ughh... it's bad, really bad(though it gets a bit humorous at the end.
the dude who wrote this is obviously somewhat... umm.. let's call it "less than objective" lol
anyways, here it is.

"Unashamedly retro in everything from the Beady Eye typeface to the old croc on the Different Gear, Still Speeding cover to the Led Zeppelin heraldic opening chords of Four Letter Word, Liam Gallagher revels in being lost in a moment somewhere in 1995 – the first time round it was all cool again (but hang on – does that mean it’s cool now? Erm, let’s wait until I get to the end of the album and I’ll let you know, not that I’m an agenda setter in any way… oh sod it, let’s just move swiftly on… )

When those dry, rasping vocal chords unleash those contorted vowels it does kind of feel safe and comforting and a million Northern lads will sing along from the terraces once again so who are we to argue? Yes that’s a stereotyping cliché but I’m in good company – Different Gear, Still Speeding is full of clichés.

First single The Roller (you know it already) perpetuates the ‘if it ain’t broke’ formula and John Lennon is singing at me through the earphones again. In Millionaire, Gallagher makes way for Andy Bell and the Beady Eye boys to channel some latter day, definitely cool again Robert Plant and Beatles And Stones does exactly what you expect it to (I almost wished it was a House Of Love cover – remember that one?)

I need a cup of tea before I can give Wind Up Dream a fair listen – or should that be a can of lager? (Sorry). Even though I’m quite old now I still long for a bit freshness in my aural distractions. A bit of harmonica and some nice sing-a-long harmonies help a bit but I think my ears are probably trying to pass this off as white noise. This is failing to distract me from my caffeine craving right now.



Right, tea break over. Bring The Light comes over all proper old school rock’n’roll. A bit of Jerry Lee Lewis Great Balls of Fire piano banging prick my ears back up. Maybe the further back in time Beady Eye cast their gaze the better they become. Expanding the range of their backwards-focussed telescope and allowing in a few more of influences that first got Lennon and McCartney up and jamming only creates a richer, more varied sound. Well, relatively.

For Anyone lazily reverts back to soft Beatles-by-numbers pop so I’m going to skip forward to the next track because I can guarantee this one isn’t going anywhere new. Nope – 1:24 in and it isn’t happening… it’s as ‘yeah, whatever’ as its title suggests.

Kill A Dream is firmly in ‘we’re fucking great and we fill stadiums’ Oasis territory and could have been their next single. Standing On The Edge Of The Noise, rather suitably, doesn’t really step foot in any other territory either. Why not? I guess it’s quite fulfilling to be able to be there. Fair play.

Wigwam’s simplicity is its redeeming quality and the lack of Gallagher big balls swagger makes it a sweeter listen complete with some nice sha-la-las. Three Ring Circus, along with For Anyone, is teetering on the edge of underwhelming and when The Beat Goes On limps up it’s in danger of taking the whole album over the edge with it. Even its title is hackneyed.

So, all in all, Different Gear, Still Speeding is definite comfort zone stuff. To indulge Beady Eye’s own analogy – it’s stuck on cruise control. Before I get beaten up by those mean looking, mid-90s heyday lads, these are just my first uncensored, instinctive reactions after one play only. I hated Don’t Look Back In Anger when it first came out – now I can’t deny it’s a classic. Such is a poor music reviewer’s lot when he doesn’t read anyone else’s reviews first and just blindly agree. Wouldn’t it have been a bit dull if I was a massively sycophantic Oasis fan who just said ‘this is fucking brilliant’ all the way through?

I’ll stop now coz I sound like a cowering wuss being happy slapped by a Pretty Green clad mob of Mancunians (cliché counter clocks up another). Not the face, not the face – here – have these Beady Eye badges they sent me! Take them – just leave the face! No, seriously – go to the Virgin Red Room Facebook page, leave a comment on the Beady Eye wall post and one random person can have them, honest!

Oh and ps: The Morning Son was playing as I was writing that last bit and it was very nice indeed, an album sign-off not unlike The La’s Looking Glass… and I’ll leave it at that. Fancy a nice set of badges?"