Dig Out Your Soul
by Oasis
Metascore
66

Generally favorable reviews - based on 27 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 27
  3. Negative: 1 out of 27
  1. The Guardian
    60
    Oasis can still occasionally produce songs suggestive of the breezy insouciance that marked their early years--the new single 'The Shock of the Lightning' among them--but more often on Dig Out Your Soul, they sound as though they're killing themselves trying to come up with something that'll do.
  2. Uncut
    60
    It's an uninspiring ending to a record that it's best faces up to some pretty downbeat truths and thus seems to fit right into the current national mood.
  3. Dot Music
    60
    If there are moments when the feted snap and snarl of yore amounts to little more than ramming generic blues licks down the audience's throat, they're tempered with moments of discovery like the lysergic 'To Be Where There's Life' and 'Falling Down' which displays an uncharacteristic lightness of touch.
  5. The New York Times
    60
    It sounds so good; really, it sounds better than it is.
  6. PopMatters
    60
    For those who have happily stuck around this long already Dig Out certainly won’t be the straw that breaks the camel’s back--by all means, it lightens the load quite considerably. But it does so with the dawning realisation that, 17 years and seven albums in, this is a high point in a career deficient in high points.
  7. Blender
    60
    Overall, Dig Out Your Soul is a dark, heavy, chart-snubbing record that acts Oasis’s age (main songwriter Noel Gallagher is 42) and is their first in eons that doesn’t seem desperate to please. Oasis have their devil back.
  8. Drowned In Sound
    60
    On a cursory listen to Dig Out Your Soul, it's hard not to think 'yeah, it's Oasis' and then unwittingly switch off - not through boredom or distraction, but because it's all so comfortable and, well, familiar.
  9. Mojo
    60
    Dig Out Your Soul might not be the sound of envelopes being pushed, but its mix of kitchen-sink production and too many vague songs mark a deviation from business as usual that ultimately fails to deliver. [Nov 2008, p.105]
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  10. Q Magazine
    60
    A second Oasis album to better "Standing On the Shoulders Of Giants" and "Heathen Chemistry," but one too, that promises so much only to fall so short. [Nov 208, p.104]
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  11. Under The Radar
    50
    This album shows that they know what they're good at and that their latter-day acoustic balladry and epic wanking were getting tired. [Fall 2008, p.77]
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  12. Rolling Stone
    50
    Dig Out Your Soul is an almost comically generic Oasis release, from its preponderance of plodding midtempo rockers ("Bag It Up," "Waiting for the Rapture") to the vaguely Indian raga-flavored psychedelic anthems ("To Be Where There's Life").
  13. Pitchfork
    49
    for now we're stuck with Dig Out Your Soul, which like every Oasis album from 1997's "Be Here Now" onward, makes cursory gestures toward making the band's mod-rock more modernist, before reverting back to the same ol', same ol'.
  14. Sputnikmusic
    40
    Dig Out Your Soul isn’t the worst record Oasis have produced, but even the heavily shat-upon (an unfairly so, in this writer’s opinion) Heathen Chemistry was comfortable within its own skin.

Awards & Rankings

22
#22 Most Discussed Album of 2008
59
#59 Most Shared Album of 2008

User Reviews

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User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 253 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 217 out of 253
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 253
  3. Negative: 17 out of 253
  1. Charlyrockstar
    Jan 15, 2014
    10
    perfect, where you seen it, the caratle, the songs, are perfect, the 3rd. best oasis album, is amazing, since bag it up till, soldier on, &perfect, where you seen it, the caratle, the songs, are perfect, the 3rd. best oasis album, is amazing, since bag it up till, soldier on, & I'm Outta Time is the best song of the album, an instant Classic, all too much to say… Full Review »
  2. DaveN
    Jan 14, 2009
    8
    Great first half, first 5 tracks are amazing. High Horse Lady is good, though a bit to repititive in my opinion. Falling Down is perhaps the Great first half, first 5 tracks are amazing. High Horse Lady is good, though a bit to repititive in my opinion. Falling Down is perhaps the best song on the album. The latter songs are of lesser quality. To be Where There's Life is still quite good, but Ain't Got Notin' is awful, as is The Nature of Reality. Soldier On is a decent ending, but lacks the brilliance of a song like Champagne Supernova. Overall a pretty good album, but could have been better.… Full Review »
  3. MaxGuitarFan
    Jul 22, 2014
    8
    The songs written by Noel are amazing, every single one. But the rest of the band doesn't try to match his level. It's the best Oasis albumThe songs written by Noel are amazing, every single one. But the rest of the band doesn't try to match his level. It's the best Oasis album since "(What's the Story) Morning Glory" though.… Full Review »
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