Oasis

A decade ago, we saw Oasis in a small club when the band was only a flavor of the month. The Mancunians still had a minor Sex Pistols sneer to balance a Beatles obsession, and their Marshall stacks were loud. Backstage, we told the fellas that we couldn't hear their drums. Noel Gallagher looked at us as if we'd pissed in his lager, smiled politely and sacked the drummer a few months later.

Oasis peaked with (What's the Story) Morning Glory? in 1995, an album of genius tunes swathed in anachronistic echoey madness that meant as little or as much as you wanted. Since then, the band has struggled to find the magic, getting more grandiose for no good reason, with the next "Wonderwall" seemingly beyond reach.

In Don't Believe the Truth, Oasis scores points with leaner sonics and arrangements, sometimes tastefully tagging tunes with a few bars of swirling psychedelia. Gallagher's insistent strumming propels the songs to places that his life-affirming lyrics can't. There's no wanking to be found, and even Liam Gallagher seems like less of a wanker for the first time in years. On tunes like "Lyla," a Faces-style stomper, and the jangly, lighthearted "Love Like a Bomb," he shines. Noel's harmonica-laden "Mucky Fingers" is an obvious Dylan pastiche. He's better on the shuffling, low-key "Part of the Queue." At points, old hands take lessons from Brit pop's sophomores—for instance "The Importance of Being Idle" bites generously from hypereclectic sextet the Coral—but the Gallaghers' Lennon-McCartney loyalty shows through on the album's bookend, "Let There Be Love."

The triumphant, reflective Truth works to attain its best moments, easily making it Oasis' second-best record. And you know what? The drums are louder.—John Dugan