Heathen Chemistry

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Heathen Chemistry
Heathen Chemistry.jpg
Studio album by
Oasis
Released1 July 2002 (2002-07-01)
Recorded2001–2002
StudioWheeler End, Buckinghamshire and Olympic, London
Genre
Length47:54 (76:36 with hidden track)
Label Big Brother
Producer Oasis
Oasis chronology
Familiar to Millions
(2000)		Heathen Chemistry
(2002)		 Don't Believe the Truth
(2005)
Singles from Heathen Chemistry
  1. "The Hindu Times"
    Released: 15 April 2002 [1]
  2. "Stop Crying Your Heart Out"
    Released: 17 June 2002 [2]
  3. "Little by Little" / "She Is Love"
    Released: 19 September 2002 [3]
  4. "Songbird"
    Released: 3 February 2003 [4]

Heathen Chemistry is the fifth studio album by English rock band Oasis. It was released on 1 July 2002 by Big Brother Recordings. It is the first Oasis studio album recorded with guitarist Gem Archer and bassist Andy Bell, who both joined the band after work on previous album Standing on the Shoulder of Giants had been completed. It is the last Oasis album to feature longtime drummer Alan White, who left in early 2004, due to what Noel Gallagher cited as White's lack of commitment to the band.

Contents

The album was recorded at Wheeler End Studios and Olympic Studios in London. The album marked a change in sound from the band's previous album, the more psychedelic sounding Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, and the grand production and massive sound on the band's third album Be Here Now , with the more back-to-basics rock sound found on the band's first two studio albums. This was the first Oasis studio album to feature members bass player Andy Bell and guitarist Gem Archer. Even though they joined in 1999, they did not feature on the Standing on the Shoulder of Giants album.

This album is known for the popularity of its singles. It featured the UK number one hit "The Hindu Times", as well as the singles "Little By Little"/"She Is Love"(which was the bands only Double–A side single), "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" and Songbird, which was the first Oasis single written by Liam Gallagher. The four singles were all top five hits in the UK. This was the last Oasis studio album that contained four singles released in the UK. It was also the first Oasis album that contained writing contributions from Gem Archer and Andy Bell. The songwriting contributions for this album were shared between Noel Gallagher, Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer and Andy Bell. This trend would continue for the albums that Oasis released in the future. The album went to number one on the UK charts. The album went 4x platinum in the UK, going on to sell over 1.2 million copies there.

Recording

Heathen Chemistry was recorded between 2001 and early 2002 and is the first Oasis album to have significant writing contributions from members other than chief songwriter Noel Gallagher. Frontman Liam Gallagher contributed three songs, with new bassist Andy Bell and rhythm guitarist Gem Archer each contributing one song each. [5]

Although most of the songs' instrumentation was complete by mid-to-late 2001, Noel indicated that the release date of the album was being needlessly delayed by Liam's apparent reluctance to lay down his vocal parts at recording sessions, and went on to state that he was "livid" at the lack of work being done:

I was really happy with (the album) until recently, but I'm fucking livid now. I finished my bits three-and-a-half months ago, and then we handed it over to Liam, and in three-and-a-half months he's done nothing. Just concentrated on his drinking habit again. It's just drifting at the moment.
All the backing tracks are done and it's a fantastic album of instrumentals. Hand it over to the singer and it just slows down and becomes this one really long, drawn-out, painful process. So, to be honest with you, I don't know when it'll come out now. It's down to him. [6]

Despite the setbacks during the recording process, when the album was finally complete Noel was confident that it was the group's second-best album to date, behind their debut Definitely Maybe . [7]

The title of the album, according to Noel, came from a T-shirt he bought in Ibiza which featured a logo reading, "The Society of Heathen Chemists". Similarly, the name of the first single, "The Hindu Times", originated from a logo on a T-shirt that read the same thing, which Noel saw during a photo shoot for GQ's 100 Greatest Guitarists edition. The name was given to the track when it was just an instrumental and the name stuck once the track was finished.

Cover

The cover image was taken by photographer Andrew Macpherson, [8] who was commissioned by Simon Halfon to spend a week in Paris with the band in February 2002. The photograph depicts an informal moment as the band members wait for a Métro train at the Gare de Lyon Métro station, on February 13th 2002. [9] The album's cover art has been compared to that of The Beatles' 1965 album Rubber Soul .

Release

The release of the album was overshadowed by an Internet leak of all 11 songs almost three months prior to release, which was evident at a Las Vegas show the group performed where fans knew the words to several new songs before the album's release. [10] However, listeners of the commercially released album heard slight differences to two tracks, "Little by Little" and "Better Man".

The length of track 11, "Better Man" is 38:03; this is because of a hidden track called "The Cage", which begins after 30 minutes of silence. In the Japanese and digital versions, "Better Man" and the hidden track "The Cage" were separated and the 30-minute silence was removed.

The album was certified four times platinum selling over 1.2 million in the UK, [11] and 154,000 copies in the US. [12] [13] Upon release, Heathen Chemistry went straight to number one in the UK, though it fared rather poorly in the US, only entering at number 23.

It spawned four singles, each of which made the top three in the UK charts: "The Hindu Times", their sixth number one single in the UK; "Stop Crying Your Heart Out"; "Little By Little/She Is Love", the double A-side sung by Noel Gallagher; and "Songbird", the first single written by Liam.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 55/100 [14]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [15]
Blender Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [16]
Entertainment Weekly B− [17]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [18]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [19]
NME 8/10 [20]
Pitchfork 1.2/10 [21]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [22]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [23]
Spin 4/10 [24]

Heathen Chemistry was seen as a return to form from critics following the reviews of the two previous albums. The album had four hit singles. On Metacritic, it has a score of 55 out of 100, based on reviews from 22 critics. [14] Some reviewers noted that it was better than the band's last effort, Standing on the Shoulder of Giants , with Blender writing that Oasis was "a band back on track". [16] NME gave it an 8/10 rating and Rolling Stone gave it three out of five stars. However, a number of other reviewers offered scathing assessments of the album; notably, Drowned in Sound , [25] Pitchfork , [21] and Stylus Magazine . [26]

In 2017, Liam Gallagher ranked Heathen Chemistry as his least favourite Oasis album. [27]

Track listing

Heathen Chemistry track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Hindu Times" Noel Gallagher 3:46
2."Force of Nature"N. Gallagher4:51
3."Hung in a Bad Place" Gem Archer 3:28
4."Stop Crying Your Heart Out"N. Gallagher5:03
5."Songbird" Liam Gallagher 2:07
6."Little by Little"N. Gallagher4:52
7."A Quick Peep" (instrumental) Andy Bell 1:17
8."(Probably) All in the Mind"N. Gallagher4:02
9."She Is Love"N. Gallagher3:09
10."Born on a Different Cloud"L. Gallagher6:08
11."Better Man" (song ends at 4:20, includes hidden track "The Cage", which begins at 33:12)L. Gallagher / N. Gallagher38:02
Total length:76:36
Japanese and digital version
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Better Man"L. Gallagher4:20
12."The Cage"N. Gallagher4:50
13."(You've Got) the Heart of a Star"N. Gallagher5:24
Total length:53:18

Notes In the Japanese and digital versions, "Better Man" and the hidden track "The Cage" were separated and the 30-minute silence was removed.

Personnel

Oasis

Additional musicians

Charts

Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for Heathen Chemistry
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Argentina (CAPIF) [62] Gold20,000^
Australia (ARIA) [63] Gold35,000^
Canada (Music Canada) [64] Gold50,000^
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong) [65] Platinum20,000*
Japan (RIAJ) [66] Platinum200,000^
Sweden (GLF) [67] Gold30,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [68] Gold20,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [69] 4× Platinum1,200,000‡
United States—154,000 [70]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ "New Releases – For Week Starting 15 April 2002: Singles". Music Week . 13 April 2002. p. 31.
  2. ↑ "New Releases – For Week Starting 17 June 2002: Singles". Music Week. 15 June 2002. p. 31.
  3. ↑ "オアシス – リトル・バイ・リトル／シー・イズ・ラヴ" [Oasis – Little by Little / She Is Love] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 7 November 2002. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  4. ↑ "New Releases – For Week Starting 3 February 2003: Singles". Music Week. 1 February 2003. p. 20.
  5. ↑ Wiederhorn, Jon. "Oasis Turn to Heathens, Hedonism for Inspiration on New LP" Archived 12 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine . MTV. 3 April 2002.
  6. ↑ "Noel 'livid' as Liam delays new Oasis album", NME Online, 11 October 2001
  7. ↑ Downey, Ryan J. "Oasis Set Up U.S. Tour Whether Liam Likes It Or Not" Archived 4 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine . MTV News. 16 May 2002.
  8. ↑ Burton, Charlie (3 December 2020). "Meet the man behind the most iconic album covers of all time". GQ . Retrieved 23 March 2025.
  9. ↑ "Oasis: new album artwork revealed". NME . 14 July 2008.
  10. ↑ Goldner, Jonathan. "Oasis Badger 'Thieving' Fans At Las Vegas Gig" Archived 13 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine . MTV. 29 April 2002.
  11. ↑ Heathen Chemistry certification Archived 30 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine . British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 January 2009.
  12. ↑ Cohen. Jonathan. "Oasis Pledges New 'Truth' In May" Archived 11 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine . billboard.com. 7 March 2005.
  13. ↑ Trust, Gary. "Ask Billboard: "English Beat" Archived 7 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine . Billboard. 23 January 2009.
  14. 1 2 "Heathen Chemistry by Oasis Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 16 December 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  15. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Heathen Chemistry – Oasis". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
  16. 1 2 Collis, Clark (August 2002). "Oasis: Heathen Chemistry". Blender . Vol. 1, no. 8. p. 120. Archived from the original on 28 September 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
  17. ↑ Willman, Chris (12 July 2002). "Heathen Chemistry". Entertainment Weekly . No. 662. p. 84. Archived from the original on 7 November 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  18. ↑ Petridis, Alexis (21 June 2002). "Yawning glory". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 9 September 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
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  21. 1 2 Mitchum, Rob (10 July 2002). "Oasis: Heathen Chemistry". Pitchfork . Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
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