Hi guys, I wrote a review of DGSS for my uni paper. Thought I'd post it in case anyone's interested to read it.


After Noel Gallagher stormed out of Oasis in August 2009, it was assumed that their days of performing together were over. A few months later, frontman and younger brother Liam announced he would continue playing with the remaining members of the band under a new name. Even the most loyal Oasis fans met this news with apprehension. Sure, Liam penned a few decent songs during their lifespan, as did guitarists Andy Bell and Gem Archer. Right until the end, however, it was Noel who composed the band’s strongest material, and the prospect of an album made in his absence seemed destined for failure. The eventual revelation of the new group’s name – Beady Eye?! – did little to raise expectations.

Listening to their debut ‘Different Gear, Still Speeding’, the idea doesn’t seem so mad after all. Rather than sounding like the debut from a brand new band, the album feels like a continuation of what the boys started in their previous incarnation.The creative input of Liam and ‘the other two’ had gradually increased in the latter years of Oasis’, and so for them to have separated from Noel feels like a natural progression. Drummer Chris Sharrock, who played with Oasis on their final tour, appears on record with Liam for the first time on this album. Even the title, which basically implies “We’re still good, honest,” enforces that sense of continuity.

Stylistically, the album is a return to melodic roots of Oasis in contrast to their more experimental, ‘groove-based’ final record, ‘Dig Out Your Soul’. Unsurprisingly it’s rooted firmly in classic rock, lending evidence to Liam’s claim that he doesn’t listen to anything released after the 70s. The acoustic ‘For Anyone’ wouldn’t sound out of place on any of the early Beatles records, whilst the aptly titled ‘Beatles and Stones’ borrows its riff from The Who’s ‘My Generation’. Music fans were eager to criticise ‘Bring the Light’, the first track we heard from Beady Eye, for its resemblance to Jerry Lee Lewis.

Of course, anyone who criticises a Gallagher-led band for sounding like their heroes was obviously never an Oasis fan in the first place. For those willing to accept their limitations, however, there is some fine music on show here. Liam has come far as songwriter, as exemplified by wistful album closer ‘The Morning Son’, which alludes to his difficult relationship with Noel (“He’s in my mind, he’s in my soul / He’s even in my rock and roll”). Gem takes credit for lead single ‘The Roller’, which in spite of its blatant Lennon-isms proves a cracking pop song. Perhaps unexpectedly, it’s Andy who emerges as their finest composer. His opener ‘Four Letter Word’ captures that mixture of energy and aggression which came naturally to Oasis in their youth, whilst ‘The Beat Goes On’, possibly the album highlight, will provide many ‘mobiles in the air’ moments at their gigs. There’s little doubt that this record contains the finest songs the three of them have produced so far.

All of which points to one bittersweet realisation: if the few weak tracks on here had been replaced by some belters courtesy of Gallagher Sr., this could have been the strongest Oasis record since the 90s. Nonetheless, ‘Different Gear, Still Speeding’ is good enough in its own right to prove Liam and co. should get on just fine by themselves. Even without Noel, Beady Eye show no signs of slowing down.