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In the aftermath of what was Oasis, Liam Gallagher and Beady Eye rise from the ashes and hit us with a heavy nostalgia-ridden debut.
Most critics were predicting an praying for a fall, but Different Gear, Still Speeding is not Oasis without Noel. Beady Eye are their own beast, despite the album being nothing new.
The songs, especially The Roller and Beatles And Stones, hark back to a simpler time and the band succeed in making you reminisce, while never feeling they’re ripping off anybody.
You can’t help but hear the influence The Beatles and The Velvet Underground have on the album, but that doesn’t make them a poor man’s Oasis.
The music is vintage Rock n Roll. All the usual suspects are present and correct: piano pounding, raucous riffs and flowing melodies.
Many feared the worse. Without Noel to watch over little brother and with a whole album to play with, anything could have happened but lyrically the album stands up and swaggers on its own with plnty on offer for fans old and new.
Liam and the producers have laid down some of his finest and most distinctive vocals in years. Always keen to keep things Rock n Roll the frontman now has something to back up his claim as Rock royalty, and if he can keep it up Beady Eye should have a long career.
The fact that he admits they chose the name Beady Eye to sit next to the Beatles in the record stands and Liam’s rasping voice will do nothing to appease the comparisons to Lennon.
But they have delivered an album that marks a distinct gap between themselves and Oasis. And it’s not half bad.
Different Gear, Still Speeding is released on Beady Eye Records.