DGSS review thread

Liam Gallagher put Beady Eye together in speedy time - albeit looking no further than, erm, Oasis for his three sidemen. For all its flaws, Different Gear, Still Speeding could have been far worse, even if Standing on the Edge of the Noise is jaw-droppingly hopeless.
It would be a surprise if this album didn't sound a lot like Oasis. It does, on The Holler's jolly Instant Karma-isms, the thrilling rush of Four Letter Word and the tired predictability of Beatles And Stones. But Anyone is so sweetly crooned you wonder for a moment if it's really Liam singing it, The Beat Goes On is brilliant and daring, and The Morning Son is Gallagher part cock o'the north, part vulnerable poetic soul. The wheel remains un-reinvented but he's proved a few people wrong here.

Liam Gallagher was up against it as soon as he announced his intention to form a band without his brother. True, Noel may have been the brains behind Operation Oasis, but Liam has made a fair fist of his own solo(-ish) endeavour. The toning down of his childish swagger has allowed Gallagher to write some decent songs. Yes, the band's pilfering of Beatles riffs ( The Beat Goes On, Wigwam ) is undeniable, there are more than a few dull fillers, and the soft-rock streak running through Kill for a Dream is somewhat worrying. Yet the swinging 1960s pop of Bring the Light and the brisk Britpop-aping Millionaire are genuinely gratifying, while slow-building closer The Morning Son caps an album that is well-paced, melodic and surprisingly listenable. See beadyeyemusic.com

Download tracks: Millionaire, Bring the Light, The Morning Son

Liam Gallagher’s Beady Eye are exactly what you are expecting. And for the first track and a half that is a comforting thought. ‘Four Letter Word’ opens up, wah wah pedals ablaze and Liam’s voice flickering flashbacks to the late great Oasis of ’94. The short lived euphoria is followed by a series of John Lennon impersonations and dad-rock standards.

Bowlegs is amazed that the band even finished writing ‘The Roller’, let alone release it as a single – did no one hear the ‘Instant Karma’ alarm bells ringing? If you have a front-man that can be as inimitable as Liam, why the generous spread of Lennonesque effects? Who nabbed the Spector production manual?

Far too often Bowlegs became preoccupied trying to connect the dots between The Beatles/Lennon back-catalogue and Beady Eye’s debut. The songs don’t stretch the front-man – don’t allow him to sneer, whine or rile against whatever is on offer. There are passages that do reach for other influences. Take the early rock ’n’ roll within ‘Bring the Light’ – a honky tonkin verse as derivative as it is awkward.

The softer tracks probably stand out as some sort of highlight. ‘The Beat Goes On’ sweeps pleasantly past on a breeze of acoustics, Liam pronouncing he is ‘the last of a dying breed’ in restrained fashion. ‘Kill For Dream’ is a swampy Oasis retread, yet throws up plenty of opportunity for the singer to hold his own torch in convincing style.

Sadly Beady Eye have pretty much picked up where Oasis left off, which truthfully is not in a very good state. A dramatic change urgently required

Last November, Beady Eye unveiled a free download called "Bring the Light". That the singer sounded a bit like John Lennon came as no surprise. Beady Eye, after all, are a substantial reincarnation of British rock overlords Oasis, whose adhesion to the songbook of Lennon and McCartney was as sticky as 40-year-old porridge.

When main-man Noel Gallagher left the band after one row too many with his younger brother in August 2009, the rump Oasis – Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Chris Sharrock – didn't exactly ditch the band's modus operandi. Oasis-bar-one have a new name that, as Liam has noted, now locates them closer alphabetically to the Beatles than Oasis did. They have a new set of songs, unweighted by the baggage of Noel. These are called things such as "Beatles and Stones" and set out the band's mission statement thus: "Gonna stand the test of time/Like Beatles and Stones."

That ambition must remain moot for now, particularly since standing the test of time involves not only rehashing the songbooks of your idols, but setting iconoclastic light to it. But for one brief moment – the three minutes and 40 seconds duration of "Bring the Light" – it sounded like Beady Eye might actually find Liam et al reborn some way up rock's dharma scale. On it, the younger Gallagher sounds sweet and eager as he offers someone a rock'n'roll night out on the town. The Jerry Lee Lewis piano riff and some soulful backing singers make the whole idea seem just capital. More surprises like this would have made Different Gear, Still Speeding more than just an apposite quip (Liam's, incidentally).

Frustratingly, though, "Bring the Light" is quickly snuffed out in favour of the same-old, same-old. If forensic Gallagherologists listen hard, Different Gear, Still Speeding boasts little nuances that Noel might never have countenanced. But the precise triangulation of the vocals against the guitar in the mix isn't the stuff of which rock legend is made. The tunes? Oh, they're all right, if you are partial to latterday Oasis.

Beady Eye, then, do not look back in anger – they congenitally cannot – but mostly in mellow contemplation. And the bits of the 1960s and 1970s they choose to reiterate remain the least interesting episodes of those decades. They might essay a little psychedelia on tracks such as "Wigwam". But even a glam workout called "Standing on the Edge of the Noise" can't muster any significant noise, let alone any sense of brinkmanship.

The album's cover – a little girl, riding a crocodile – promises much: mischief, an absurdist take on the 60s, a laugh. "Bring the Light" made that hope manifest. But over the course of their overlong debut album, Beady Eye prove to be a little dull.

Liam is still in a lovely mood on "Millionaire", his Lennon sneer playful rather than hoarse, weaving around a mantric slide guitar riff. This lighter, freer, more genial Liam is a recurring presence on Different Gear…. It makes you wonder whether he was, in fact, snarling biliously at his brother for the past 15 years rather than the unbelievers.

How to review an album like this, the first release from an up-and-coming new band called Beady Eye? Never mind that three of the members, in particular the lead vocalist, used to be in this other band called Oasis. But then the singer broke his brother's guitar in a fit of pique, inconveniently right before a Paris gig, and that was that. So the little brother went and formed his own band, with himself assuming the role of leader for a change. Is it any good? Well...

Being the former members of one of the biggest British rock bands does have its perks to be sure. For one thing it can get you an opening slot for your pals Kasabian at Isle of Wight. Yet on the other hand you also have to deal with two groups of people. Two big groups of people. One desperately wants the music to be like your old band - big sing-along anthems like your brother wrote so well. The other side want you to fail. Miserably. So how do you review an album like Different Gear, Still Speeding? Do you try to pretend that the guy singing doesn't sound an awful lot like...who was it again? The fact is you can't. The two are inextricably linked, whether anyone likes it or not. So let's just cut to the chase: the album really isn't that bad.

The real genius of Oasis was that they only made two truly great albums, Definitely Maybe and What's The Story Morning Glory, yet they managed to eke out a pretty impressive career none-the-less. Different Gear... contains neither the towering anthems or beautiful rock ballads that Noel Gallagher was so adept at composing. It does however, have some niftily crafted pop tunes and that, for now, is enough.

If you skim the top of the album, the tunes seem fairly inoffensive: lightweight pop-rock sung in Liam's Lennon-esque growl. Yet if you listen closely to the lyrics, things start to get interesting. The album starts off well with the most Oasis-y sounding track on the album, 'Four Letter Word'. With Andy Bell back on guitar the song has a real strength and a catchy hook that will get the 30-somethings in the pit sobbing into their cups of beer in joy: "I don't know what it is I'm feeling / A four letter word really gets my meaning / Nothing ever lasts forever." 'Beatles and Stones' is Liam asserting his independence and defying his critics. The tune is fun and frolicking, Liam's vocals sure-fire and confident:"Well it freaks them mama, I'm not dong what I'm told / Well it freaks them mama / You know I can't be brought and sold / I'm gonna stand the test of time / Like Beatles and Stones." And he's probably right. 'Kill For A Dream' is a man opening up to his estranged brother. The mid-tempo music may be a bit uninspiring, yet the lyrics give the song a resonance that makes you forgive the blandness; "Life's too short not to forgive / You can carry regrets but they won't let you live / I'm here if you wanna call."

Last song 'Morning Son' is perhaps the most personal, and as a result the most moving song on the album. A lovely, understated ballad with acoustic guitar and a subdued arrangement highlighting Liam's vocal performance. Here is the surly, gruff, former Oasis front man wearing his heart on his sleeve, and if you don't think that take guts then you're wrong: "He's in my mind / He's in my soul / He's even in my rock and roll". Both 'Morning Son' and 'Kill For a Dream' sound like an open letter to a man whose presence is felt by his very absence. This is one reason why the album rises above mere mediocrity. This is the story so far, and you can't help but want to find out how it will all turn out.

Sure, not all songs are up to scruff. 'Three Ring Circus' falls a bit flat and the 'The Beat Goes On' is rather dull and lifeless. Beady Eye's strength is in the rockier numbers: 'Millionaire', 'The Roller' and 'Standing On The Edge of The Noise' are catchy and fun and will get the punters on their feet merrily throwing aforesaid cups of beer in wild abandon.

So there you have it. Not a crowning glory, but not an utter failure either. Maybe Noel has nothing to fear on the song writing front. Liam may never be the first rate tunesmith that he was, but when it comes to shear affability Liam wins hands down.

Following Noel Gallagher‘s much-publicized departure from Oasis in 2009, it came as no surprise that brother Liam and the remaining members would carry on without him. Those who haven't studied every riff and chord from the band's 18 years in the game will be interested to learn that Noel was, quite apparently, the single resisting force behind brother/frontman Liam's quest to directly funnel the Beatles' melodic style into a modern sound. The mimicry had always been obvious, but Oasis consistently seemed to possess just enough charisma and originality to burn away the more serious of the comparative damnations.

That balance has been cast aside with zeal with the abomination of blandness and musical patchwork that is Beady Eye. The band's debut LP Different Gear, Still Speeding is as painfully trite confirmation that the hype was, in fact, just hype, and Oasis survivors Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer (guitarist), Andy Bell (guitarist/bassist) and newcomer Chris Sharrock (drummer, previously of the Las) have made a world of quality promises that haven't come within screaming range of being fulfilled.

Despite the grandstanding, it's immediately obvious that we've been shortchanged. There is no power-grabbing affirmation of validity like "Morning Glory," no "D'you Know What I Mean?" and certainly nothing near the ethereal nostalgia of "Champagne Supernova". No, these sounds are far more ham-handed grabs at formulaic poppy anthemics than outpourings of true passion. The attempts to recapture a 60s Britpop energy are too forced, and Liam's declarations in advance of the album's release (it's "better than Definitely Maybe," etc.) do nothing to help its staggering mediocrity.

We were told to get our expectations up, and so we did. And when "The Beat Goes On" laid out its Fab Four ambitions in shameless recreation, and Beatles And Stones outright jacked a Who bassline, we're left feeling cheated, the corners of innovation and originality cut for derivative accessibility.

Different Gear, Still Speeding isn't totally devoid of fun, as "Bring the Light" delivers on its promise of a 60s dance party and "Three Ring Circus" rings more swagger than the group's previous incarnation would've tolerated (and admittedly, it's nice to hear a different solo flavor on the guitars). It's even possible to avoid the overall feeling that Oasis would've done it better when listening to rocker "Standing on the Edge of the Noise," full of Liam's trademark preening vocal and big-rock backing instrumentation.

But the good graces don't last long. "For Anyone" is a fit of lighthearted melodic nonsense, preceding a far superior "Kill For a Dream," which evokes a hint of the atmospheric depths we've come to expect from these players under a different name - just for a moment. The song simply never goes anywhere, and ultimately falls flat on passion. The fighting spirit that seemed to grow from the destructive chemistry in the Gallagher brothers' relationship is entirely lacking, the result a flaccid gathering of tunes. The retro-rock influences are all too familiar, the ambition to corner a sound half a century old simply too tired to remain interesting.

The signs of brotherly discord aren't as lyrically obvious as one might expect from such a brash, arrogant thorn of a human as Liam. In fact, the only overtly obvious dig occurs in "Kill For a Dream," when Liam declares, "Life’s too short not to forgive/ I’m here if you wanna call". A slightly less transparent, and considerably more catty, message comes through in "The Beat Goes On": "I'm the last of a dying breed / It's not the end of the world / It's not even the end of the day," he jeers, unapologetic and unrelenting in dismissals of the missing Gallagher..

Beady Eye are a spent force upon arrival, a low-grade substitute for what we all would rather hear: a new Oasis record. The incendiary chemistry between the Gallagher brothers is sorely missed in the Rock world, but never more than within the confines of this 51-minute waste of time.

With so much hostility and hyperbole surrounding Beady Eye, half the music world getting ready to laugh, the other half expecting big things, ‘Different Gear, Still Speeding’ is something of an anti-climax on first listen. Neither disaster nor classic, the album nevertheless has to be regarded as something of triumph, since it manages to put clear water between Beady Eye and Oasis. And the biggest surprise is that, away from Noel, Liam hasn’t just turned this group into the ultimate Faces-style lads’ band.

Instead, this album is, well, quite soft actually. Carefree too. Sunkissed. Sweet, even. Without that self-confessed control freak to please, it seems the pressure’s off. Sure, this means the quality control isn’t always there, but that weight of simply being Oasis, which made their latter albums quite tense listens, has been lifted. It allows this album to coast through even its dodgy moments and emerge as a loose and easy proposition.

To instantly undermine the above point, the opening track, ‘Four Letter Word’, is as aggressive a song as anything Liam’s sung since ‘Bring It On Down’. We say ‘sung’, it’s more like he bites off chunks of lyrics and spits them out again. With sweeping John Barry strings adding drama, it’s one of those outpourings of inarticulate rage that yer man embodies. “I don’t know what it is I’m feeling/A four letter word, well, you get my meaning”, puts it awkwardly, but it’s all in the delivery, and as he goes on, “Nothing ever last FOREVER”, it’s obvious this is intended as a line drawn with the past.

With that done, Andy Bell’s ‘Millionaire’ kicks back with a big dopey grin for an instantly loveable country song that’s very ‘Beggars Banquet’-era Stones, painted over by, well, Salvador Dalí. “Sweet Salvador, the shadows painted and the light he saw/The way I see it now so clear, like diamonds on the water”. Liam’s always been a surrealist at heart, but still, him cooing about Dalí is unexpected. It neatly tees up Beady Eye’s obsession with dreaming, mind. Every song is ‘dream this, dream that’, all woozy production. It’s not surrealism, of course, it’s psychedelia, but a gentler kind than ‘Dig Out Your Soul’.

‘Wind Up Dream’ is a ramped-up reworking of Lennon’s ‘I’m Only Sleeping’, which has nice lyrical twists, a good bit of harp and even Liam doing a proper ‘Woo!’. Yes, a woo. Noel wouldn’t have let him do a woo. ‘For Anyone’ is a West Coast love song with Liam singing at the top of his range, pledging he’ll be “forever by your side”. Lovely. The psych peaks with the six-minute ‘Wigwam’, about an early morning stumble home which surrounds its booze blues in an Eastern drone, but then lifts itself out of self-pity with a gospel climax that aims for Spiritualized heights of Hosanna and nearly damn gets there.

These are all fine songs, and really this album could have been, not ‘Definitely Maybe’, but a more obvious triumph, were it not for a few duds. ‘The Roller’ is a by-numbers lumpen rock song that reeks of Stereophonics’ ass. ‘Three Ring Circus’ works a little better, but again its uninspiring semi-anthemic rock is exactly what you’d expect from the ex-Oasis boys. But next to ‘Beatles And Stones’, even that sounds like a classic. Ugh, this one is a careless, tasteless imitation of ‘My Generation’, with Liam singing, “I’m gonna stand the test of time like Beatles and Stones”.

Bad times, which not even Liam’s consistently sensational delivery can save, but there’s more good stuff. ‘The Beat Goes On’ is a big positive ‘All You Need Is A Lennon Songbook’ number, which works as their ‘Champagne Supernova’. “I’m the last of a dying breed/And it’s not the end of the world/It’s not even the end of the day”, goes Liam, seemingly wistful for himself. Closer ‘The Morning Sun’ is another hazy beach-bum song that works very nicely indeed.

But it’s that initial first hit of Beady Eye, ‘Bring the Light’, that really elevates this album. It’s probably the one song that Oasis would never, ever have recorded, and in its breathless, spontaneous spirit is properly exhilarating. Piano is at the fore of the proper ’50s rock’n’roll production, but it’s not so much Jerry Lee Lewis that Liam’s most channelling with his “c’mon”s, it’s Ike & Tina Turner. At its furious peak it justifies the creation of this band at a stroke.

What Noel will make of ‘Different Gear, Still Speeding’ is anyone’s guess. How it’ll resonate with the public is a more immediate question. It remains to be seen how many people will be going to Beady Eye gigs expecting , get disappointed and never return. But in taking on the tough task of establishing themselves as more than ‘Oasis Without The Decent Songwriter’, Beady Eye have succeeded with some aplomb.

And so we have the first full work to follow since the split of Oasis - probably the most anticipated Gallagher action this decade. Who’d have thought it’d be Liam - the truculent brother whose song writing, eclipsed by big bro’s, evolved publicly over four albums from lyrical clunkers (“plasticine/trampoline” in ‘Little James’) to valiant Lennon dreaminess (‘I’m Outta Time’) - that would bounce back first, and so eagerly? Welcome Beady Eye - effectively Oasis without Noel Gallagher - and 2011’s first album of real intrigue.

The album is a result of diplomatic and collaborative sessions between the members of Beady Eye, who’ve each brought songs - or sketches - to the table to be worked on.

Gem Archer and Andy Bell, free from the restraints of Noel, have flourished on ‘DG,SS’ - Archer especially is credited for commandeering studio time and is thus mainly responsible for the group’s sonic direction. Liam, meanwhile, sounds like an uncaged beast; he sounds recharged, excited and grateful for this new lease of life; “I just wanna rock and roll”, he sings in ‘Beatles And Stones’, and you believe him.

‘Four Letter Word’ declares Beady Eye’s intent: they are loud, insistent, balls-to-the-wall, and unremitting in their attack. It’s an exhilarating statement: “nothing ever lasts forever”, Liam sneers, kicking his past firmly behind him. It continues through the aforementioned heart-on-sleeve ‘Beatles And Stones’, first single ‘Bring The Light’, and the brazen thrust of ‘Standing On The Edge Of The Noise’. So it’s when they take their feet off the accelerator that things get a bit less thrilling.

‘Wind Up Dream’ is rather aimless, and while ‘Kill For A Dream’ is pretty, its “na na na na na” ending is somewhat trite. ‘The Beat Goes On’ bucks the mid-tempo trend though - its immaculate melody and chorus is only let down by being about a minute too long.

The album’s accompanying press release urges for it to be judged as a debut from a new band - despite that familiar voice and distinct retro overtones, there is a freshness here that’s to be admired, but it lacks a spark of modern relevance or lyrical dynamism. Beady Eye are at the beginning of their own musical adventure - ‘DG,SS’, though hardly full of surprises, is a compelling way to start.

It’s nigh-on impossible to extract the Oasis breakaway outfit Beady Eye from the shadow of its frontman and ringleader Liam Gallagher – and that’s probably just how Liam likes it.

He’s certainly in ‘madferit’ spirits on this debut LP’s opener, Four Letter Word, but he also proves a bit directionless without the meaty guiding hand of estranged elder bro’ Noel.

Despite seasoned producer Steve Lillywhite’s slick production, the songs on Different Gear… career through the usual classic rock fanclub nods and cocky poses (‘I’m gonna stand the test of time,’ bawls Gallagher on Beatles And Stones) before slumping into schmaltz on numbers such as The Beat Goes On and Wigwam (featuring the former indie wildman’s lyric: ‘You make it up to the wife’). Still speeding, slightly doddering.

Why do Beady Eye even exist? A gesture of spite directed at Noel Gallagher? That would be kind of rock’n’roll. Money? I mean, maybe… while it’s dispiriting to contemplate the fact that Gem Archer is probably vastly more wealth than anybody who will ever read this review, it's not like rich folks are against getting richer. Is it because Beady Eye's three songwriter members – who’d spent the last several years in a band that was virtually a tribute act to the early songs of Noel Gallagher - were genuinely convinced that the world needed to hear their latest compositions? In his heart of hearts, could even Liam think that? To be honest, I doubt Beady Eye exist for any of those reasons. Beady Eye almost certainly exist because following the departure of Noel Gallagher, nobody else in Oasis – Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer, Andy Bell or Chris Sharrock – could think of anything better to do. Liam’s combination of messianic self-belief and chronic need for attention dictated that he would continue to release music and give fun interviews and the other three… I mean, they don’t look like men with hobbies.

That all accepted, some reviewers have responded with bemused delight to the very fact that with Different Gear, Still Speeding Liam, Bell and Archer can cobble together a half-decent tune. Well, you’d hope so, and latterday Oasis was hardly a one songwriter band - Don’t Believe The Truth, in particular, showed that the others could serve as perfectly solid supporting players. As the main event, though? Hmm.

‘Four Letter Word’ opens the show noisily, a boisterous pub rock cousin to U2’s ‘Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me’. But while there’s energy here, and intent, it never scales the heights it should; Liam completely chokes the kiss off line “nothing lasts forevva!”, hiccupping timidly through his nasal passages where he should be dispatching it with an old lion’s roar. But ‘Millionaire’… ‘Millionaire’ is twee. I mean, seriously. Crappy twanging acoustic guitars, Liam blandly bleating something along the lines of “medal with me and you’ll meddle with yourself/For there is a higher wealth”… I suppose it’s meant to have a cod-spiritual Beatlesy vibe, but it’s basically beardy crap delivered so limply it'd probably offend Stuart Murdoch. ‘The Roller’ sounds quite a lot like ‘Instant Karma’; which is on the one hand lame, on the other kind of fair enough, as it seems unlikely Beady Eye’s target demographic would be particularly satisfied if there wasn’t a Lennon rip included.

Track four really is called ‘Beatles and Stones’, and features the line “I’m going to stand the test of time like Beatles and Stones”. Now, it’s tempting to be condescending here, but accepting the clanging self-parody of the lyrics, the song’s rough, bar room rock’n’roll, gilded with handclaps and honky tonk piano, is actually something of a departure for all concerned. The title of Beady Eye's debut is so Quo-like that when the – surely intentionally funny – cover art is taken into account, you have to assume that Different Gear, Still Speeding is on some level supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek name. But for the aspirant pendant, it does draw attention to the fact that Oasis were not a band given to speeding at all, dourly clinging to the chugging mid tempos whence lay the anthems. And you know, even with his larynx winding down, it’s nice to hear Liam tackle some music with an actual pulse. ‘Bring The Light’ is a further journey down this raucous road, hammering keys and soaring backing vocals pitching it somewhere between T-Rex and Jerry Lee Lewis. Throwaway, but genuinely quite fun, and if Beady Eye had focussed their energies into creating a good time, pre-Beatles rock’n’roll album they could have sort of been onto something. But as songs like ‘Millionaire’, ‘The Roller’ and the quite terrifyingly dull cod-blissouts of closing couplet ‘The Beat Goes On’ and ‘The Morning Son’ attest, the idea that this group of musicians were ever going to be arsed to make any sort of artistic statement were minimal.

What really compounds the inessentiality of Different Gear, Still Speeding is that a spot of boogie woogie is the last way in which we might have hoped these musicians would shine. Okay, it would have been quite something if Andy Bell had suddenly been permitted to write Ride-esque guitar epics again. Probably he doesn't want to any more. But you know, he could have thrown us a bone. Worse, though, are the indignities that time has wrought upon Liam’s voice. While Steve Lillywight’s production job isn’t desperately convincing, you can’t really blame him for the fact that Liam now essentially sounds like Tim Burgess, that phlegmy roar neutered to a nasal whine.

Different Gear, Still Speeding is not a disaster: by and large it radiates the stolid competence of a band on autopilot, with a couple of flashes of likeable enthusiasm. But suggesting Beady Eye have done well by actually getting a couple of melodies together is rather like praising a once robust, now ailing relative for not shitting themselves at the dinner table. There are the makings of a decent band here if the people involved cared enough. But they probably don’t, and despite a couple of green shoots, this is a dreary affair.

4/10