Customer Reviews
Misunderstood masterpiece. 
2008-10-04
How one magazine review stated that this was the worst album of 2000 astounds me. It is not their best effort, but compared to 99% of the bands out there it is amazing. Great hooks, great song structures, and great singing. Please listen to this album for what it is, and I promise you will love it.
Worst Oasis Album 
2008-08-19
I'm a big Oasis fan, but this album just falls flat. It only has ten tracks.. It opens with an instrumental (a rockin' one, at that).. and 3 of the remaining 9 songs are pretty horrible. These are "Little James," the Doors rip off "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" and the lame "I Can See A Liar (Sitting by the Fire)."
The album has several highlights.. "Go Let It Out," "Where Did It All Go Wrong?" and "Roll It Over" are worth the price of admission.
This album isn't much of a band effort since 40% of the group left before the recording and Noel did most of it himself. Noel sings all but one of the album's b-sides and ruins some songs like "Sunday Morning Call" and the b-side "Just Getting Older" with bombastic choir backing vocals.. He almost ruins "Roll It Over," but pulls it off.
They pick it up a bit after that.. their next album only had two bad songs.. (the last two) and then "Don't Believe the Truth" was a total gem!
A bad record or bad reputation? 
2008-07-09
In my experience, when it comes down to a band's album there is usually 3 different ways for fans reactions to it: it will be seen as one of their best records ever, it'll be misunderstood and it ends up being looked upon more favorably as time goes on and then of course the album that disappoints nearly everyone. "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants", Oasis' fourth album and their followup to their successful but much-maligned "Be Here Now" is usually going back and forth between the latter 2. While there's nothing like the hits of their second record, there's still some worthwhile songs but then again, I see this record in the second group and while not stellar, it isn't exactly a disaster either.
****in' in the Bushes: With some sound bytes and a jam-oriented vibe, the record starts off with a riff that wouldn't feel out of place on a Led Zeppelin or Aerosmith record. It gets the record off to a heavy start and while the main riff is fairly repetitive, it's still a cool little song. 7.5/10
Go Let it Out: Probably the biggest hit from the record and for good reason. Very hard rocking electronica-esque music with stadium-ready hooks and Liam's vocals in top form, we get some synth, soloing at the end and it ends up becoming one of the better tracks on the album and of their career as well. 9/10
Who Feels Love: Backwards guitar, more ethnic percussion and the folk-ish open tuning guitar, having Liam's and Noel's vocals sing together creates a great harmony and in a way it's the band stepping outside of their typical rock tracks like Supersonic. It's one of those songs that'll either grow on you or won't catch fire at all but I like it. 8/10
Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is: Many fans will tell you how hated this track is and listening to it, I don't see the problem is though I probably wouldn't play it outside of listening to the track. Distorted guitars, an annoying repetitive note playing in the background and bringing in some backing vocals to make it more "bigger" but it's just simply meh. 5.5/10
Little James: It's hard to deny that the track has a very "Hey Jude" feeling about it. Written by Liam, it's got a bit more passion in the vocals, it's largely piano and guitar with a bit of studio ambience, it then turns into more of a ballad with some nasty choir keyboard sounds, it's actually a fairly beautiful song. But still, the Beatles influence is a bit too easy to notice. 7.5/10
Gas Panic!: One of their more well-loved songs off the record, it starts simply enough with acoustic guitar, before it turns into a more progressive track with wah-wah guitars, odd sound effects, it's not really catchy but musically it's great to listen to and it ends up growing on you. 8.5/10
Where Did It All Go Wrong?: One of 2 Noel ballads in a row, this one's a more heavily produced track which somewhat dilutes it and makes it sound too "busy". Noel's vocals have improved quite a bit which shows in the chorus where he goes for that big soaring sound of "Don't Look Back in Anger" or "Acquiesce". An album highlight but didn't have to have so much stuff going on. 8/10
Sunday Morning Call: The second Noel ballad and thankfully a bit more sparse in the production, it's got some of Noel's better vocals and the synth gives a welcome sound, but it's just ho-hum as a song and it's more nice to listen to then sing along. I still like it though just not enough. 7.5/10
I Can See a Liar: One image that I get with this song is a more heavier Aerosmith/ACDC song with Liam's vocals on top. With a faster beat, distorted chords, and just a general fun atmosphere like a sleaze rock song, it's decent enough to warrant a listen but probably won't stay in your head much afterwards. 6/10
Roll it Over: Bar none one of Liam's best vocals he's ever laid down. Musically it's quite simple and doesn't have the overblown production that knocked the first Noel song, it's an underrated gem and is probably their 2nd best album closer following "Champagne Supernova". 9.5/10
Again, not one of their top records and it's not really one for big pop hooks all over the place like Morning Glory had but to say this is absolutely the worst of their career is kind of pushing it. It's more like half of the record shows the band in top form while the other half knocks them down a peg (and considering their ego, that ain't a bad thing, mind you).
Great album 2008-04-06
It is hard to say what my fav Oasis album is, but this one is at worst number 2. Gas panic on here is prob there coolest song!!
The 3rd best Oasis CD, maybe even 2nd 2008-01-22
Wow burried in 293 reviews of Oasis' Standing CD, I'll say this is a GREAT album. Oasis had some awesome stuff, and this is among their top releases. If you have and like Morning Glory, Standing is a must have. I'd say 9 out of 10 songs are classics on here, the only bum in the lot is the stupid Little James (nobody cares about your kid Liam just stick to singing rock and roll). Some tracks are more classic than others, and the standouts are the incredible opener F'n in the Bushes, which leads into the classic-of-classics Let It Out. Gas Panic is possibly one of the coolest, most eerie tracks ever done by a rock band, and Where Did It All Go Wrong/Sunday Morning Call - that 2 track combo (it's kind of one big happy Noel fest really) - is Oasis at their finest. I also really like the Doors tribute Put Your Money Where Yer Mouth Is. Very good groove. Like I said, it's a 9 out of 10. A must for any Oasis fan, this is one of their peaks for sure.
Dark side of Oasis 2007-11-24
Limited Edition Japanese pressing of their fourth album, originally released in 2000, comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. 12 tracks including 'Go Let It Out', 'Little James' and 'Put Yer Money Where Yer Mouth Is'. Sony. 2006.
A Great Overlooked Album 2007-08-09
The first two Oasis albums are the best (as anyone will tell you) but "Standing on the Shoulder of Giants" is the album Oasis should have released instead of "Be Here Now". Even after all these years, "Be Here Now" is still a bad album with forgettable songs. I choose to ignore it even exists, as does Oasis by not including ONE song from it on their recently released Greatest Hits collection. "Standing on the Shoulder of Giants" is probably the most overlooked Oasis album to date and many people have missed out on some really great songs. It's one of those albums that has actually gotten better as the years have passed. My personal favorites are, "Where Did It All Go Wrong?" and "Gas Panic!". I highly recommend it even for casual Oasis fans.
Oasis simply rock 2006-11-10
If you truly love Oasis and if you can relate to their music, then there is no good or bad album, only slightly better ones. They haven't been voted the best brit pop group of the past decade for no reason!I am eagerly awaiting Stop the clocks!
Where Did It All Go Wrong? 2006-11-04
I consider this the first album in the second half of the career of Oasis. Following the departure of Bonehead and Guigsy, this album is basically all the Gallagher brothers. Having learnt lessons from Be Here Now, Oasis have gone back to a more basic style of production as opposed to the over the top production from Be Here Now. While the songs are not as good on here, they sound better and the whole album sounds as if it wasn't as rushed. This signifies a big change of direction for the band, with little less ego's and a more sober approach to their music, it is only the songwriting that lets this album down. My least favourite of all Oasis albums, it features two really good songs, 6 mediocre and 2 dreadful ones. It is missing another two songs to make it complete, I think it should have included the B'sides 'lets all make believe' and 'carry us all'. It still includes a few Beatle-esque songs 'who feels love' and 'roll it over' and Noel once again takes over lead vocal duties, this time on two tracks, 'where did it all go wrong' and 'sunday morning call'.
This is a very important album, it grounded the band again after their ego's had taken off. This helped relaunch the career and because of it they sound at their best today.
Ignorance Crafts an Underrated Album 2006-07-31
Here's a perfect example of how attitude changes an entire listening experience. Easily the most bashed work in the Manchester great's back catalogue, called worst album of 2000 on several occasions, slated as a worthless Pink Floyd rip-off with no standout tracks, Standing on the Shoulder represents a career low point for Oasis--this was the first true testament that the band was not immortal, not the Beatles of the new age, but in fact slipping from the title of Brit-Rockers-in-chief. Sigh. It's the album that die-hard Radiohead and Coldplay fans always refer to when discussing Oasis' inferiority, blasting Noel Gallagher for "never progressing as a song writer." Sigh again. I've never really figured out the thunderous disapproval of the album, and I ultimately enjoyed most of the songs. Does SOTSOG contain some garbage? Without a doubt, but not nearly enough to ruin the entire experience, or throw Oasis off their high horse as most critics claim. Here're some facts all listeners need to be aware of: 1) `F****n' in the Bushes,' `Go Let It Out,' and Gas Panic!' are three of the best songs of Oasis' career. Wasn't `Go Let It Out' #1 hit in the UK, going right alongside `Yellow' and even surpassing `Optimistic'? 2) The biggest problem with SOTSOG occurs in the format, unusual for a psychedelic album such as this. If there's any real unending quandary here, it's that the worst two songs on the album, `Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is' and `Little James' fall in at numbers 4 and 5 respectively. These should have been either left out or positioned differently, perhaps further down in the line up while moving high qualities, perhaps `Roll It Over,' up in the track listing. 3) The album is without a doubt a step up from Be Here Now, which contains about five fillers/B-sides whereas SOTSOG has no more than two. 4) Giants is Easy Listening. Oasis flirts with the Easy Listening genre on several junctures, most notably with `Wonderwall' and `Cast No Shadow', but usually sticks to anthemic Indie and at sometimes Hard Rock. I believe that this album has been rejected as quality Oasis by many fans due to the lack of guitars and the overwhelming presence of synthesizers. It doesn't always work--` Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is' for example--but it's definitely different. Not only should it be respected and appreciated by fans, but it should be praised for its boldness. 5) Although inaccessible at times, SOTSOG flows unlike any other Oasis album. In this way, it tops both Definitely Maybe and Morning Glory?--a daring yet factual assessment.
If nothing else, the album's worth it for `F****n' in the Bushes,' `Go Let It Out,' and Gas Panic!'. But underneath the surface, it's much more than just a singles album like the predecessor Be Here Now; it's a flowing, intelligent collection of songs that have been tarnished by the attitude of dismissive fans.
