How Noel Gallagher divided his fan base. The story of Holy Mountain.
9th October 2017, Noel Gallagher released his first single from his third studio album ‘Who Built the Moon’. It wasn’t the first time Noel had released a single, he’d done it before in a band with Oasis and he was in his third album cycle as a solo artist. However he had never faced backlash like this before.
‘Holy Mountain’ was the single and it certainly divided his fan base. ‘Chasing Yesterday’ Noels previous album was classic Noel with acoustic ballads, and rock stompers. He experimented a little with tracks like ‘Riverman’ and ‘The Right Stuff’ but nothing was on the level of Holy Mountain. He had made a cosmic leap forward. A tin whistle hook makes up the centre piece of the song, with brass and powerful organ providing a unique backing track. I personally love the track and the parent album ‘Who Built the Moon’, it’s a unique piece of music and I definitely was in for the ride on Noels cosmic pop journey.
However I can see why people were shocked at the change. It’s not what you’d associate Noel Gallagher with, but that to me is what makes it brilliant.
What did you think at the time, and what do you think now?
Thank you for reading