Oasis full speed ahead with new album

British rock band Oasis are making quick, early progress on recording their first studio release in three years, singer Liam Gallagher said on Tuesday.

He said studio work began last week on the band's seventh album since forming in 1991 and everything should be done by mid-December. After Christmas, the band will come to Los Angeles to mix the album aiming for a release around August.

As with Radiohead, Oasis are free of major-label shackles --but don't expect them to follow Radiohead's example, and allow fans to download the album from the Web for whatever price they feel like paying.

Gallagher, peppering his speech with expletives, told Reuters it would be over his "dead body" before he went into a studio and worked hard to release his work for nothing.

As was the case with 2005's "Don't Believe the Truth," the band is collaborating with producer Dave Sardy, and all the members have contributed compositions, not just primary songwriter and guitarist Noel, Liam's older brother.

Liam declined to reveal the titles of his songs, but said they are pugnacious in spirit.

Gallagher said "without a doubt" the untitled released would compare to the seventh U.K. albums of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, "Revolver" and "Beggars Banquet" respectively.

"There's lots of cool parts, man. Really, we're throwing

everything at it. It's gonna be cool, man," he said.

The last album, he said, suffered from Noel's incessant tinkering in the studio.

"Hopefully our kid's learned his lesson," he said. " It shouldn't be hard making music. We've been doing it long enough."

"Don't Believe the Truth" reportedly sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. But the U.S. contribution was just 199,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Their biggest U.S. seller remains their second release, 1995's (What's the Story) Morning Glory?" with 3.9 million copies. The album's worldwide sales were reportedly about 19 million.

Gallagher said the band tried its best with its subsequent albums, but the results were not always favorable as they spend so much time away from the studio and on the road.

The 18-month world tour to promote "Don't Believe the Truth" has been recorded for posterity on the documentary "Lord Don't Slow Me Down," which just came out on DVD.

Director Baillie Walsh's black-and-white film depicts a band that has sharply cut back on its youthful hijinks. Board games, shopping sprees and football talk alternate with catty locker-room comments about Tom Cruise, Charlotte Church and Duran Duran.

Noel, 40, and Liam, 35, infamous for their homicidal attitudes to each other, display mutual affection -- for the most part.

Liam said they are getting along fine in the studio, though "We don't really speak that much. We just do what we do."