Oasis album with 'poor production' still divides fans two decades later

Daily Record

30-05-2025

The album, which celebrates 20 years since its release this week, is still a source of debate among fans - with some arguing it's their best album since the 90s.
Now 20 years on, there's still one lesser-known Oasis album which still causes a stir among fans. Noel Gallagher and Liam Gallagher are all prepped for their sell-out worldwide gigs later in the year.
The iconic reunion will see the brothers take to the stage for the first time in 16 years, with shows in Edinburgh Murrayfield, London and Manchester. Despite coming together after nearly two decades, debate continues among one of their albums.
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Whether any of the album's tracks will grace the setlist of their upcoming gigs is unknown, as their fanbase remains split. Don't Believe the Truth, which was released 20 years ago today, 30 May back in 2005, continues to spark discussion on its quality.
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Rapidly becoming one of Britain's quickest-selling albums, it received positive reviews upon release. However, discussions have been heating up on Reddit, where passionate Oasis fans deliberate the album's merit, with some branding certain songs as lacklustre "filler" material, reports the Mirror.
One fan threw out the question: "Opinions on Don't Believe the Truth? What are everyone's thoughts and opinions on Don't Believe the Truth? I've only listened to the album start to finish once and it really bored me. It's an album I really want to like and I'm considering giving it another chance, should I?".
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The album continues to divide opinion among listeners, with some feeling it doesn't measure up to the initial critical acclaim. One listener voiced their disappointment with the album's lesser-known songs.
They stated, "Singles are very good but fillers are boring and bland, Heathen Chemistry is a better album overall despite having some weak moments. I still prefer Don't Believe the Truth singles to those on Dig Out Your Soul though."
A further supporter expressed reservations about how the tracks were handled in production: "I love the album, but I just think it suffers from poor production. The songs are good, but they all sound muffled and don't have that wall of sound the first two albums did."
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Another admirer took a more favourable view, considering it a standout, as they noted "It's the best one of the last three albums."
They continued their praise, suggesting it signalled a resurgence, "It did feel like a 'return to form'. Importance of Being Idle was massive, and had a spark of clever and original songwriting again."
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When discussing specific songs, production value once again came under scrutiny: "A Bell Will Ring had that Beatles 'up in the sky' vibe."
One critique focused on how the album has weathered over time: "The retro production, stripped back to just support the songs, was a revelation after the dreary, distortion dad rock-by-numbers approach of HC imo. However, it has aged extremely badly."
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One listener bluntly stated: "The production sounds like muffled sh** now, the backing elements added to each tune are laughable and sound terrible (like the backing vox on Love Like a Bomb) and Liam is doing a Liam caricature throughout. In retrospect it feels like it was all a bit of a con job, the title quite apposite."
Sharing the same sentiment about the album's failure to stand the test of time, another user expressed: "I think this album is the most dated of any Oasis album tbh, it's just totally unremarkable for the most part.
"The songs are fine but not spectacular and Dave Sardy's production style of this album is just dreary (much like Noel's first solo album). Any life the songs had is sucked out by Sardy's chosen approach."