Maps of Music

Standing on the Shoulder of Giants (2000)

Where the lyrics of Standing on the Shoulder of Giants take you, and where it was really made.

Noel Gallagher wrote the title on a cigarette packet while drunk, and by mistake the packet also read 'a bum title' instead of 'album title'.

Key places

Recording at Château de La Colle Noire (2000)

Recording site Château de La Colle Noire — The band reconvened at this château in France to begin recording the new songs, and Noel insisted on a no-drugs policy in the studio. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at Olympic Studios (2000)

Recording site Olympic Studios — Olympic Studios in London is listed among the recording locations for this album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at Supernova Heights (2000)

Recording site Supernova Heights — Supernova Heights in London is listed among the recording locations for this album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at Wheeler End (2000)

Recording site Wheeler End Studios — Wheeler End in Buckinghamshire is listed among the recording locations for this album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Skyline photo from 500 Fifth Avenue (2000)

Album cover 500 Fifth Avenue — The album cover photo of the Manhattan skyline was taken from the rooftop of this building on 5th Avenue, in September 1999. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Standing on the Shoulder of Giants: fourth studio album by English rock band Oasis
• Released 28 February 2000
• First album under the new label Big Brother Recordings
• Sold over 310,000 copies in its first week in the UK
• 16th-fastest-selling album in UK chart history
• Certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry
• Sold around 208,000 copies in the US

Background

• Following the Be Here Now Tour in 1998, the band took its first extended break from touring and recording since signing with Creation Records in 1993
• Alan McGee closed Creation Records in the year before the album's release
• Oasis lost two founding members, Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs and Paul 'Guigsy' McGuigan
• New producer Mark 'Spike' Stent replaced Owen Morris
• Noel Gallagher quit cocaine and entered a period of relative sobriety, the first since Oasis entered the music industry
• Many songs, including 'Gas Panic', reflect the changes Noel went through after getting sober
• Noel insisted on a no-drugs policy at Château de La Colle Noire in France, which caused tension with Bonehead and Guigsy
• Bonehead poured a bottle of wine on Stent at 4 a.m., and then announced his departure in NME in July 1999
• The title misquotes Sir Isaac Newton, and Noel saw the source quote on a £2 coin in a pub

Recording

• The album marked a major shift from the Britpop scene to a modern psychedelic record
• Drum loops, samples, electric sitar, Mellotron, synthesisers and backward guitars were used
• Noel dropped the equipment used on the three previous albums and bought unusual pedals, old guitars and small amps
• Noel played nearly all the instruments himself
• Paul Stacey played bass on four tracks and also played keyboards and additional guitar
• Mark Coyle played sitar and 12-string acoustic guitar on 'Little James'
• Mark Feltham played harmonica and Charlotte Glasson played flute on 'Gas Panic!'
• Parts recorded by the departing founding members were re-recorded for legal reasons
• This was the first album with Liam Gallagher credited as a songwriter, on 'Little James'

Cover

• The cover shows the Manhattan skyline, photographed in September 1999 by Andrew MacPherson from the rooftop of 500 Fifth Avenue
• The Empire State Building is in the foreground and the former World Trade Center is in the background
• MacPherson shot the same frame every half hour for 18 hours and composited the photos digitally
• This was the first Oasis artwork not created by Brian Cannon at Microdot

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Oasis are an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991.
• The original line-up was Liam Gallagher, Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs, Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll; Noel Gallagher joined a few months later as the fifth member.
• Noel became the de facto leader and wrote the songs for the band's first four albums.

Members

• Current members are Liam Gallagher, Noel Gallagher, Bonehead, Gem Archer and Andy Bell.
• Former members include McGuigan, McCarroll and Alan "Whitey" White.

Career

• The band signed to Creation Records in 1993 and debuted with Definitely Maybe (1994), which topped the UK Albums Chart.
• (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995) became the UK's best-selling album of the 1990s.
• Be Here Now (1997) became the fastest-selling album in UK chart history.
• The band disbanded in 2009 after Noel left, and reformed in 2024.
• They have sold over 100 million records worldwide and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2026.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• The album received mixed reviews from critics.
• NME's Keith Cameron described the album as a transitional album.
• Q gave the album four stars out of five.
• Spin magazine's David Marchese believed the album suffered from not being a full-band effort.

Reappraisal

• In 2011, Noel Gallagher disowned the album in a Grantland interview, saying it should never have been made.
• Noel said he had no reason or desire to make music at the time and wrote songs just to make an album.

Records

• Debuted at number 1 on the UK Albums Chart with 311,000 copies sold in its first week.
• Dropped to number 2 the following week with 49,000 copies, an 85% decline.
• Fell to number 6 in its third week and out of the top ten in its fourth week.
• Spent 29 weeks on the UK album chart, the fewest of any Oasis studio album.
• Ranked as the 26th biggest-selling album of 2000 in the UK.
• Debuted at number 24 on the Billboard 200 in the US with about 55,000 units sold in its first week.
• Has been certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.
• Has sold around 208,000 copies in the US.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Noel originally told NME earlier in 1999 that the album would be titled Where Did It All Go Wrong?
• Walmart chose not to sell the album, objecting to the profanity in the title of 'Fuckin' in the Bushes'.
• Liam Gallagher's first songwriting credit on an Oasis album came with 'Little James', a lullaby written for his newborn son.
• Noel wrote 'Gas Panic!' during panic attacks he had while quitting drugs before his daughter Anaïs was born.
• Noel wrote 'Let's All Make Believe' during the Château de La Colle Noire sessions, and it became the B-side of 'Go Let It Out'.
• The album's opening track features no vocals and uses sampled quotes from the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival documentary Message to Love.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org

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