Oasis To Release Dig Out Your Soul Oct. 7 And It Won’t Be Free
Every year has its hits and misses. Hits this year have come from Black Crowes, Black Keys, Counting Crows, and R.E.M. Weezer is feeling a bit like a miss. The verdict is still out on Beck and Coldplay. I like both albums but I’m not sure how much yet. The Gutter Twins will probably fall somewhere in between and Portishead… where do you even begin with them? You almost have to call them a hit because they may not be back for another 10 years.
Those are just a few of the heavyweights artists that have turned in new work this year and now we have confirmation that Oasis will join them with a new album called Dig Out Your Soul due in stores October 7th. Soul is their seventh album and first album of new material since 2005’s Don’t Believe The Truth. Stop The Clocks, a 2-CD compilation, was released in 2006.
The first single from Soul will be the Noel Gallagher-penned track “The Shock of the Lightning,” about which he said, “If ‘The Shock Of The Lightning’ sounds instant and compelling to you, it’s because it was written dead fast and recorded dead fast. ‘The Shock of The Lightning’ basically is the demo. And it has retained its energy.”
The elder Gallagher wrote six of the 11 tracks on the album with younger brother Liam contributing three. Gem Archer and Andy Bell each contributed one track as well, continuing the trend begun with Truth.
Dig Out Your Soul will be released through the band’s Big Brother label. International distribution arrangements have been made, and none of them include free or “name your own price” options a la Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails.
“That’s not our bag,” said Noel Gallagher. “I didn’t spend a year in the most expensive studio in England, with the most expensive producer in America, and the most expensive graphic designer in London to then give it away,” Gallagher said.”
Noel has always been quotable and this one will surely draw the ire of his critics, of which there have been many. I’m not one of them and I won’t be this time. Don’t get me wrong. I like free. I don’t mind if Trent Reznor or Thom Yorke want to give me an album from time to time, but the devaluation of music is a problem. Sure the labels have been gouging customers for year and such practices are deplorable, but good music is worth paying for. A freebie now and again to the faithful is a kind gesture, but it’s preposterous that bands are routinely being asked if they’re going to actually charge for their work. Of course they fucking are! And they should.
Here is the full tracklisting for Dig Out Your Soul
1. “Bag It Up” – (Noel Gallagher) 5.12
2. “The Turning” (Andy Bell) – 4.32
3. “Waiting For the Rapture” – (N. Gallagher) 4.57
4. “The Shock of the Lightning” – (N. Gallagher) 4.24
5. “I’m Outta Time” (Liam Gallagher) – 5.20
6. “Get Off Your High Horse (Lady)” (Gem Archer) – 5.07
7. “Falling Down” – (N. Gallagher) 4.18
8. “To Be Where There is Life” – (N. Gallagher) 5.35
9. “Ain’t Got Nothin” (L. Gallagher) – 3.32
10. “The Nature of Reality” – (N. Gallagher) 4.48
11. “Soldier On” (L. Gallagher) – 5.50
Filed under: Tags: Dig Out Your Soul, Oasis
To the contrary, Josh… I don’t think it’s about Oasis HAVING to give a disc away for free. It’s more the fact that they’re the type of selfish “most expensive” pop-rock band that would NEVER do something as cool as that for their fans, because they are still trying to cash in on their faded 90’s fame.
I’m sure the reporter who asked that knew that the true side of Gallagher would show through in the response.
I guess I don’t see it that way, Mark. In the 50+ years of rock and roll before the Radiohead and NIN experiments, no one else was in the habit of giving away albums of new content for free. Some bands embraced live tape trading, most notably The Dead, but they weren’t giving American Beauty away just for the hell of it.
What I find interesting is that until Radiohead pulled its publicity stunt, no one would ask any rock star or artist if they were going to charge for their new album. It was a given. Albums cost money, always have. Now Radiohead gives fans the “name your price” option and Reznor gives an album away and every artist is being asked whether or not they’re going to charge. I don’t like it. I think it should be special when a band does something cool for the fans, not an expected business model of every band under the sun.
Of course it was a given Gallagher would react that way. One, it’s a silly question. Second, part of the way Oasis promote upcoming records is giving inflammatory interviews leading up to the release of a new album. This is relatively mild by Noel standards. There have been some classic quips over the years.
We live in a different age than those 50+ years. Going digital has changed everything. It will change even further from here.
You and I both know how easy it is to construct content in a home studio on your computer, and publish it instantly to feeds for people to pick up. It’s no different for musicians. Finish a song, upload it today, write a post on your blog, 500K people download it by Tuesday, done.
Radiohead and NIN are not the only ones though, nor were they the first. From Wilco’s own website since back in 2004, I downloaded several live cuts and the EP ‘More About The Moon’. Fans who are looking to learn more about the band are rewarded. Simple as that.
Additionally, yes, it costs more money when you are an up and comer, but these bands are already loaded. No one forced Oasis into all of the “most expensive” options for making an album.
In my mind, giving away free content from time to time is a better marketing strategy than trying to milk every red cent out of your fans.
Okay, I think we’re actually agreeing more than we disagree and we’re talking past each other just a little bit.
I love the idea of giving away some free, downloadable, digital content from time to time or making some bonus material available to fans. It’s a great marketing technique and helps strengthen the bond between fan and band. I think all bands should explore this to the degree its feasible, taking into account their record contracts and career status. It can be incredibly effective and its easier to do now than ever. The internet is great for music, musicians, and fans.
Where I’m defending Noel is on the release of a brand new, full-length album. That’s still the bread-and-butter of a band. That Radiohead and NIN felt comfortable giving one of those away was cool, but I don’t think bands should be expected to do that and I’m not sure I want to see what will happen to the scene if it becomes impossible for bands to charge for an album of new material. For bands that still view the album as an artform, it is not unseemly that they charge for that.
I think it boils down to this:
Bands don’t make money from album sales, they make it from touring and licensing. Thus, releasing a free or PWYW album independently is only a minor loss in the short term.
But, if you’re a good musician, the free/PWYW brand new full length album does nothing but help you. More people get to hear the music because there is no commitment of fundage to just ‘check it out’.
If the listener likes it, then they will be interested in purchasing the previous and future albums. Look what it did to you with NIN.
Wow. Are you kidding. Digital quality can be a joke. Noel is doing you a favor by getting the best people and studio in the biz. Radioheads ”in rainbows” was a bore and the sound quality was weak. Leave it to noel & co. to spend money and time to make a great record oh and I wil pay for it. They worked hard and deserve there money for the music they make as do all muscians…. pay 4 ur music
Richard, I agree digital recording and distribution has, in many instances, had an adverse impact on sound quality. It can be a joke, but it doesn’t have to. Using digital distribution as a means to deliver special bonus content to fans can be a good thing for band and fans alike.
I disagree that In Rainbows was a bore. I quite like the album. It doesn’t displace OK Computer or Kid A atop my list of favorite Radiohead albums, but it’s quite good.
Mark, you’re right that most bands don’t make money off individual album sales but they get advances from the record company based on the label’s belief that they’ll be able to turn around and sell the album to somebody. It’s an indirect and odd arrangement, but the ability to sell a record goes into the overall economics of it. Record company politics and business practices suck. They’re anti-fan. However, not all change is change for the better. The removal of labels or the disintegration of the marketplace centered around the selling of albums of music isn’t inherently better and might possibly be worse.
Richard, the only favor Noel would be doing me is to stick to making AT&T jingles. But that’s beside the point.
As for digital quality, it’s not like I’m expecting that since I’m getting something for free from the band (not illegally, mind you), that it should have a 2200 kbps bit rate. Yes, iTunes and its imitators need to bump up the bit rates for their regular content, but again… beside the point.
But as a fan of Radiohead and NIN who has bought hundreds of dollars worth or albums and gear, I appreciate getting something back from them for free. I will continue to support them all the same, but acknowledging a fan goes a long way.
Josh, change is never easy. But honestly, I don’t see how paying $18 for a 45 minute CD can be much worse.
Again, a separate issue: you don’t like Oasis, and that’s fine. You’re wrong, but I’m okay with that.
Agreed that a little something in return for the support goes a long way.
Prices aren’t that bad across the board although they are still too high. I’m not going to enumerate all the ways it could be worse, but different is neither inherently better or worse. How something is different matters.
Now I don’t want to get off on a rant here, but change for change’s sake is a silly bumper sticker. “We have to do something.” No we don’t. We need to do something smarter or better. Different is only that, different. Hell, I expect the other side of the Rainbow (ha ha!) to look pretty much the same as this side of it. The way we put the dollars in the pockets of those to whom the dollars flow may be different, but we’ll be shelling out the same amount of cash.
I don’t work for free. Why should Oasis?
So Radiohead gave their record away; that’s great. So what has that got to do with Oasis?
Here, here.
i am a big fan of radiohead..and nigel goodrich i purchased in rainbows on vinyl.
terrible,terrible quality. really bad compression.
the fact that they ended up selling in a normal sales way to me shows it was a marketing gimmick.
i agree with noel on this,if you have a good product sell it.nobody else fucking works for free.
one of the best world class studios townhouse in london has recently shut..
abbey rd needs artists using it to survive.
giving tracks away helped the artic monkeys early on..but in the long run giving away the whole album like mccartney or prince smacks of failure and desperation.