation and support that it deserves.

8/10