Founder rate ends 9th September.

We’re rebuilding theartsdesk to secure the future of real arts journalism. Be part of it by subscribing: if you do it now, the founders’ rate of just £40 yearly is yours FOR LIFE!

SUBSCRIBE NOW 

CD: Beady Eye - Different Gear, Still Speeding

Can Oasis's prodigal son come good?

share this article

Beady Eye: About as psychedelic as tar
Beady Eye: About as psychedelic as tar

This isn't an awful album. It even starts really well. The opener, “Four Letter Word”, comes pounding in with the sort of jackbooted psychedelic rock attitude that Oasis always promised and so rarely delivered. Add a swooshy noise and it could almost be early Hawkwind, so fried-synapse rock'n'roll is it. Then comes “Millionaire”, which if you heard it blind you might accept as a lost track by The La's, so timelessly, northernly tuneful is it. But sadly, inevitably, comes “The Roller”, with all its excruciating Lennonisms leaking all over the place: a track that slams the face of creativity into the kerbstone again and again and again.

And there's the problem. For every decent tune (of which there are four on the album), there are three more tracks that are like watching something good from the past being beaten up and then waterboarded in front of its relatives. You can hear “Norwegian Wood” weeping uncontrollably, you can hear “Instant Karma” spitting blood and teeth, you can hear “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”... ah, you get the idea. Liam Gallagher isn't an awful rock star – he makes a noise with his larynx that in the right context can just about send a tingle down the spine, he can write a lyric that gets you going like a motivational seminar, and he strikes a mean pose on occasion to boot. But so do loads of other people, who also make albums with three or four good tunes on. So there you go. An album which, while horrifically bad at points, ultimately isn't that awful. Well done, Liam. Very well done. What a star.

Watch John Lennon being violated

rating

0

share this article

Help secure the future of arts journalism

In this era of algorithmic recommendation, opaquely sponsored content and AI slop, theartsdesk’s mission to preserve real journalistic and critical values has never been more important.

If you like what you see here, please join us 
in this mission.

Subscribing to the site will help us in our coming 
redesign and expansion.


If you do this before the 9th September this will be at our guaranteed founder’s rate: 
your subs will never increase again.

Subscribe now for £5 per month. 
or yearly for just £40.

Or if you simply want to support us with a one-off donation, you can do so here.

more new music

A breathless half-hour takes in screaming, stop-start song structures and the odd hint of reflectiveness
The American singer's eighth album is rife with downtempo ruminations on love
A thrilling blast of deep rooted culture and devout belief
Two decades on from Patti Smith and the original pink sheep, the anniversary edition proved again that Latitude's real headliners are rarely at the top of the bill
From Korean bluegrass to gigantic Ugandan xylophones, the global diversity of musical life is here
A championing, but also perhaps a dilution, of South African innovation
The return of a punk-era landmark of British art rock
With a danceable rock feel she displays her burgeoning creativity