Noel Gallagher: `Album is best I`ve written for a long time`

The 44-year-old former Oasis rocker, whose single The Death Of You And Me reached number 15 in the UK, said he is proud of the material he has created for his debut offering.

'[It's] the best collection of songs I've written for a long f***ing time,' he told NME.

'I know that this is the most concise, literal and lyrical album I've written for a long time and that says more about me as a songwriter because it's all me, apart from the drums and some of the keyboards.

'I have no expectations for it, because all the things I expected from it, I've already achieved.'

One thing he isn't so pleased about is the state of rock 'n' roll. He blasted, '[It's] really f***ing bad now, but when it's bad there's someone somewhere like Ian Brown, Liam or Bobby Gillespie, or a songwriter like me who can retell the story. ?

'That's all rock 'n' roll is - retelling this great f***ing story. Music snobs will think when this band come along that it's all been done before, but it's only a story that needs retelling for a new generation. Rock 'n' roll is gone at the minute, but it'll never die because Neil Young said so.'