Gareth - 10/21/2011

Back with the unmistakable nasal tones, it's Liam Gallagher with new band Beady Eye. Liam still has the swagger and his snarl but in the latter years of Oasis you couldn't half help but feel that this rock n roller had become a parody of his former self.
This album was rolled out reasonable quickly after the demise of Oasis and safely falls into the ball park safety net left by oasis. It is pretty much safe to say that most Oasis fans will purchase this album as it sounds like an oasis album with all four of the members being in Oasis at the time of their collapse. Those being Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Liam Gallagher, joined by Chris Sharrock on Drums and unofficial member, Jeff Wootton on bass, previously a member of the Gorillaz line up alongside Damon Albarn.
Although this falls very nicely into the genre safety net that oasis once resided, it is obviously not a follow on from the last Oasis album 'Dig out your soul', as the sound is far less developed. Noel Gallagher was the only member of oasis to attempt to push them forward whether this is through production, instrumentation or technology to try to develop the oasis sound, however little this may have shown. However the Beady Eye album seems happy to sit contently offering nothing new, not trying to push any barrier with its retro 60'/70's sound. With all members now being responsible for the song writing you may believe that several songs would sound different from one another but they all sit broadly alongside one another very cosily, sounding similar. Not overly complicated lyrically or musically.
The opener starts off sounding like a movie soundtrack and for those that mourn the loss of oasis, it's a welcome return, not Oasis as it could never be but the closest sounding you going to get. Nothing new here but the feeling of an oasis mirage in the drought. It does have freshness about it that latter oasis albums failed to show, the same yet with a new sense of purpose. The song 'Millionaire' initially seems very drab and uninspiring. The first single 'The Roller', is a very good rock n roll number, although the band seemed to have recorded Liam Gallagher's vocals over the 'Instant Karma' backing track by John Lennon. 'The very naff title 'Beatles and Stones' doesn't get any better once the song starts with lines 'wanna stand the test of time like Beatles and Stones', I suppose this is probably true of Liam Gallagher, but will the same be said about Beady Eye as a collective in years to come. Beatles and Stones and 'Wind up Dream' do appear to be more filler than killer, and 'The Light', again is starting to hit the right spots but the sounds of the drums and keys throughout really do have a 60's feel to them. In the song 'For Anyone' Liam's vocal seems higher and softer than they have sounded for a good number of years, you would have to go back as far as Morning Glory, Oasis' 1995 offering to hear anything quite like this. Musically sounds Beatlesque, coming from the era of 'The Beatles for Sale'. 'Kill for a Dream' I would say is an unexpected strong point on first listen, with a classic Liam Gallagher delivery "and you say to the driver just drive, cause you've never felt so alive", the good feeling gained from this track is soon thwarted by the mandatory introduction of the "Na na nana na's" by Liam, the song could have been saved by just cutting the song short. 'On the Edge of the Noise' is a harder sounding track than most of the album with distortion on the vocals but a repetitive song. The song 'Wigwam' has a nice groove to the song created by the style of rhythm guitar and the drums, but again annoyingly ruined by the 'Sha la la's", the song ends up being to long and drawn out at over 6 minutes.
'Beat Goes On' and 'Mourning Son', to me sound a little cheesy, with the former sounding like a cheesy sing a long song, they are just willing you to do it, and 'Mourning Son' sounds as though Liam Gallagher is attempting to justify his attempts at being a John Lennon impersonator. The lyrics include "blinded by what you idolise", I think Liam, definitely is.
On first listen I was disappointed by this album as it was safe and very retro sounding and could have been quite easily lifted from the 60's, however the more I have listened to it and more fond of this album I have become. The original feelings relinquish and leave you enjoying the record for what it is, reminding you of Oasis and welcoming back one of the best lead vocalists of the past 20 years.