Critics and fans alike scoffed after Noel Gallagher split from UK Britpop legends Oasis in the summer of 2009 as his kid brother, Liam, announced that the group would continue on anyway.
The dismissive derision slowly turned to begrudging praise when the first full-length by Beady Eye dropped earlier this year, featuring all the ex-Oasis crew - save for Noel, and makes its Philadelphia debut Saturday at the Theater of Living Arts as the final show in a brief, four date tour of the States.
“I’m surprised that people were surprised that we’d make good music without Noel Gallagher,” Liam told Rock Music Menu. “I’m surprised and a bit disappointed that people think Noel Gallagher is the brains behind everything. We know how to put on a gig and we know how to write a tune, so I was disappointed in people’s lack of support in it, but they’re coming around slowly but surely.”
It seemed to be a legit charge though, as principal songwriter and de facto head of Oasis, Noel steered the band to superstardom which peaked in the mid-90s, in America at least, but even as album sales dropped off, the act still had a massive following and routinely sold out concerts. It was prior to one of those shows in France when the perpetually fighting siblings got into it for a final time backstage that ended amidst a smashed guitar, harsh words and Noel walking out.
"We never really had an argument about music," Liam said. "It was always about personal things, and it’s a shame that in the end that broke the band up but at the end of the day, I think it’s better off for everyone. I’m definitely a lot happier I don’t have to look over my shoulder at Noel, I just mean that as a personal thing, and I think Noel can probably go on and with his life without me looking over his shoulder."
That's pretty calm words from someone known for expressing his sometimes, OK — almost always, controversial views on everyone from Coldplay to Mumford and Sons, the latter of which he recently said aren't rock and roll and, "look like [expletive] Amish people." But Liam being Liam, he doesn't disappoint, and without much prodding, takes some shots at his bro.
"You change as you grow up, and maybe Noel is a different person than what he was 10 years ago; I think I am," he said. "Maybe Noel isn’t as rock and roll as he once was, and maybe he’s scared of being in a rock and roll band and wants to take things a little bit easier and sit on his hill and be Bob Dylan."
"That’s fine mate, but you’re never gonna get me sitting on an (expletive) stool playing acoustic guitar; I need to explode when I’m on that stage."
And that's exactly what he's doing in Beady Eye, along with guitarists Gem Archer and Andy Bell and drummer Chris Sharrock. The music on the band's debut, "Different Gear, Still Speeding," sounds a lot like Oasis - with all the familiar trademarks; soaring melodies, the swelling pop sheen and Liam's quintessential frontman inflections.
"These are just the songs we came up with," he said. "We didn’t sit and go, “Well, let’s make a rock and roll record or a psychedelic record." That’s what’s in us anyway; it was just the natural thing to do."
Not surprisingly, there are the persistent "well, that sounds really familiar moments" peppered throughout the record. The third song released but first official single "The Roller" completely nicks John Lennon's "Instant Karma" in its overall feel, "Bring the Light" has a guitar break taken from The Beatles' "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey," and the curiously titled "Beatles and Stones" lifts the main guitar line from "My Generation" by The Who.
Liam makes no bones about it either, saying that he stuck to the tried and true Oasis influences like Brian Jones and The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who, "The usual," he said, "We haven’t started with Earth Wind and Fire or anything; we’re pretty much the same. Sex Pistols, obviously The Beatles and Lennon."
"I’ve been doing this for 18 years, Gem’s been doing it longer, they know how to write music — and I certainly know how to sing. It’s nice that people are taking us for what we are. We’re dealing with the cards we were dealt with. We think we can put on a good night for an hour and a half or whatever it is."
During the live show, there may be an odd cover thrown in here and there, but don't expect Beady Eye to lean on the past success of Oasis —at all.
"You can’t sing Noel’s songs if he’s not there, and why the (expletive) should we sing his songs?" Liam asked. "We write our own. He’ll take great pleasure in letting everyone know what songs he wrote and what songs he sang on and he can top off his little setlist with all his new songs. So that guy will be playing for three hours boring the (expletive) life out of people. We don’t; we just hit people with an hour and it’s great."
"We’re Beady Eye now — that’s just the way it is. I think if you start playing with people, they’ll be coming out of gigs going, “Only if they played this one or that one,” and then you’ll go (expletive) mental. It’s like sleeping with your ex-missus; it’s not healthy."
And despite the ever-popular trend of old bands throwing it back together for one last tour or even another album, Liam doesn't see it in the future, going as far as saying that he hopes it never happens, because to him that would mean Beady Eye was a failure.
"We had a great run with Oasis," he said. "We thought we’d never get that far and we did. No one else broke up except for me and Noel. We ended it with stupid behavior and I’m not proud of that, but that’s the way it was. I don’t want to get Oasis back together. Me and Noel can’t get on with each other. He thinks he’s [expletive] God, I think I’m God — it doesn’t work. We can be great in our own bands."
Source: delcotimes.com
