Beady Eye: On Vinyl and On Stage

Even by Liam Gallagher's standards, the past week has been a big one. The talk surrounding his first sibling-less exploits ceased, and, on Monday 28th February 2011, the walking commenced. Different Gear, Still Speeding was released to an intruiged, skeptical and excited audience. Three days later, Liam, flanked by his loyal troops Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Chris Sharrock, arrived onstage at Glasgow Barrowlands for the inaugral run of the Beady Eye express. A further four days on from their debut fling in the Highlands, it was time for this writer to witness first hand this cocky group of upstarts live at the Manchester Apollo.

For chronology's sake, let's deal with the album first;


Beady Eye - Different Gear, Still Speeding

Subtlety has never been one of Liam's strong suits and it's proven as early as the album title. Different Gear, Still Speeding isn't so much a coded message as it is a declaration of intent. An intent shown within the opening seconds of 'Four Letter Word', a monstrous psychedelic stomp that crashes through the speakers like a Desert boot through an acoustic guitar. Messrs Bell, Archer and Sharrock provide the Townshend-esque wall of sound which is built around the hungriest growl we've heard from Liam since 'My Big Mouth' some 14 years ago.

This however, does not set the tone for the rest of the album. The following, Andy Bell penned 'Millionaire' has an almost, dare I say it, country vibe with tributes being paid to, of all people, Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali ("Sweet Salvador, the shadows painted and the light he saw/ The way I see it now so clear/ Like diamonds on the water"). If that early surprise wasn't enough, Liam 'woo's', yes, 'woo's' on 'Wind Up Dream'. Where on Earth did this angry young man learn to 'woo'?

The tone for this album, in fact, is one of surprise. Surprise that it isn't simply riff after sing-a-long anthem after sunshiiiiiiiiiiine. Ok, so 'The Roller', whilst being a perfectly fine debut single, is pretty simple stuff, there's still ambition, grooves and melodies. There's of course odes to Lennon, but tastefully done, matured odes in 'The Beat Goes on' and 'The Morning Son', both of which play the album out in a glorious blaze of floaty psychedelics.

In fact, it is this dedication to the sixties that proves Liam isn't the punk he would sometimes like us to think he is. He's an absolute hippie at heart. The duff, 'My Generation' nostalgia trip that is 'Beatles and Stones' and paint-by-numbers 'Standing On The Edge Of The Noise' prove that his strength doesn't always lie in the heavier realms. The six minute voyage of 'Wigwam' adds further weight to this argument.



However, with that said, it's a three minute slice of unadulterated rock and roll that takes home the spoils of best track. The 50's piano crunch of 'Bring The Light' couldn't be any less Madchester or Britpop if it tried. No accusations of Status Quo or Beatles bootlegging can be levelled at it. It's Jerry Lewis or Little Richard if it's anything, and it'd take a damp, rigid soul to criticise Liam's vernacular on it. "I'm comin' in, ya comin out/ I'm coming up, ya comin' down" and repeated yells of "Baby come on" may not be Pulitzer winning stuff, but who gives a shit when it sounds so good?

As first albums go, and this IS a first album, despite the familiar personnel, it's a bold statement fuelled with ambition and nostalgia. It doesn't always work, but hits the mark more often than it misses. A two finger salute to the cynics if ever there was one.

Rating: 4/5


And so, onto this past Monday night at the Manchester Apollo;

Beady Eye - Manchester Apollo 07/03/2011

The atmosphere inside the Apollo fuses the passion of the football terrace with the style of 60's Carnaby Street and the smell of Howard Marks' front room. The soundtrack accompanying this baying throng pays homage to those who have inspired their main act for the evening. The Jam's 'That's Entertainment' and 'I am The Resurrection' by The Stone Roses are hardly shocking choices to warm up the sell out crowd's vocals, yet they are perfectly apt. As the clock strikes 9.15 p.m, Weller and Brown's work is done, now, over to you Mr. Gallagher.

Foundation shaking chants of "Liam, Liam, Liam" swell through the underbelly of the crowd as the music comes to a halt. However, as easy as it would be to swagger onstage all ego and mad fer it bravado, it's a team effort. Easy as it would be for Liam on this, the second of his two homecoming shows Beady Eye will play on this tour, to waltz on last to savour the adulation before signalling to the rest that he's ready to start, it is 'the rest' that prompt him. Andy Bell, Gem Archer and Chris Sharrock waste no time in ripping straight into 'Four Letter Word', which loses none of the face thumping aggression and impact it possesses on vinyl.

Liam, in turn, responds with an equal measure of aggression, which threatens to boil over early doors when what looks like a bottle of poppers strikes the stage. The old Winston Churchill hand gestures are dished out before his own brand of welcoming pleasantries are exchanged with his hometown crowd. It's good to be back.

It's a testament to Bell, Archer and Sharrock that even the duds on Different Gear, Still Speeding shine in a live environment. They amp up the groove on 'Beatles and Stones', 'Wind Up Dream' and 'Three Ring Circus' and turn album track also rans into instant crowd pleasers.

However, this barnstorming cohesion can't save the lull in atmosphere for the lesser known tracks that have yet to be accustomed to. 'Millionaire', 'For Anyone' and 'Kill For A Dream' see their fair share of bar walks, a shame when considering their quality, yet an inevitability given the record's current age. The Summer festival circuit ought to see improved reactions.

"This next one's called Bring the FUCKIN' Light" declares Liam, and here come the crowd surfers, helplessly bouncing off heads and shoulders almost to the irresistable thump of the piano keys. It proves a smashingly apt halfway point. A couple of lesser album tracks allow recovery time before the home stretch kicks in.

Unfortunately, this home stretch does not include the 'run to Stonehenge and dance in a circle' hedonism of 'Wigwam', but it does include the final two album tracks, 'The Beat Goes On' and 'The Morning Son' played to absolute perfection amidst a swirl of oil lamps and kaleidoscopic imagery. Already, the arm in arm brotherhood is apparent amongst the crowd, and no one's even mentioned the dreaded 'O word'.

A brief departure is broken up with the words "Any World of Twist fans in tonight?" as the solitary encore offering, a cover of the aforementioned's 'Sons of The Stage' gets fists pumping and more limbs hurtling over the barricades. The "Liam" chants now being joined by the perhaps more suitable "Beady Eye" chants as the band depart. No grandiose gestures, not even for the hometown crowd. A simple "Nice one" and "Thankyou" are the order of the evening, indicating that, on tonight's showing, there's a lot more to come from these newcomers.


Until next time,

Keep on Keepin' on,

Baia

X

More Than A Pretty Face?

Saturday 29th August, 2009. The music world is waking up to the first day of the post – Oasis era, and the sentiments ringing around fans, critics and Britpop aficionados alike are “Finally, time for Noel’s solo album”. Gallagher senior’s solo pursuits had been hotly anticipated long before Oasis’ guitar smashing Paris implosion. Liam’s lone ventures, on the other hand, seemed to revolve around social networking and perfecting the art of the Desert Boot.

Between Twittering and the launch of his Pretty Green clothing range, it seemed that Britpop’s anarchist in chief was in the embryonic stages of an early mid-life crisis. Now parted from his wordsmith, Liam was left to piece together the remaining parts of the Oasis jigsaw. Minus the man who was responsible for 95% of the band’s output over the previous 18 years. Even the most ardent of Oasisites didn’t give him much of a chance.

For close to two decades Liam was seen as being the brawn to Noel’s brains. He fought, drunk, tripped and shagged his way through the nineties, receiving adulation and vitriol in equal amounts for his efforts. However, despite being cemented as the iconic frontman of the biggest band in modern British history, Gallagher junior still had an albatross hanging stubbornly around his neck. He wasn’t a songwriter. He was the voice. He wanted more. If his older brother could be lauded as a genius, why couldn’t he? 10 years and 10 songs later, and the jury was still very much out on Liam’s ability to follow in big brother’s footsteps.

Standing on the Shoulder of Giants heralded the song writing debut of the youngest Gallagher sibling, with the tame Lennonesque ‘Little James’, a song written for then wife Patsy Kensit’s five year old son James Kerr. Touching it may have been, memorable it certainly wasn’t. “You live for your toys/even though they make noise” veered too close to lethargic Lennon coming down from a nauseating acid trip, churning out any random psychobabble that would fill an album.

Two years later though and Oasis were readying their first Liam penned single. ‘Songbird’ eclipsed his other two Heathen Chemistry efforts ‘Born on a Different Cloud’ (yet more Lennon impersonating) and ‘Better Man’ (channelling his inner Ian Brown) by some margin. A love letter to his new wife Nicole Appleton, Liam’s innocence captivated and shocked those who were more accustomed to his four letter tirades and snarling punk attitude.

He has long pledged allegiance to Johnny Rotten as being one of the only rock stars who mattered, yet Liam has since proved to function better as a songsmith when his guard is let down. The simplicity of his lyrics lends itself to a ballad or raw rock and roll, rather than a ‘Champagne Supernova’ or ‘Slide Away’ anthemic sing along. Nowhere is this clearer than on ‘I’m Outta Time’ from Oasis’ swansong Dig Out Your Soul. The most haunting of Liam’s work, he questions “If I’m to fall, would you be there to applaud?/Or would you stand behind them all?” A possible reference to big brother perhaps, who knows? Who cares really? It marked Liam’s finest and most ambitious hour as a songwriter and, shock horror, a possible sign of musical maturity, an event many assumed would be a foreshadowing of the Apocalypse.

Which brings us to Beady Eye. Or Oasis minus Noel. Liam’s constant claims that his ‘new’ outfit “are nothing like Oasis” were met with doubt and derision from all quarters. Guitarist Gem Archer, bassist Andy Bell and drummer Chris Sharrock, the remaining members of the final Oasis line up, were all present, so what exactly was different?

We soon found out. On the 15th November of last year, ‘Bring The Light’ debuted to a more than sceptical audience. One thing’s for sure, it definitely wasn’t Oasis. Gospel backing singers and thundering pianos harked back to Jerry Lewis and Little Richard rather than the hazy mid-nineties Britpop days. The reaction, typically for Liam, was mixed. I myself sat baffled as to what I’d just heard, even after half a dozen listens.

The fact was, Liam’s voice aside, it was nothing like Oasis. Even those who hated the song couldn’t deny that it was different. After several more run-throughs, I found myself enjoying the tune with more and more vigour each time. A rollicking three and a half minute blend of punk and soul, it felt fresh and hungry, as if Liam had rediscovered his Definetely Maybe… and What’s The Story… fire and wanted the entire world and their mothers to know about it.

Following on from this, we’ve been treated to the monstrous psychedelic stomp of ‘Four Letter Word’ and melodic debut single ‘The Roller’. It seems that debut album Different Gear, Still Speeding won’t be as easy to pigeonhole as cynics, myself included, originally thought.




Maybe Liam’s wisest move in his new lease of life was surrounding himself with band members he actually gets on with. Andy Bell and Gem Archer both cut their song writing chops pre-Oasis with Ride and Heavy Stereo respectively and now form part of a song writing democracy with Liam that has seemingly unleashed the passion he lost singing Noel’s songs well over a decade ago. Not a bad thing, surely.

So come February 28th, with the release of Different Gear, Still Speeding the talking stops and finally Beady Eye’s music will speak for itself. It may be the most important album Liam Gallagher will ever record.

By Joe Baiamonte