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Countdown To The Brits - Part Four




















Oasis were to begin recording a sixth album in early 2004 with producers Death in Vegas at Sawmills Studios in Cornwall. It was originally slated for a September 2004 release to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the release of Definitely Maybe. However, longtime drummer Alan White, who at this time had played on nearly all of the band's material, left the band. At the time, his brother Steve White stated on his own website that "the spirit of being in a band was kicked out of him" and he wanted to be with his current girlfriend. In subsequent interviews, Noel seemed to agree, saying that he has nothing against Alan, but the latter's personal life was impeding on his professional commitments with Oasis.

Recording sessions continued with drummer Terence Kirkbride, brought in temporarily, who only performed on one track, "Mucky Fingers". Zak Starkey was later asked by the band to join them in the sessions. However, as he is still unconfirmed as a bandmember, he was not featured on the album's sleeve and did not appear in promotional activities such as interviews and photo-shoots. For the first time in the band's career, Oasis appeared as an official four-piece.



In June 2004, Oasis, with Starkey, headlined the Glastonbury Festival for the second time in their career and performed a greatest hits set, which included two new songs — Gem Archer's "A Bell Will Ring" and Liam's "The Meaning of Soul". The performance received mixed reviews as the brothers were reprising their roles as brawling siblings. Liam, having problems with his singing, walked offstage at the end of the concert, and Starkey was still getting to grips with the songs, which he had only played publicly for the first time a couple of days previously at Poole Lighthouse. After much turbulence, the band's sixth album was finally recorded in Los Angeles-based Capitol Studios from October to December the same year. Producer Dave Sardy took over the lead producing role from Noel, who decided to step back from these duties after a decade of producing leadership over the band.

In September 2004, the band released Definitely Maybe: The DVD commemorating the 10th anniversary of their debut album's release. The DVD contains an enhanced audio version of the album, four hours of live footage, and interviews with band members and the production team.



On May 30, 2005, after three years and as many scrapped recording sessions, the band released their sixth studio album, Don't Believe the Truth, fullfulling their contract with Sony BMG. It followed the path of Heathen Chemistry as being a collaborative project again, rather than a Noel-written album. It was also the band's first album in a decade not to feature the drumming of Alan White, with Zak Starkey taking his place. The record was generally hailed as the band's best effort since (What's the Story) Morning Glory? by fans and critics alike, spawning two UK #1 singles: "Lyla" and "The Importance of Being Idle" (the band's 7th and 8th #1 UK singles, respectively), whilst "Let There Be Love" entered at #2. Oasis picked up two awards at the Q Awards: one a special People's Choice Award and the second for Don't Believe the Truth as Best Album. Following in the footsteps of the previous five studio albums, Don't Believe the Truth also entered the UK album charts at #1.

In May 2005, the band embarked on a massive world tour — one of the biggest in their career. Beginning on May 10 at the London Astoria, and finishing on March 31, 2006 in front of a sold out gig in Mexico City, Oasis played more live shows than at any time since the Definitely Maybe tour of 1994–1995, visiting 26 countries, headlining 110 shows and playing to 1.7 million people. The tour passed without any major incidents and was the band's most successful in more than a decade. The tour included sold out shows at New York's Madison Square Garden and LA's Hollywood Bowl, two venues important to the Gallagher brothers because their idol, John Lennon, proclaimed them to be the two places a band must play if they visit the States.



Also in 2005, Oasis contributed to the original soundtrack of the film Goal! with a new song called "Who Put the Weight of the World on My Shoulders", written and sung by Noel Gallagher. The CD also contains a new version of "Cast No Shadow" completely re-recorded and produced by UNKLE which features Noel on vocals, as well as a remix by Dave Sardy of "Morning Glory".

In 2006, Oasis released a greatest hits double album entitled Stop the Clocks, which featured what the band consider to be their "definitive" songs. Though the band didn't want to release a 'Best of', their contract with Sony Music had just expired, forcing a release against the band's wishes. In November 2006 the band released "Lord Don't Slow Me Down", a rockumentary film looking back at the 2005–2006 world tour. That same month, Noel and Gem began a short tour to promote Stop the Clocks. They played around a dozen shows in various countries around the world.



On February 14, 2007, Oasis will receive the Brit Award for outstanding contribution to music. Although the award was first to be handed to them by actor Johnny Depp, a friend of Noel, he had to pull out because of his filming schedule. It was later confirmed that the award will be handed to Oasis by The Beatles' Ringo Starr.

Based on the absence of Zak, until after The Who end their world tour in June 2007, and after the extended break Noel has talked about in the press, new recording sessions won't begin until mid-2007. This was confirmed by Noel in the November 2006 issue of Hot Press: "There'll probably be an EP out in mid to late 2007, and a new studio album in 2008, which we can't postpone 'cause we haven't started it yet. We do have some rather excellent songs written though, so I think it'll be a good 'un". Oasis are not signed to any record label at the moment, which may complicate the release of their new album.

In January 2007, Noel said in an interview with NME that he would like to move in an "orchestral" direction with the band's seventh album: "We haven't done that since Be Here Now. I'd like to get, like, a 100-piece orchestra and choirs and all that stuff....I'd like to make an absolutely fucking colossal album. You know? Like literally two orchestras, stuff like that."

Source: Wikpedia

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