Noel Gallagher was the chief songwriter of Oasis, one of the biggest British bands of its era. Then he walked away from the group in 2009, and by October 2011 he was back with a solo project called Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. The debut album with that name arrived on 17 October 2011, and it had to answer a question: could his songs carry a record without his old band behind them?
First-week sales and chart position
The answer came fast. In its first two days of sale, the album shifted 55,000 copies, more than double its nearest competitor. By 23 October 2011 it had entered the UK chart at number one, with 122,530 copies sold in a week. That number mattered even more because another post-Oasis project, Beady Eye, had reached only third place in March 2011 with 66,817 sales. Gallagher's solo start was not just a success; it was a statement.
Gallagher's solo start was not just a success; it was a statement.
The music itself had been built carefully. Gallagher produced the record with Dave Sardy, a producer who had worked with Oasis. Sardy later said Gallagher had arrived with an almost finished album, but the recordings needed more work. Sardy suggested re-recording some drum and bass parts to improve the sound. Gallagher agreed, saying Sardy could make the material 10 percent better and that working with him was inspiring. The sessions took place in London and Los Angeles, with an EMI TG desk and a handful of Fairchild limiters arranged in a straightforward studio layout. Gallagher's personal photographer Lawrence Watson also documented him in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills from spring 2010 onward.
The project also leaned on a small group of trusted players. The Crouch End Festival Chorus and the string group The Wired Strings added texture to the songs. One track, Stop the Clocks, had been an unreleased Oasis composition. The first single, The Death of You and Me, came out on 21 August 2011. The album's title, High Flying Birds, was inspired by a Jefferson Airplane song, and using it as a band name was a nod to Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac.
The Beverly Hills petrol station cover
There was a visual side to this new start, too. The album cover was shot at an old petrol station in Beverly Hills with a triangular neon roof. Gallagher said it felt like standing under the wings of a high flying bird. That image, dreamy and a little surreal, matched the mood of a man stepping out from a huge band into his own space.
The tour began almost immediately. On 23 October 2011, Gallagher and his new band played Dublin, just a week after the album's release. He had planned to start in small theatres and expand the tour if things went well. The sales figures suggested they would. By 11 November 2011 the record had gone platinum in the UK, with 300,000 units shipped. The touring plans quickly grew beyond those early theatres. A North American leg, a European run and dates in Japan were added to the schedule. In November 2011 it was announced that the band would headline every show of the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand.
By February 2012, UK sales had reached 600,000 copies. Worldwide, the album eventually moved 2.5 million copies. Critics were divided but not dismissive. On Metacritic, the album holds an average score of 69 out of 100 from 33 reviews. Some praised Gallagher for sticking to his proven formula, while others heard echoes of old Oasis hits in the new songs. A BBC reviewer praised Gallagher for continuing his proven songwriting formula, calling the album a pleasant record. Digital Spy suggested it might be his best work since (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
The title said it all. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds was not a side project or a stopgap. It was a full solo identity, built with care and backed by numbers that silenced most doubts. The man who once wrote for one of the biggest bands in Britain had found a way to fly on his own.