I’m going to attempt a review without further mentioning Oasis. Even though it’s Liam Gallagher, I think he deserves to be listened to with fresh ears. Let’s see if it’s possible.
The album opens strongly. The Brass gives it a different feel to previous bands the members have been in. Liam sounds older, but it may have more to do with Steve Lillywhite (the producer) than Liam himself. The guitars are strong and stable and, all in all, it’s a convincing start.
Thankfully Beady Eye hits a different gear in "Millionaire," which sits on the fence between Britpop jangle and Led-Zep-esque world music rock.
Tracks three and four ("The Roller" and "Beatles and Stones") wear their Beatles influences on their sleeves in a way that makes me want to skip the tracks. The latter suffers less from this.
"Wind Up Dream" has the 'Rock Music by Numbers' thing going on that these guys are so good at/guilty of. The collection of homage-paying riffs almost gives it a sampled feel. The same songwriting technique continues into track six. This was the only track I had heard before. I never thought it was a very strong first single, but I think it does a little better in the context of the album.
Track 7 ("For Anyone") is throwaway. Possibly in a good way, it’s one of the least forced songs on the album.
I can't ignore the Beatles-esque intro to Track 8 ("Kill for a Dream"). It's been the strongest song so far. It's anthemic pop, which we don’t hear enough of today and convinces me that the album could be worth a second listen.
Track nine convinces you that Steve Lillywhite did well to provide some focus to this ragged bunch of Beatles' rip offs. With a less experienced producer the results could have been disastrous.
Article comments
1 - David
The album is a grower. I guarantee give it a listen 3 more times but skip a day before the next listen and you will end up liking it. I see similarities in this album to other bands but I would not say its a rip off ( except for The Roller, parts at least). I didnt like it my first listen, now I cant stop listening to it. Wigwam should have been 4 minutes with that wonderful outro, not 6.
2 - HRH Adam
This is no more a personal attack than your review was on Liam. But, what a tepid, boring-to-read review.