Oasis (and solo) album-by-album thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Haristar, Dec 8, 2017.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Erik B.

    Erik B. Fight the Power

    The first Beady Eye is an absolute joke. I say this as a huge Oasis fan. For a while there, Beady Eye was a running joke among my group of friends. "it's no Beady Eye" gave us endless laughs. Like no matter how bad something was, it wasn't as bad as Beady Eye.

    They slightly redeemed themselves with the BE
     
    Nick Drake fan and blind_melon1 like this.
  2. Rocketdog

    Rocketdog Senior Member

    Location:
    ME, USA
    The first Beady Eye album- Differnt Gear, Still Speeding - was ok, but it was all flash and no substance. Almost like bubblegum music in that it had some songs that were pleasant to listen to, even hooky, but ultimately had no soul or depth to them.

    The second was even worse, in that it had even less memorable songs. BE was barely even a blip on the radar here in the US, compared to their debut, which got at least some notice and airplay. There was zero hype or promotion on it, and I never heard one song played on the radio from it. I recall it being rather unceremoniously dumped here about six months (or more) after it was released everywhere else. I'm pretty sure most folks in the US, outside of die hard Oasis fans, never even knew they made a second album.
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2018
  3. Luke The Drifter

    Luke The Drifter Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    One last comment on Oasis post Morning Glory:

    The first two albums are perfection. And as I stated above Noel should have saved the B-sides, and strengthened further albums with them.

    Oasis is one band that show the importance of album track lists and production. Production of the Be Here Now tracks.

    You can take the songs Noel and Liam wrote not on Definitely Maybe and Morning Glory, and make the same amount of 10 track albums they actually released. These mythical albums are each as good as the first two or very close.
     
  4. Luke The Drifter

    Luke The Drifter Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    They really need to make Oasis available on US ITunes. I don’t own some of the later b-sided, because you can’t purchase from Europe on ITunes, and it is too costly to get all the singles.
     
  5. walrus

    walrus Staring into nothing

    Location:
    Nashville
    The second Beady Eye record was far, far better than the first, and I'm surprised it didn't perform better.

    But really, the problem with them was despite having three songwriters, none of them could write a really great song that stood out. So basically they made two records of b-sides and pleasant but unremarkable deep album cuts, and that wasn't going to cut it.

    Even at Noel's least inspired, he could still be counted on for one or two fantastic singles, at the very least. And Beady Eye was desperately in need of one.
     
    MitchLT, Defrance and Erik B. like this.
  6. George P

    George P Notable Member

    Location:
    NYC
    This thread got me to fire up Different Gear and really enjoyed it! I like BE even more.
     
    LilacTeardrop and Erik B. like this.
  7. Haristar

    Haristar Apollo C. Vermouth Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hampshire, UK
    I think "Different Gear, Still Speeding" is a decent album. Sure it suffers from the lead songwriter of the previous band not being around anymore, but for what is basically an Oasis album without Noel I think they did surprisingly well. Andy Bell's songs in particular are pretty good IMO. Four Letter Word, Millionaire and The Beat Goes On would have made decent Oasis album tracks. Liam had a couple of decent tracks - Bring the Light and For Anyone. Gem had The Roller.

    In an alternate universe, where Oasis released an eighth album in 2011, those six tracks I mentioned would have been recorded and included.
     
    LilacTeardrop likes this.
  8. Haristar

    Haristar Apollo C. Vermouth Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hampshire, UK
    But god does the song "Beatles and Stones" annoy me. Noel would not have allowed that song to be called that let alone even be released.
     
  9. At the time, I thought "DGSS" was an absolutely phenomenal comeback. Liam's voice appeared to have recovered from the time off after Oasis split, many of the tracks (such as The Roller and Standing On The Edge Of The Noise) appeared to live up to the years we'd been waiting to hear these, and Steve Lillywhite's production was just the right blend of retro and modern. However, it didn't take long for the cracks to show, and I now struggle to compile even a single album from Beady Eye's catalogue.

    Four Letter Feeling remains a fantastic opening statement, and the next two songs - Millionaire and The Roller - would have fit in perfectly along with Noel's compositions in the later period of Oasis, where they both originated. Unfortunately, as happened on so many occasions with their former group's work, this momentum can't be maintained for long, with Beatles And Stones a track that very quickly goes from energetic to grating. Wind Up Dream comes and goes without leaving much of an impression, and I've never been able to stand Bring The Light.

    Thankfully, we then have For Anyone, which is by far one of my favourites to have come from the other Gallagher brother. For a period, it seems as if Liam might have been looking to The La's for inspiration, hence their producer being brought in and the cover for Second Bite Of The Apple being uncannily similar to that of this group's only album. Despite being one of the slower tracks, Kill For A Dream works sequenced before Standing On The Edge Of The Noise. I suspect that Noel's biggest issue with this song was it sounding like it could have dated from the Be Here Now sessions.

    As something I can pull up as a standalone experience, Wigwam isn't necessarily the low point of this album, but it's perhaps one too many breather tracks. Equally guilty of this is Three Ring Circus, which desperately needed to be placed sooner in the overall running order. By this stage, it's lost somewhat, especially coming prior to The Beat Goes On. Again, there's nothing particularly wrong with even The Morning Son, which I'm fairly sure was once mentioned as being replaced by Soldier On, destined to become Oasis' swansong.

    In summary, this entire album is screaming for a reshuffle and at least one song dropping to make it less exhausting. For a while, I was convinced the problem was one of its mastering causing fatigue, but it's really more an issue of pacing. I could live quite happily by dropping Beatles And Stones, but then I'd want to switch this out for either Two Of A Kind of Man Of Misery. At least Beady Eye was able to keep the tradition established by Oasis of having solid b-sides! Over to Noel and his High Flying Birds...
     
    PhantomStranger and Haristar like this.
  10. Haristar

    Haristar Apollo C. Vermouth Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hampshire, UK
    I remember watching this interview where Liam said Beady Eye was bigger than the Beatles.

    It's not even as big as the Sugababes Liam.
     
  11. The first Beady Eye album isn't an unlistenable album but just seems plodding at times. I have a feeling if Noel had been around for it his touches would have turned it into a significantly better album. It lacks his deft melodies. I get the feeling this is how Oasis would have sounded if Liam had been in charge instead of Noel.

    I don't hate it or anything, Liam's voice is in fine shape on the album and there's enough likable moments that I rate it a decent first effort. It's not something I pull out on a regular basis and prefer BE's second album.
     
    Favre508 and Haristar like this.
  12. I also recall Liam once claiming that Beady Eye deliberately chose their group name so they'd be sandwiched between The Beach Boys and The Beatles in the record collections of anyone who knows good music... as if "BDI" could ever live up to such hype!
     
    Haristar and Erik B. like this.
  13. Erik B.

    Erik B. Fight the Power

    by bigger than the Beatles, he meant it would stand right next to the Beatles albums alphabetically in the handful of fans collections that bought it
     
  14. Haristar

    Haristar Apollo C. Vermouth Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hampshire, UK
    Wasn't it so that it would stand out in a record shop as well for the same reason?
     
  15. BadJack

    BadJack doorman who always high-fives children of divorce

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    I never actually bought this album until I saw it for $3 a few weeks ago. I only knew the singles before, and don't care for them much, but I do think that "Four Letter Word" is a pretty cool track.
     
    Erik B. and Haristar like this.
  16. Also ironic because the B-sides/bonus tracks from BE are better than most of the album.

    Like, I have no idea how this didn't make the album. This is one of my favourite tracks, Oasis or solo, post-Morning Glory! Yes I said it. A fantastic Liam vocal too:

     
    PhantomStranger likes this.
  17. That is a good BE song, though it sounds like one of those numbers that Noel/Liam have never liked including on their main albums. Noel has said in the past he never liked including too many slower songs on one Oasis album. They usually wanted all rockers and one or two more mellow tracks for the album itself. I think it's one reason why a lot of great Oasis songs got dumped to b-sides.
     
    thewolfshead likes this.
  18. walrus

    walrus Staring into nothing

    Location:
    Nashville
    It's okay, but still nowhere near the big single that they needed.

    It's funny, because Standing on the Shoulder Of Giants is almost all slow songs. "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" was easily the worst Noel Gallagher composition until "Mucky Fingers," and "I Can See A Liar" isn't much better, but I think it ended up on there just because they were the only "rock" songs Noel had at the moment. (I do really like some of the other songs on that record, though)
     
  19. Haristar

    Haristar Apollo C. Vermouth Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hampshire, UK
    You're forgetting ****in' in the Bushes and Go Let It Out.
     
    Favre508, AJK74 and Jeff Minn like this.
  20. Rufus rag

    Rufus rag Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Watched The Verve in concert DVD last night. So obvious who Liam nicked his mannersisms & stage presence from!!!
     
  21. boiledbeans

    boiledbeans Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    'For Anyone' is my favourite song from the album. But the tune sounds very familiar though.
    I've thought about where it was "inspired" from, and the closest I can think of is Paul Simon's 'Mother & Child Reunion'.

    Listen to the part where Paul Simon starts singing, 0:15 to 0:30.
     
  22. walrus

    walrus Staring into nothing

    Location:
    Nashville
    Great tracks, but 'Bushes' is really more of an intro and GLIO is mid-tempo, at best. That album really needed a "Morning Glory" or "Shock Of The Lightning," Noel just couldn't write that kind of stuff at the time, I guess. I think GLIO, "Gas Panic," and "Roll It Over" are some of Noel's best-ever tracks, just the album as a whole is kind of a drag.
     
  23. boiledbeans

    boiledbeans Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Full On should have been on the album! A 'Lock All the Doors' vibe.
     
    Favre508 likes this.
  24. boiledbeans

    boiledbeans Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Not sure which Verve concert you're talking about, but Liam definitely was inspired by Ian Brown from The Stone Roses in terms of style and behaviour.

    The legendary live performance where The Stone Roses experienced a power cut. Watch till the end.
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2018
  25. walrus

    walrus Staring into nothing

    Location:
    Nashville
    Vibe gets an A. The actual song isn't much more inspired than the two 'rockers' on the album. Noel just didn't have much fuel in the tank around that time, I guess. Although considering "Lock All The Doors" was written in the early 90's, maybe they should've resurrected that for Giants. I'd really like to hear it with Liam singing.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine