Council Skies' is the perfect illustration of Noel's sound, beautifully produced and nicely presented INCLUDING bonus 7".

It was not ground-breaking, but the HFB debut had some brilliant songs and was a very good introduction. The 2019-20 EPs carried on in this path and were largely brilliant too so after almost 6 years without a full album (though there were 9 tracks on those EPs and two on 2021's Best Of which sort of counts as a record) what direction has Noel Gallagher taken now? Although perhaps Council Skies needed a couple more overtly adventurous tracks like Pretty Boy to be absolutely perfect - though all the arrangements/production on the other songs are gorgeously deep and detailed - this is still an excellent new album from Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. For items that are dispatched using our standard service, we ask that you wait 14 days from the date of dispatch before reporting any items as undelivered.To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Production is fairly typical of Noel it’s not an audiophile grade recording, but it’s ok and much better than his David Holmes produced album WBTM.

Produced by Noel with long-time collaborator Paul ‘Strangeboy’ Stacey, the album also features performances from Johnny Marr on three tracks, including recent single Pretty Boy. In the same recent media interview, it rings true really when he states that despite the artwork the title track is the only one that really refers to his earlier life in Manchester interestingly, but the greater variety of theme is welcome. The title track (and fourth single) - about finding love in Noel Gallagher's pre-fame years in Burnage - is the second best song on the album and sounds like Paul Weller/The Smiths (Smiths' guitarist Johnny Marr plays on it and two other tracks) but with more sweeping strings.Includes an album version of the previously released demo ‘We’re Gonna Get There In The End’ as a bonus track. Council Skies’ is the highly anticipated fourth studio album from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. Council Skies was recorded at Noel’s own Lone Star Sound Recording Studios in London, with the album’s lusciously orchestrated strings recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios.

In fact the most interesting track on his new album is the title track, which has an unusual Style Council/Soul feel to it (Gallagher has always been a bit of a Weller fanboy). His most varied and accomplished solo record to date, Noel’s fourth solo studio album is a record framed by confidence, risk-taking, surefooted creative freedom, and great emotional depth.It was quite a misleading lead single really as it carries on exactly in the same vein as the previous HFB album Who Built the Moon? Council Skies takes its title from a book by revered northern illustrator and friend of Noel, artist Pete McKee. The 21st century Oasis efforts were patchy in greatness, but the first HFB album included a lot of the really good leftovers that were either going to be on a future Oasis record if there had not been a row or maybe did not fit the sound and were more suitable as a solo tracks. Noel Gallagher is friends with Bono and Council Skies is like a superior equivalent to U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind (which was for the most part too poppy) in that it is more back to first principles but aspects of the more "far out there" sonic soundscapes remain as the instrumentation is so numerous and rich. The album includes the new singles ‘Pretty Boy’ and ‘Easy Now’ plus an album version of the previously released demo ‘We’re Gonna Get There In The End’ as a bonus track.

innovated further and was packed with great songs and was Noel Gallagher's finest album since the Britpop peak of (What's the Story) Morning Glory. This 10 track album includes the singles ‘Pretty Boy’ and ‘Easy Now’ plus an Album version of the previously released demo ‘We’re Gonna Get There In The End’ as a bonus track. Added bonus is that Mind Games which is a Lennon cover is very well done and We’re Going To Get There In The End which was previously just a demo is here on the Deluxe and thankfully Noel hasn’t messed with the track too much from the demo with just a bit of brass here and there and some echo on his vocals and extra backing vocals, but otherwise it’s much the same formula if you liked that demo track.However, on 2015's Chasing Yesterday Noel Gallagher started to mix some of the old Oasis sound with some sonic experimentation and it made the songs really shine in an excellent album. The album includes the singles 'Pretty Boy' and 'Easy Now', plus an album version of the previously released demo 'We're Gonna Get There in The End' as a bonus track. Noel version of Lennon’s “Mind Games” is what you would expect a John Lennon song would sound like if sung by a Gallagher. The singles from this album didn’t do much for me as they were gradually trickled out one by one, but as an album in it’s full they all work much better somehow. and the penultimate track Love is a Rich Man are unashamedly mid to fast paced traditional/dad rock but they inject this mostly ballad filled album with a couple of vital louder numbers.