Standing on the Shoulder of Giants

Expecting Oasis songs not to sound like they just tumbled off classic-rock radio is like expecting Milwaukee’s Best to taste like champagne: It ain’t gonna happen, and we wouldn’t like it more even if it did. Standing on the Shoulder of Giants finds snotty Gallagher brothers Liam and Noel perched on the shoulders of the same British rock giants (the Beatles, the Stones) who’ve been hoisting them up ever since they brawled, boozed, and bragged their way into the spotlight in 1994. But across stormy rockers and lush epics, the band delivers its mile-high piles of shimmering guitar rifts with blood, spit, and conviction, a combination with no expiration date as far as we’re concerned.