Album Review: Beady Eye - Different Gear, Still Speeding

Beady Eye - Different Gear, Still Speeding

Liam Gallagher's long awaited (by many, I am sure) return to the rock scene is here. His new venture, Beady Eye arrive with their debut album Different Gear, Still Speeding which, apparently, sold a mediocre 67,000 copies in its first week of release.

I'll be honest: I am surprised it was that many. I've never been a huge Oasis fan and even those moments of theirs that I have enjoyed have tended to be the Noel rather than the Liam moments. I suspect that even for die-hard Oasis fans, there is little that they will find on Different Gear, Still Speeding that touches anything as good as the Britpop legends recorded.

On the whole, this album is forgettable, sub-Oasis tosh. The Beat Goes On is a decent enough tune, but the rest of Different Gear, Still Speeding is naff pub-rock. It chugs along in the way that much of Oasis' later output did and, I'll be honest, I never want to hear it again.

Whether it's simply the fact that Gallagher's vocals will always make what he does sound like an Oasis record, or whether it's because he's chosen to make a record that sounds a lot like Oasis, he can't escape the comparison. And, I am afraid that this compares badly, even to Oasis' many low points.

To coin an Alan Partridge-ism for a minute, perhaps Beady Eye are the band that Oasis could have been?