- Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds (album)
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Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds Studio album by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds Released 17 October 2011 Recorded 2010 –2011 at State of the Ark, Strangeways, Dean St. Studios and Abbey Road Studios, London Genre Rock, alternative rock Length 42:27 Label Sour Mash Producer Noel Gallagher, Dave Sardy Noel Gallagher chronology The Dreams We Have as Children: Live at the Royal Albert Hall
(2009)Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
(2011)Singles from Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - "The Death of You and Me"
Released: 21 August 2011 - "AKA... What a Life!"
Released: 9 September 2011 - "If I Had a Gun..."
Released: 10 October 2011
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds is the self-titled debut album by the English rock band Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. Released on 17 October 2011, it is the first studio album released by eponymous frontman Noel Gallagher since his departure from Oasis in August 2009.
Contents
Background
High Flying Birds was recorded between 2010 and 2011 in London and Los Angeles, produced by Gallagher and former Oasis producer Dave Sardy.[1] Musicians featured on the record include former Oasis keyboardist Mike Rowe, The Lemon Trees drummer Jeremy Stacey and percussionist Lenny Castro, in addition to guest appearances from the Crouch End Festival Chorus and The Wired Strings.[1] The name, High Flying Birds, drew inspiration from the Jefferson Airplane song while using it as a band name was an homage to Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac.
The track listing includes "Stop the Clocks", which is the unreleased Oasis track of that name.[2] On 20 July 2011, "The Death of You and Me" was confirmed as the lead single, scheduled for release on 21 August 2011, with "The Good Rebel" appearing as the B-side.[3]
On 30 August 2011, "If I Had a Gun" premiered on Kroq Radio and will be Gallagher's debut single in North America. The second UK single is "AKA... What a Life!".[4] with "Let The Lord Shine A Light On Me" appearing as the B-side.
On 5 September 2011, "AKA... What a Life!" premiered on Gallagher's official YouTube account.[5]
Album cover
The album cover was taken in Los Angeles by photographer Lawrence Watson, who had just purchased a Polaroid camera. As Gallagher explained, "There's an old petrol station in Beverly Hills beside the police station that's got a triangular neon roof, and when you stand underneath it it looks like you're stood underneath Concorde. So we go out one night and it's all lit up in the neon, and we're taking these pictures - it looks like I'm stood under the wings of a high flying bird." [6]
Tour
Gallagher has said that he will begin the High Flying Birds Tour a week after the release of the album. The first show will be in Dublin on 23 October and will also visit London and Edinburgh. He said, "We're going to go out on tour a week after the album is out. We're going to start off slow in small theatres. If it's good enough to get bigger than that then it'll get bigger than that. I don't think there'll be a huge great big tour this year. I think this year it'll be a quick whizz around the world and try and do the major cities and then it will probably be a bigger tour next year."[7] North American, European, and Japanese tours have also been announced. On November 9th, 2011 it was annouced that Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds will be headlining all shows at Australia and New Zealand's travelling Big Day Out Festival. [8] [9]
Reception
Commercial performance
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds sold 55,000 copies after two days of sale, more than twice as many copies as its nearest rival, Letters by The X Factor winner Matt Cardle.[10] On 23 October 2011, the album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, with first-week sales of 122,530 copies.[11] In comparison the debut album by the band of Noel's brother Liam Gallagher, Beady Eye's Different Gear, Still Speeding, sold 66,817 copies when it debuted at number three on the chart in March 2011 and has since sold approximately 157,000 copies in the UK (as of November 2011)[11]
Critical reception
Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic [12] BBC Favourable[13] Daily Mail [14] The Daily Telegraph [15] Digital Spy [16] NME [17] Q Toronto Star [18] The Tune (4.3/5)[19] Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds has received generally favorable reviews, scoring a 68 on Metacritic.[20] The BBC review praised Gallagher for continuing the proven formula of songwriting he adopted in Oasis, describing the album as an "enjoyable record".[13] Adrian Thrills of the Daily Mail made a similar point on the tried-and-tested approach to making music chosen by Gallagher,[14] and despite giving it a rating of eight out of ten the NME claimed that the album may have benefited from the vocals of former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher.[1] Writing for The Daily Telegraph, critic Neil McCormick awarded the album the highest rating possible, claiming that "High Flying Birds is the best collection of [Noel] Gallagher tunes since his Morning Glory days", referring to the extremely high-selling 1995 Oasis album (What's the Story) Morning Glory? as a benchmark for the album.[15] Website Digital Spy took a similar view, proposing that "Despite all the hints to the contrary, Gallagher has managed to shrug off potentially suffocating expectations to record what could be his best album since (What's the Story) Morning Glory?."[16]
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Noel Gallagher.
No. Title Length 1. "Everybody's on the Run" 5:30 2. "Dream On" 4:29 3. "If I Had a Gun..." 4:09 4. "The Death of You and Me" 3:29 5. "(I Wanna Live in a Dream in My) Record Machine" 4:23 6. "AKA... What a Life!" 4:24 7. "Soldier Boys and Jesus Freaks" 3:22 8. "AKA... Broken Arrow" 3:35 9. "(Stranded On) The Wrong Beach" 4:02 10. "Stop the Clocks" 5:04 Total length:42:27 Digital download editions No. Title Length 11. "A Simple Game of Genius" 7:19 Total length:49:46 Japanese edition No. Title Length 11. "A Simple Game of Genius" 7:19 12. "The Good Rebel" 4:19 Total length:53:59 Amazon.de edition No. Title Length 11. "Alone on the Rope" 5:04 Total length:47:31 Deluxe Edition CD No. Title Length 11. "Let the Lord Shine a Light on Me" 4:12 12. "The Good Rebel" 4:24 Total length:51:05 Deluxe Edition Bonus DVD No. Title Length 1. "It's Never Too Late to Be What U Might Have Been" (The Making of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds) 33:46 2. "The Death of You and Me" (music video) 4:02 3. "The Making of "The Death of You and Me"" 5:27 Total length:43:15 Personnel
- Primary personnel
- Noel Gallagher – vocals, guitars, bass, banjo, keyboards (track 9), additional keyboards (tracks 6, 7 and 10) backing vocals (tracks 7 and 9), production
- Dave Sardy – production, mixing, drum programming (tracks 6 and 9)
- Mike Rowe – keyboards (all except track 9)
- Jeremy Stacey – drums
- Additional musicians
- Beccy Byrne – backing vocals (tracks 2, 3, 5, 8 and 10)
- Mark Neary – double bass (track 4), musical saw (tracks 4 and 8), wine glasses (track 9)
- Gary Alesbrook – trumpet (tracks 2, 4, 7 and 10)
- Trevor Mires – trombone (tracks 2, 4, 7 and 10)
- Andrew Kinsman – saxophone (tracks 2, 4, 7 and 10)
- Jon Graboff – pedal steel guitar (track 3)
- Luís Jardim – percussion (tracks 4, 8 and 10)
- Lenny Castro – percussion (track 8)
- Paul Stacey – guitar solo (track 10), bass (track 11), engineering (track 11), mixing (track 11)
- The Wired Strings – strings (tracks 1 and 5)
- Rosie Danvers – string arrangements
- Crouch End Festival Chorus – choir vocals (tracks 1, 5 and 10)
- Steve Markwick – choral arrangements
- Cherrelle Rose – backing vocals (track 11)
- Joy Rose-Thomas – backing vocals (track 11)
Chart performance
Chart (2011) Peak
positionAustralian Albums Chart[21] 16 Austrian Albums Chart 16 Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[22] 10 Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[23] 16 Canadian Albums Chart 19 Croatian Albums Chart [24] 10 Danish Albums Chart 27 Dutch Albums Chart[25] 11 Finnish Albums Chart[26] 29 French Albums Chart 9 Irish Albums Chart[27] 1 Italian Albums Chart 2 Japanese Albums Chart[28] 5 Mexican Albums Chart [29] 53 New Zealand Albums Chart[30] 10 Norwegian Albums Chart 12 Scottish Albums Chart[31] 1 Spanish Albums Chart[32] 15 Swedish Albums Chart[33] 21 Swiss Albums Chart 10 UK Albums Chart[34] 1 US Billboard 200 28 Release history
Region Date Format Label Japan 12 October 2011 CD, LP, digital download Sony Music Japan[35] Australia 14 October 2011 CD, LP, digital download Sour Mash Records Ireland[36][37] New Zealand United Kingdom 16 October 2011[38] Digital download 17 October 2011[39] CD, LP Canada 8 November 2011 CD, LP, digital download United States References
- ^ a b c "Noel Gallagher announces full debut solo album details". NME. 6 July 2011. http://www.nme.com/news/oasis/57806. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
- ^ "Noel Gallagher returns, names solo album Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds". Metro.co.uk. 2011-07-06. http://www.metro.co.uk/music/868472-noel-gallagher-returns-names-solo-album-high-flying-birds-after-himself. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
- ^ "Noel Gallagher releases trailer for solo single The Death Of You And Me". Metro.co.uk. 2011-07-20. http://www.metro.co.uk/music/869864-noel-gallagher-releases-trailer-for-solo-single-the-death-of-you-and-me. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
- ^ http://www.nme.com/news/noel-gallaghers-high-flying-birds/58966
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwHpLDgWonM&feature=feedu
- ^ "Exclusive: Noel Gallagher explains High Flying Birds artwork". Thisisfakediy.co.uk. 2011-08-05. http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/news/exclusive-noel-gallagher-explains-high-flying-birds-artwork#ixzz1UL3FU3a0. Retrieved 2011-08-05.
- ^ "Noel Gallagher confirms he will play Oasis songs on October tour". NME. 6 July 2011. http://www.nme.com/news/noel-gallagher/57820. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
- ^ The Music Network|http://www.themusicnetwork.com/music-news/live/2011/11/09/noel-gallagher-heads-up-second-round-of-big-day-out-acts/
- ^ Triple J Interview|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv6vRHQgQU8
- ^ "Noel Gallagher 1, Matt Cardle 0". The Official Charts Company. 18 October 2011. http://www.theofficialcharts.com/chart-news/noel-gallagher-1-matt-cardle-0/. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ a b Jones, Alan (24 October 2011). "UK Album Chart Analysis: Noel Gallagher first-week sales double Beady Eye's". Music Week. http://www.musicweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=1047132&c=1. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds – Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/noel-gallaghers-high-flying-birds-r2302250/review. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
- ^ a b Fraser McAlpine (7 October 2011). "Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds Review". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/zxgw. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ a b Adrian Thrills (14 October 2011). "Noel Gallagher's solo flight hits new heights". Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2048871/Noel-Gallagher-High-flying-birds-solo-album-hits-new-heights.html. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ a b Neil McCormick (13 October 2011). "Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/cdreviews/8824790/Noel-Gallaghers-High-Flying-Birds.html. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ a b Mayer Nissim (17 October 2011). "Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Album review". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/albumreviews/a345263/noel-gallaghers-high-flying-birds-album-review.html. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ Matt Wilkinson (14 October 2011). "Album Review: Noel Gallagher - 'High Flying Birds'". NME. http://www.nme.com/reviews/noel-gallagher/12378. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ Ben Rayner (7 November 2011). "Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds at cruising altitude". Toronto Star. http://www.toronto.com/article/703510--noel-gallagher-s-high-flying-birds-at-cruising-altitude. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
- ^ Maria Rosaria di Lecce (19 October 2011). "The Tune review". The Tune. http://www.the-tune.net/review-noel-gallaghers-high-flying-birds-noel-gallaghers-high-flying-birds/. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
- ^ http://www.metacritic.com/music/noel-gallaghers-high-flying-birds
- ^ http://www.ariacharts.com.au/pages/charts_display_album.asp?chart=1G50
- ^ Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Belgian Flanders Charts
- ^ Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Belgian Wallonia Charts
- ^ http://www.hdu-toplista.com/index.php?what=arhiva&w=details&id=927
- ^ Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Dutch Charts
- ^ http://finnishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Noel+Gallagher%27s+High+Flying+Birds&titel=Noel+Gallagher%27s+High+Flying+Birds&cat=a
- ^ Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Irish Charts
- ^ http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ja/w/2011-10-24/
- ^ http://mexicancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Noel+Gallagher%27s+High+Flying+Birds&titel=Noel+Gallagher%27s+High+Flying+Birds&cat=a
- ^ http://www.rianz.org.nz/rianz/chart.asp
- ^ http://www.theofficialcharts.com/scottish-albums-chart/
- ^ http://www.promusicae.org/files/listassemanales/albumes/top%20100%20albumes%20(PUBLICAR)_w42.2011.pdf
- ^ Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Swedish Charts
- ^ "Archive Chart". UK Albums Chart. The Official Charts Company. http://www.theofficialcharts.com/archive-chart/_/3/2011-10-29//. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
- ^ http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Music/International/Arch/SR/noelgallagher/index.html
- ^ http://www.ireland.com/leisure/music/music-news/noel-gallagher-s-high-flying-birds-set-for-friday/623893
- ^ http://itunes.apple.com/ie/album/noel-gallaghers-high-flying/id450757132
- ^ http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/noel-gallaghers-high-flying/id450757132
- ^ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Noel-Gallaghers-High-Flying-Birds/dp/B005DHC6R0/
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds Studio albums Noel Gallagher's High Flying BirdsSingles "The Death of You and Me" • "AKA... What a Life!" • "If I Had a Gun..."Other songs Tours "High Flying Birds Tour"Related articles Related people Related articles Labels Categories:- 2011 albums
- Debut albums
- Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds albums
- "The Death of You and Me"
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