Liam doesn't want to sound as Coldplay's Chris Martin

LONDON - For the email readers: when you receive the daily mail with the posts, and then you don't find some videos, it's because YouTube removed them, so check on site if I put new ones.

Beady Eye singer Liam doesn't do proper vocal warm ups because he doesn't want to sound like Chris Martin. 

The vocalist - famed for his gravelly rock 'n' roll singing style - keeps his pre-show practice to a minimum so his voice stays raw, unlike the warmer tones of the Coldplay singer.

He explained: "I look after it a bit but not too much because you don't want to be sounding- I don't want to sound like Chris Martin.

"I remember Roger Daltrey from The Who telling me 'Look, you've got to warm up', I was like, 'Warming up, man, are you mental?'

"That was when I was about 25, and now I realise it's like that, you've got to warm up if you want to carry on singing. So I do warm up a little bit.

"None of that 'la la la' nonsense, no, I just sing a tune, man, on the guitar on my own and that."

'The Roller' hitmaker also said he'd frequently get lonely when singing for his last band Oasis - in which he appeared alongside the other members of Beady Eye and his brother Noel - because the vocals would be the last part of the album to be recorded.

He added to the UK's Absolute Radio: "With Oasis, I'd be sort of at the end on my own surrounded by candles, like Aled Jones, singing on my own, just thinking 'Is there anybody else in this studio?' it was very lonely, man."

The full interview with Liam will be broadcast today on the Christian O'Connell Breakfast show.

well this is the first time we hear the live version of Bring the Light, and of course it sounds a little bit different, but it's surely a lot of fun when you're at the concert, because there you don't care much if it sounds different or if Liam's voice is not perfect. I've heard also the other ones from Abbey Road and they sound good

Continue reading...

devastating Milan-Napoli 3-0 + North vs South

MILAN - Breaking news: Ibrahimovic, Boateng, Pato (they're all back, Tottenham should fear them). The big match between the first two clubs leading the Serie A league, now says AC Milan leading with +5 points Inter, +6 Napoli. Only one team on the pitch. 

Before the game Berlusconi said, laughing, "tonight we defeat the South" as a joke to one of his friends of a different political party, the Lega North (against South, but not really, they have a "different" idea about Italy), and some people (from the South and from left-wing) got offended... how ridiculous they are, they didn't even understand.
Of course he respects the South and totally loves Naples, he even sings Naples songs, lol.

By the way, again about the "regionalism" I was writing about Italy, where people are totally different. Of course that exists in England too, but in Italy is much stronger (and it's not really a positive fact). It seems the South of England corresponds to the North of Italy, because I see Southern English sometimes treat Northern ones as if they were "primitive" people, a bit stereotyping, isn't it. As Beady Eye's The Roller says, "I've been watching you for days"... I was recently watching a girl and a page of thousands (Southern) English people "against Northern people" because they're "drunk and beat their wives". Oh cool, so Southern people in England are never drunk eh? Hilarious... In fact, she is even proud to be always drunk. The same about tabloids, moralist against Gattuso for just a reaction, when in England everything happens... to say "drunk" players is even a compliment, yes Southern players too eh...

All is relative... girl: real Southern people only in your dreams, lol.

Continue reading...

Beady Eye, an irresistible start

LONDON - Another review. And so we have the first full work to follow since the split of Oasis - probably the most anticipated Gallagher action this decade. Who’d have thought it’d be Liam - the truculent brother whose song writing, eclipsed by big bro’s, evolved publicly over four albums from lyrical clunkers (“plasticine/trampoline” in ‘Little James’) to valiant Lennon dreaminess (‘I’m Outta Time’) - that would bounce back first, and so eagerly? Welcome Beady Eye - effectively Oasis without Noel Gallagher - and 2011’s first album of real intrigue.
The album is a result of diplomatic and collaborative sessions between the members of Beady Eye, who’ve each brought songs - or sketches - to the table to be worked on.
Gem Archer and Andy Bell, free from the restraints of Noel, have flourished on ‘DG,SS’ - Archer especially is credited for commandeering studio time and is thus mainly responsible for the group’s sonic direction. Liam, meanwhile, sounds like an uncaged beast; he sounds recharged, excited and grateful for this new lease of life; “I just wanna rock and roll”, he sings in ‘Beatles And Stones’, and you believe him.
‘Four Letter Word’ declares Beady Eye’s intent: they are loud, insistent, balls-to-the-wall, and unremitting in their attack. It’s an exhilarating statement: “nothing ever lasts forever”, Liam sneers, kicking his past firmly behind him. It continues through the aforementioned heart-on-sleeve ‘Beatles And Stones’, first single ‘Bring The Light’, and the brazen thrust of ‘Standing On The Edge Of The Noise’. So it’s when they take their feet off the accelerator that things get a bit less thrilling.
‘Wind Up Dream’ is rather aimless, and while ‘Kill For A Dream’ is pretty, its “na na na na na” ending is somewhat trite. ‘The Beat Goes On’ bucks the mid-tempo trend though - its immaculate melody and chorus is only let down by being about a minute too long.
The album’s accompanying press release urges for it to be judged as a debut from a new band - despite that familiar voice and distinct retro overtones, there is a freshness here that’s to be admired, but it lacks a spark of modern relevance or lyrical dynamism. Beady Eye are at the beginning of their own musical adventure - ‘DG,SS’, though hardly full of surprises, is a compelling way to start.

@ Abbey Road
soon the other 3 songs from Abbey Road: Four Letter Word, Bring The Light and Kill For A Dream

Continue reading...

Noel Gallagher's concerts this summer

LONDON - Noel Gallagher, Dave Grohl, P!nk and Juliette Lewis after the Foo Fighters show at Wembley Arena last night (26).
"A source said" is back.
Everyone kinda knows that Noel is going to deliver something pretty damn good. Every time I speak to Alan McGee he raves about the Noel demos and as Noel readies his album for its summer/early autumn release this year and is rehearsing his new band as we speak it’s younger brother Liam whose first out of the traps.
Hot on heals of Liam’s rocking debut with Beady Eye, Noel looks set to release his album this autumn. Those that have heard tracks, like Alan McGee, say the album is Noel’s best since the classic Oasis debut.
There is talk of Noel playing some selected gigs this summer with his band rumoured to be made up of various musicians apparently from Liverpool.

Continue reading...

sweet Salvador Dali-Beady Eye sunkissed album, woo!

MILAN - Today the official release of the album in Europe.
More about Salvador Dali and Beady Eye, and the "carefree" characteristic I was saying. It's like when you're speeding and you put a different gear, the fifth gear, it sounds relaxed.
The song Millionaire, which that American review said it has to be skipped, says: "...a forty minute ride, you drive it and I'll spend it looking out my window. Sweet Salvador, the shadows painted and the light he saw, the way I see it now so clear, like diamonds on the water"...
This Salvador Dalì image reminds Beady Eye and the seagulls of the Morning son, at the seaside. And you remember his famous painting of the girl looking out a window, she was looking at the sea.
As the exclusive Dalì art show in Milan, called 'The dream is getting closer' (with the first cinema sex symbol Mae West room for the first time, with her eyes hanged on the wall in two frames), Beady Eye album is all about dreams, and it's even written on the cover and in some songs titles.
Another review said: "...delivers a zestful acoustic twang and eyebrow-raising lyrical references to the Catalonian town Figueres and its most famous son, Salvador Dali". Those are the places I go before reaching my Minorca island of my 2nd Morning Son video I had described.

With so much hostility and hyperbole surrounding Beady Eye, half the music world getting ready to laugh, the other half expecting big things, Different Gear Still Speeding is something of an anti-climax on first listen. Neither disaster nor classic, the album nevertheless has to be regarded as something of triumph, since it manages to put clear water between Beady Eye and Oasis. And the biggest surprise is that, away from Noel, Liam Gallagher hasn't just turned this group into the ultimate Faces-style lads' band.
Instead, this album is, well, quite soft actually. Carefree too. Sunkissed. Sweet, even. Without that self-confessed control freak to please, it seems the pressure's off. Sure, this means the quality control isn't always there, but that weight of simply being Oasis, which made their latter albums quite tense listens, has been lifted. It allows this album to coast through even its dodgy moments and emerge as a loose and easy proposition.
To instantly undermine the above point, the opening track, Four Letter Word, is as aggressive a song as anything Liam's sung since Bring it on down. We say 'sung', it's more like he bites off chunks of lyrics and spits them out again. With sweeping John Barry strings adding drama, it's one of those outpourings of inarticulate rage that yer man embodies. "I don't know what it is I'm feeling, a four letter word, well, you get my meaning" puts it awkwardly, but it's all in the delivery, and as he goes on, "Nothing ever lasts FOREVER", it's obvious thi is intended as a line drawn with the past.
With that done, Andy Bell's Millionaire kicks back with a big dopey grin for an instantly loveable country song that's very 'Beggars Banquet'-era Stones, painted over, by, well, Salvador Dalì. "Sweet Salvador, the shadows painted and the light he saw, the way I see it now so clear, like diamonds on the water". Liam's always been a surrealist at heart (Noel said: Liam is surreal, lol - Marco), but still, him cooing about Dali is unexpected. It neatly tees up Beady Eye's obsession with dreaming, mind. Every song is 'dream this, dream that', all woozy production. It's not surrealism, of course, it's psychedelia, but a gentler kind than Dig out your soul.
Wind up dream is a ramped-up reworking of Lennon's I'm only sleeping, which has nice lyrical twists, a good bit of harp and even Liam doing a proper 'Woo!'. Yes, a woo. Noel wouldn't let him do a woo.
For anyone is a West Coast love song with Liam singing at the top of his range, pledging he'll be "forever by your side". Lovely.
The psych peaks with a six-minute Wigwam, about an early morning stumble home which surrounds his booze blues in an Eastern drone, but then lifts itself out of selfpity with a gospel climax that aims for Spiritualized heights of Hosanna and nearly damn gets there.
These are all fine songs, and really this album could have been, not Definitely Maybe, but a more obvious triumph, were it not for a few duds.
The Roller is a by-numbers lumpen rock song that reeks of Stereophonics' ass.
Three ring circus works a little better, but again its uninspiring semi-anthemic rock is exactly what you'd expect from the ex-Oasis boys. But next to Beatles and Stones, even that sounds like a classic. Ugh, this one is a careless, tasteless imitation of My Generation, with Liam singing "I'm gonna stand the test of time like Beatles and Stones".
Bad times, which not even Liam's consistently sensational delivery can save, but there's more good stuff. The Beat goes on is a big positive 'All you need is a Lennon songbook' number, which works as their Champagne Supernova. "I'm the last of a dying breed, and it's not the end of the world, it's not even the end of the day" goes Liam, seemingly wistful for himself. Closer the Morning son is another hazy beach-bum song that works very nicely indeed.
But it's that initial first hit of Beady Eye, Bring the light, that really elevates this album. It's probably the one song that Oasis would never, ever have recorded, and in its breathless, spontaneous spirit is properly exhilarating. Piano is at the fore of the proper '50s rock'n'roll production, but it's not so much Jerry Lee Lewis that Liam's most channelling with his "c'mon"s, it's Ike & Tina Turner. At its furious peak it justifies the creation of this band at a stroke.
What Noel will make of this album is anyone's guess. How it'll resonate with the public is a more immediate question. It remains to be seen hw many people will be going to Beady Eye gigs expecting Oasis songs, get disappointed and never return. But in taking on the tough task of establishing themselves as more than 'Oasis without the decent songwriter', Beady Eye have succeded with some aplomb.

Continue reading...

Rak them out + a debut album with Liam on it, is a pretty exciting thing to listen to

LONDON - To be added to what I was saying about Beady Eye "not caring", because they know they'll be successful whatever they do, and the fact that it was NOT a mistake to start with the Sons of the Stage sample and the controversial Bring the Light as first song, you should also have noticed there was a sort of laughter in the background of that sample, it sounded like a "bad man" laughing, someone with a "beady eye" watching you and laughing, do you remember? When I read the new name of the band, I immediately knew its meaning, so all that talking about the name and people asking about the meaning and why, it sounds funny to me.
When we heard that sample we were all very excited about Beady Eye, with that guitar riff, but then when we listened to Bring the Light we were disappointed, also because it was very different from that sample. We were expecting something totally different. Beady Eye wanted to confuse us, to "provoke" us in a way. I also didn't like so much Sons of the Stage, but I know it's the kind of songs that blow your mind when played live. And about Bring the Light, now I adore it.

Another review. Around the time that things began to go wrong for Oasis, in 1999, a film was released called Blast From The Past. In it, Brendan Fraser starred as a child born – thanks to the fears of his Atomic Age parents – in a nuclear fallout shelter. When the automatic lock of his prison finally releases him 35 years later, Fraser’s character emerges from below ground into present-day California. His ways are not modern. His haircut is strange. He is puzzled by simple things. But still, he charms everyone he meets.
There are flaws with this analogy – no-one is likely to be impressed by his dancing – but as an example of how a bunker mentality might work productively, one could do worse than look to Liam Gallagher. His Britpop peers are writing novels, memoirs, or operas in Chinese. His fanbase is pushing double buggies to the playpark. For Liam Gallagher, however, (and implicitly for Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Chris Sharrock, his bandmates in Beady Eye) the world is largely unchanged since he entered it professionally in 1993.
There are worse mindsets to have, of course. Since the mysterious but allegedly final instalment of the Oasis story played out in August 2009, reports have suggested that Noel Gallagher has been alternately been involving himself with fatherhood, and roaming the streets, with time on his hands. He is working, apparently, on music widely suspected to be “mature”.
Could it be that Liam may have got the better end of the deal, taken the best records from the collection, in this particular divorce?
As Different Gear, Still Speeding suggests, he has definitely retained a copy of Definitely Maybe. That’s not to say that this new record remotely matches the earlier one in songwriting or likely impact. But it does still summon some of the spirit and occasionally the joyfulness that should attend a first record – no small achievement for a band whose members are 20 years into their careers.
To its credit, the album has evidently not suffered from overthinking during its making. Different Gear, Still Speeding contains a song called “Beatles And Stones” that sees Liam wish for the longevity of his band’s music, and which sounds like “My Generation”. There’s one called “The Roller” that sounds like “All You Need Is Love”, until it sounds like “Liberty Ship” by The La’s. “For Anyone” is distilled Imagine meets “Here Comes The Sun”. For all his recent talk about Noel having hired “scousers” to play in his own group, Beady Eye are very fond indeed of people from the Liverpool area; four of them in particular.
But this is very far from being the point, or really to enter into the spirit of this album. Different Gear, Still Speeding, is with one exception, intelligently sequenced, so you don’t see the joins. It begins with “Four Letter Word”, not a bad song, but exactly the kind of misguided fanfare you’d once have found on a Mansun album. Things do, however, quickly get better. “Millionaire” is a bounding acoustic number, somewhere between “Rain” and Hawkwind’s “Hurry On Sundown”, and it’s excellent. “For Anyone”, for all the Lennon, is a similarly lightly worn acoustic number.
In between, and familiar already to some listeners, there is “Bring The Light”, by some distance the most surprising thing here. If it didn’t make much sense when it was released to the public last year as a free download, it doesn’t seem much less odd now. Clinic covering Jerry Lee Lewis? A deranged Can experiment (Liam has, after all, jammed with Jaki Leibezeit)? It’s impossible to pin down, but one thing you can with certainty say is it’s free from baggage – and this sense of liberation and ingenuity makes it the best thing here.
It’s fair to say that it’s a high point that the rest of the album can’t quite match, but it does remind you that a debut album with Liam Gallagher on it can still be a pretty exciting thing to listen to. And that for all the comedy that might prove to come with it, that the bunker isn’t necessarily a bad place to be.

Q+A Liam Gallagher
Was it fun making an LP without big bro?
Without a doubt, mate. It was a competition to see who’d get there first. Without sounding like we were a little fucking boy band and that. I love Oasis and I’m just as gutted as everyone else that we’ve split. But, by the time you finish touring, you’ve a couple of months off and you’re dying to get back in there. And not waiting for two years for a ring from the Tony Blair of rock.

How easy is songwriting for you?
Melodies I’m really good with. I can find about five different melodies to pick from for each tune. It’s just the words, really. What are my lyrics about? I wouldn’t know, Mate. You’d have to ask my psychiatrist.

You’ve written five songs to Gem and Andy’s four each. Is this a leader-of-the-band agenda at work?
We wouldn’t do it if it was like that. It’s not like, “You’re writing four songs and you’re writing three.” It certainly ain’t Take That, from what I’ve seen the other night on TV. Analysing every lyric. We’ll be here all fucking year. “That song there’s about ‘I’ and it should be about ‘We’.” We just get on with it. It’s not Metallica. Great film, but… fuck me!

Continue reading...

Anais Gallagher singer & model :)

LONDON - Meg Mathews and Oasis frontman Noel ­Gallagher’s daughter Anais Gallagher (who started to play guitar) is ­carving a ­career for ­herself as a model at the tender age of 11. Meg said: “Anais shot a campaign for Paul Smith (last year). She’s a cool girl and we’re close. But she’s in school and works hard.” Balanced and sweet. (the red head is Sonny, Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s little boy)

Continue reading...

without Liam, Oasis wouldn't even have been known

MILAN - I say this, though you know well I used to be a huge Noel fan, even saying that he's the same as me :), 'cause we have many things in common.
A girl recently said that she was following Oasis and not Beady Eye now, because Oasis are Noel...
are you sure?
To be honest, let's see facts: Liam founded Oasis, he also gave them the name (as now he gave the name to Beady Eye), he was the "good-looking" one (as even Noel used to say), he was the voice of Oasis (not that Noel has a bad voice, I like it, he was also singing on legendary tunes as Don't look back in anger, but it's different), girls were attracted by Liam (it wasn't the same about Noel), and boys always tried to imitate Liam, the way he sings, the way he behaved, especially his hairstyle, not really Noel's, etc. If some girls talked shit about Liam, it's because they were jealous, or they knew they couldn't have him :)
So I think without Liam, Oasis wouldn't have been so successful, probably not even known. Of course Noel wrote almost all the songs, so he was fundamental too (also to fight with Liam :), and so all the people were talking about them), but as you see now a very similar band exists even without Noel.
Liam is able to write very good songs (probably not as good as Noel's) as the Morning Son, but he also WAS good to write songs (ok, they say Little James wasn't good), he wrote much of Columbia, and in the recent years Songbird, the great I'm Outta Time, the very good Boy with the Blues, Soldier on, Ain't got nothin', etc. As Beady Eye said in recent interviews, Noel was suppressing Liam, he was the chief writing and deciding everything. Not to say that Liam would have been much better than him, but he had a few space to express himself.
His voice got worse during the years, but often because of long tours and too much drinking. Sometimes I think I can sing better than him (and in some past years, sometimes it was easy to have a better voice), but you know to be a singer like him in Oasis-Beady Eye, you have to own a huge personality. I mean, with another person in the place of Liam, it would be totally different. Oasis-Beady Eye are Liam.

Here's another review of the album:

How to review an album like this, the first release from an up-and-coming new band called Beady Eye? Never mind that three of the members, in particular the lead vocalist, used to be in this other band called Oasis. But then the singer broke his brother's guitar in a fit of pique, inconveniently right before a Paris gig, and that was that. So the little brother went and formed his own band, with himself assuming the role of leader for a change. Is it any good? Well...
Being the former members of one of the biggest British rock bands does have its perks to be sure. For one thing it can get you an opening slot for your pals Kasabian at Isle of Wight. Yet on the other hand you also have to deal with two groups of people. Two big groups of people. One desperately wants the music to be like your old band - big sing-along anthems like your brother wrote so well. The other side want you to fail. Miserably. So how do you review an album like Different Gear, Still Speeding? Do you try to pretend that the guy singing doesn't sound an awful lot like...who was it again? The fact is you can't. The two are inextricably linked, whether anyone likes it or not. So let's just cut to the chase: the album really isn't that bad.
The real genius of Oasis was that they only made two truly great albums, Definitely Maybe and What's The Story Morning Glory, yet they managed to eke out a pretty impressive career none-the-less. Different Gear contains neither the towering anthems or beautiful rock ballads that Noel Gallagher was so adept at composing. It does however, have some niftily crafted pop tunes and that, for now, is enough.
If you skim the top of the album, the tunes seem fairly inoffensive: lightweight pop-rock sung in Liam's Lennon-esque growl. Yet if you listen closely to the lyrics, things start to get interesting. The album starts off well with the most Oasis-y sounding track on the album, 'Four Letter Word'. With Andy Bell back on guitar the song has a real strength and a catchy hook that will get the 30-somethings in the pit sobbing into their cups of beer in joy: "I don't know what it is I'm feeling / A four letter word really gets my meaning / Nothing ever lasts forever." 'Beatles and Stones' is Liam asserting his independence and defying his critics. The tune is fun and frolicking, Liam's vocals sure-fire and confident:"Well it freaks them mama, I'm not doing what I'm told / Well it freaks them mama / You know I can't be brought and sold / I'm gonna stand the test of time / Like Beatles and Stones." And he's probably right. 'Kill For A Dream' is a man opening up to his estranged brother. The mid-tempo music may be a bit uninspiring, yet the lyrics give the song a resonance that makes you forgive the blandness; "Life's too short not to forgive / You can carry regrets but they won't let you live / I'm here if you wanna call."
Last song 'Morning Son' is perhaps the most personal, and as a result the most moving song on the album. A lovely, understated ballad with acoustic guitar and a subdued arrangement highlighting Liam's vocal performance. Here is the surly, gruff, former Oasis front man wearing his heart on his sleeve, and if you don't think that take guts then you're wrong: "He's in my mind / He's in my soul / He's even in my rock and roll". Both 'Morning Son' and 'Kill For a Dream' sound like an open letter to a man whose presence is felt by his very absence. This is one reason why the album rises above mere mediocrity. This is the story so far, and you can't help but want to find out how it will all turn out.
Sure, not all songs are up to scruff. 'Three Ring Circus' falls a bit flat and the 'The Beat Goes On' is rather dull and lifeless. Beady Eye's strength is in the rockier numbers: 'Millionaire', 'The Roller' and 'Standing On The Edge of The Noise' are catchy and fun and will get the punters on their feet merrily throwing aforesaid cups of beer in wild abandon.
So there you have it. Not a crowning glory, but not an utter failure either. Maybe Noel has nothing to fear on the song writing front. Liam may never be the first rate tunesmith that he was, but when it comes to shear affability Liam wins hands down.

Continue reading...

North-East racism due to drunk, rainy, shite-food countries

MILAN - Or also: if I got a penny for every time I find a retard, I'd own the world by now.
The people taking care of comments are telling me I should write another post against the usual polish cowards, assholes who are insulting. Come on, too easy. Of course I've been to Poland (unfortunately, I would say) and several other countries, and I've seen the differences, meeting people, going places. Because we're not "all the same" as some ignorant people from some old communist countries say. We could be similar in certain characteristics, but if you travel you see the differences. If in your country the people are "all the same", that's you, here we're not, we're totally different, and I already wrote why. So your stereotyping about people here just doesn't make sense and it's absurd.
About computers, "thanks" to internet, all the websites I have, all the contacts during more than 10 years of internet use, I've been speaking to thousands of people, especially through email, where you have unlimited space to say what you want to say. Of course, knowing people in reality is very different, BUT this doesn't necessarily mean that you can know someone better, because in the "real" world many things are not said, also because it's the real world. I noticed that on the internet many say what they would never say in reality, because they're hidden, or because of good manners in certain occasions, or to avoid fights, lol, etc. So on the internet, what you really think about something can come out soon or later.
I've noticed the most "racist" people against our country, because they treat us as a race, are from Poland, Norway, Sweden, Germany... yes, more often that zone, North-East Europe. Not really West Europe (though many racist episodes happen in france), and not really East Europe, but the very North-East. It can happen sometimes with England, but idiots are everywhere. To confirm this, there's also the classic "exception that proves the rule": Denmark, they really love Italians :). Of course, there are also people loving Italians in those countries.
Of course I'm not racist, and if some people think to be a race when they're not, that says a lot about them...
So I'm not able to write a whole racist thought. Sometimes I could be able to answer to racist insults and they could sound racist. I think about people in a simple way, looking at facts, seeing how they are, I believe in what I see. As I was saying the other day, I think that weather, food and drinking can influence very much the life of a person. You know, in some countries they have to drink a lot, or stay home a lot (that could be good, but so they should make more sex, instead of visiting porn sites), to warm themselves because of their shite cold weather. I think all those people are jealous and have inferiority complexes, as they keep on comparing themselves to other people. To say it all, now I don't really care anymore about "people". I've known enough retards, thanks. I remember once Noel said something similar :)
England is not a racist country, they are an example for so many countries, I'm talking about colour of skin racism. But of course the English are usually very proud of their country and sometimes they could sound racist in a nationalist sense. Besides, I don't think there's so bad food in England, it got better in the recent years.

Continue reading...

catchy guitar work and melodies + going to Ireland

CLEVELAND - Another recent review, from America. The lowest price of the album I've seen is here on Amazon, 8 dollars, that is 5 pounds.

If you had any worries about Liam being able to carry on in the music world without chief songwriter and older brother Noel, your doubts are erased on the first track off Beady Eye's debut album Different Gear, Still Speeding, which will be released stateside on March 1st. The menacing Manc's sneer is strong as ever and his bandmates, who followed him from the rock behemoth Oasis, sound refocused and energized now that they are the ones guiding the man who was named the best frontman in the history of music by Q Magazine two years ago. The opener, Four Letter Word, could be looked at as a jab at their ex-bandmate, but according to reports it was written before the split, but the lyrics "The battles on and the song is the prize" sum up what will be a rivalry like Paul McCartney and John Lennon had 4 decades ago after Liam's heroes The Beatles broke up.
While the first song is up-tempo, most of Beady Eye's debut is mid-tempo radio friendly numbers that borrow heavily from the likes of the The Who, The Kinks, and of course the Fab Four. Lead single The Roller is the most derivative of the bunch, sounding like a hybrid of John Lennon classic Instant Karma coupled with vocals from his final studio album Double Fantasy. In true Gallagher form, the band doesn't hide from the references to their love of mid-60's music going so far as naming one song Beatles & Stones that is basically a rewrite of Pete Townshend's classic My Generation. Throughout the album you'll find catchy guitar work and melodies. Perhaps the most touching song on the collection is the track For Anyone, which is arguably the best song Liam has written to date.
Liam has upped the ante for Noel who has embarked on a solo career and it will be interesting to see what type of reaction the new band gets in terms of sales here in America. Beady Eye has released a solid set of tunes that any Oasis fan will enjoy, and one wonders why they didn't just keep the name of their old band as they would have likely been able to shift more records and sell more concert tickets with the established band name then embarking on a brand new endeavor with mostly the same cast of characters.

highlights: The Roller, For Anyone, Three Ring Circus, The Beat Goes On, The Morning Son.

skip: Millionaire, Standing on the Edge of Noise.

I don't agree about For Anyone best song written by Liam, I think here it's the Morning Son (and before it was I'm Outta Time). And I don't skip Millionaire, I like to sing it. I don't skip any.
If one starts to skip a song, he will always skip it, no sense in doing it. One starts to skip because of the first impression he had on that song.

Recently, ahead of the release of their debut album and their two Olympia gigs, Beady Eye spoke to RTÉ TEN.
Given his Irish roots when asked how Liam felt about playing there again, he said: "I love Ireland, Ireland is top. I love going there and having a good time and that.
"I can't wait to get back there and play some gigs and having the craic!"

The full interview in next week's RTÉ Guide, which is available from Monday.

Continue reading...

McLaren 2011 +Nme journalists

WOKING - City of McLaren and Paul Weller :)
McLaren 2011 different year, still speeding :). This year, Pirelli tyres from Milan (but probably helping Ferrari, being Italian and being Inter Milan cheaters historical sponsor, not AC Milan... and I already told you enough about Inter cheating with sponsors... - Champions League 2010-Unicredit bank).
Some sad news, as you already know: the start of Formula 1 season delayed to March 27 in Australia, because of the difficult situation in Bahrain.
And the 4+1 match ban for Gattuso, of course I think it's too much, and Jordan escaping as an innocent. As usual, Uefa decisions are rubbish.
On this website sometimes I've been writing about Formula 1 too, because McLaren is England and many British people are crazy for this sport and cars (you remember the English family coming to Milan just because of Milan Alfa Romeo centenary), but some jealous people (Ferrari fans, lol...cheaters) said it had nothing to do with Oasis. Now it has a lot to do :), as I knew.

The other night, the Nme awards. Beady Eye were already nominated as Best New Band, though they didn't publish anything yet, and of course not one album yet. Them usual pricks at Nme of course didn't make them win, 'cause as usual they consider all the jealous haters votes against the Gallaghers. The same last year when Oasis were nominated in 9 categories, didn't win any. At least they deserved one for the career. I already unsubscribed from everything about Nme. But at least it was good to be already nominated as Best New Band, and Liam didn't win as least stylish guy, but also didn't win as best stylish. Lady Gaga hero of the year (Bonehead: "Lady Gaga?! Please!"), David Cameron villain of the year, Muse best band again (oh really? that's why music is shite today) and Matt Bellamy hottest man, says it all about those awards. The problem is not really Nme, but the people who see it, it's like Mtv. You know which is the shape of an Nme award, yes it's like that new sculpture in Milan, the finger... dedicated to Nme journalists.

“If you see an NME journalist at any of the gigs (and let's face it, they're pretty easy to spot; they don't stray far from hospitality, wear God-awful clothes - particularly the shoes - got dreadful hair and that kind of “mug me” look about them), give'em a clip round the earhole from me and tell 'em to behave.”
(Noel)

Liam often said Noel has no style in his clothes, so if Noel says that about the Nme journalists, they must be terribly dressed ^_^

Continue reading...

Beady Eye to play @ my birthday, Saint Marco Heineken Venice festival

MILAN - Exclusive news: as anticipated some time ago, Beady Eye will play 9 June my birthday @ Heineken festival in Venezia, Saint Marco city (Heineken is a Manchester City sponsor). It should be almost sure, more details soon.
Usually I don't do anything special for my birthday, I never celebrate, this could be really different (different year, now celebrating :) 

It was said also on Twitter by Cesare Cremonini, the Italian singer whose "Mondo" (world) was the song of the summer 2010 in Italy, saying "amiamo l'Inghilterra, crediamo nell'eternità", we love England, we believe in eternity. He also performs that day.
If Beady Eye aren't playing there, of course it'll be his fault :)

Continue reading...

"Italia beer festival Milano": I'm taking you drinking

MILAN - Earls Court in London, Great British Beer Festival. This image should remind you something... 

Oasis @ Earls Court in 1995 with some certain Italian scooter... 

from 4 to 6 March @ Palasharp you can taste hundreds of beers (and eat :), cheese, cakes, salted pork meats, etc.)
Bring the Light: "I'm taking you drinking" :)

Cigarettes&alcohol

Continue reading...

Liam's blue-streak bulletin, he's the bulletproof roller :)

Another (psychedelic) photo in Milan (soon a new Pretty Green shop here too).
Oasis fans probably thought it was one more in a long line of crying-wolf dust-ups when the band’s perpetually scrappy siblings, Noel and Liam Gallagher, swore the band was over after a nasty backstage altercation in Paris in August 2009.
This time, however, the mouthy Mancunians were dead serious. Guitarist/songwriter Noel was fed up, and leaving his vocalist brother for a solo career. But it didn’t take long for Liam to issue his own blue-streak bulletin — he would be continuing on under the moniker of Beady Eye, with Oasis members Gem Archer (guitar), Andy Bell (switching back to guitar from bass), and drummer Chris Sharrock at his side. When they play an intimate-theater Stateside tour this summer, they’ll be joined by keyboardist Matt Jones and bassist Jeff Wootton.
Liam — who’s also launched a posh clothing company, Pretty Green — wasn’t crying wolf, either. Beady Eye soon entered London’s prestigious RAK Studios with legendary producer Steve Lillywhite (U2, XTC, Morrissey), and emerged with a revitalized-sounding 13-track album with the sly title Different Gear, Still Speeding. From the sound of the album (which drops March 1), Liam is still firing on all Lennon-ized cylinders, especially on the horn-peppered anthem “Four Letter Word,” and the swaying acoustic ballad, “The Roller,” which chimes like "All You Need Is Love" meets “Instant Karma."
“You can carry regrets but they won’t let you live,” Gallagher observes in the keyboard-carpeted “Kill For A Dream,” and he sounds like he damn well means it. He and Archer checked in with ShockHound to talk about the new album, the decision to push forward as Beady Eye, and why Liam has no interest whatsoever in "going solo."

So how’s Pretty Green going?

Liam: It's going alright, mate, it’s doing well. I’ve got three shops now, too — one on Carnaby Street [in London], one in Manchester, one in Glasgow. And we’re gonna have one in New York, and one in Japan coming soon. New York is opening really soon, like June or something.

Do you ever drop by your own stores, just to see what’s going on?

Gem: He’s not Mohammed El Fayed, man!

L: Well, I’ve been there a couple of times. I’m just making sure that...nah, I’ve only been there a couple of times, mate.

Have you been invited into the snooty Derek Zoolander fashion world now?

L: I don’t get involved in it. Just like the music business — I don’t get involved in that, either. I just do my thing and get out. If you have to start hanging out with them [fashion people]? No deal! Just like the music business. Do I go and hang out with the head of Sony? No, I don’t.

No fight between you and Noel has ever lasted this long. Is it true you haven’t spoken to him since the breakup happened in 2009?

L: Nah, I haven’t spoken to him. We’ve got nothing to say to each other.

In “Kill For A Dream,” you sing "I’m here if you wanna call."

L: Yeah. But it’s got nothing to do with Noel. It was written before all that. And Andy wrote it, and I’m sure he’s also had some personal shit going down, but you’d have to ask him.

What did you want to do with Beady Eye, creatively?

Gem: We didn’t sit around thinking about it. We just had a little plan to take some time off, because Oasis had a mega-long, 13-month tour. And then we thought, "Well, we ain’t hangin’ up our guitars just yet — there’s too much to do!" So it took about a week to get in the studio and start demoing. And then it just kind of...it just grew and grew and grew. Simple as that, man. Before you know it, you’ve got six tunes. Then you have a break for Christmas, and before you know it, you’ve got ten tunes. And then it’s 13. Then you go into the studio, and it’s kind of done itself — all we’ve got to do is just show up.

In Oasis, everybody wrote and submitted songs separately. How did the writing proceed in Beady Eye?

G: I’ll tell you what we did. We came together as a band massively on putting flesh on the bones of the demos, d’ya know what I mean? Andy will have just a Dictaphone demo, with just a voice on a cassette, and Liam will probably just play it on the guitar in front of ya. So then, as a band, we massively got involved in making it, making it fully formed. And that’s down to simply the drumbeat. Or, "Is it gonna be guitars? Is it gonna be piano? Is it gonna be fast, and where’s the key gonna be?" So with everything — we were all involved in that, and then the production, too.

So what do you learn from a guy like Steve Lillywhite?

L: To iron your shirts!

G: Seriously! To keep your shirts well-ironed. And don’t eat too quickly, and let other people pick up the ping-pong balls.

L: He’s a good producer, man. He had experience. And I’ll tell you what, man — we’re not being arrogant, but we already know a lot, anyway. And Gem certainly knows a lot — he really knows what he’s doing in the studio, d’ya know what I mean? So we don’t often learn a lot.

G: But the good thing with Steve is, he had a lot of experience, and he didn’t just come in off the last two records he’d done. He hasn’t just got a name — he’s got a career. And I think he’s adaptable. And I know he loves Liam’s voice. And the thing is, he just didn’t wanna get in the way of the record. And he was properly up for things like just opening all the doors and letting it all be live — shit like that. He’d never say no to us, and he was really brave in that respect.

He must've had fun with all that Lennon déjà vu slapback on “The Roller.”

G: It’s funny that you say that, because I’ll tell you what — we wanted to try some double tracking on the vocals to get that Lennon thing; we wanted to try it, because we like that Lennon sound. But Steve? He’d be dead set against it! So the double-tracking was just us having some fun.

L: Yeah. That’s all us, man — that whole Lennon vibe.

G: And I wrote “The Roller,” too. And lyrically, I’d say it’s about being bulletproof, not letting life crack ya. I mean, we all get cracked. But sometimes, it’s good to have a mate who’s bulletproof, isn’t it? And then they can sort you out. So maybe he’s "The Roller."

One of your songs is called “Beatles and Stones.” I never understood why you had to choose one over the other.

L: Me neither! That’s why it’s called “Beatles and Stones.” I wrote that one, but it’s not about the Beatles, and its not about the Stones, exactly; it’s more about wanting to stand the test of time, with anything that you put down. I want our music to still sound great in 20 or 30 years’ time.

How long did it take you to decide to carry on as Beady Eye? And not do a solo album instead?

L: Well, if anything, I couldn’t have done a solo record — it’s not in my nature. And I can’t even fucking play an instrument, really; I’m not a solo guy, so I wouldn’t do it even if I could. I need to be in a band — I need a bunch of people around me, d’ya know what I mean? Plus, I really enjoy being in a band.

How did you come up with the Beady Eye name?

L: Well, we tried a few names, but they’d all been taken. Like Monkey Eyes, Cat’s Eyes. But I dunno — you’ve gotta call yourself something, and that was the one that everyone was kinda buzzing about. And it means being aware of things. Keeping an eye on things and not letting things get out of hand.

You speak of a "different gear" in the album title — have you actually slowed down?

L: A little bit. But not musically, though. Musically, we’re fucking on fire, man! We’re picking up pace, we’re fucking buzzing, man. But as a person? Yeah, I’ve slowed down a little bit. But not too much.

So, in a spiritual sense, do you believe it was all meant to go down like this?

L: Yep. You’ve gotta take whatever’s in front of you and you’ve gotta go for it, haven’t you? You’ve just gotta do what you’ve gotta do. So we certainly didn’t plan it. This is just what happened — Oasis split up. And I think there could’ve been more Oasis records, but it wasn’t meant to be.

What do you think of the new UK band Brother? The one everyone is calling "the next Oasis"?

L: Not a lot. They sound like a really shit Blur and Elastica. They sound fuck-all like Oasis, and I’m kind of insulted that people think they’re gonna be the new Oasis. But at least they’ve got guitars. At least they’re trying. So I kinda take back what I just said about ‘em, because at least they're having a go at it. But they’re nowhere near Oasis!

The Vaccines are pretty great, though, right?

G: Yeah. I like a couple of songs of theirs — they’ve got this one song that’s really got a proper Lee Mavers chorus. But we’re really more involved in our own stuff, so when we do get excited, it might just be from random places, here and there. Like, Andy is really, really excited about this new thing he’s found called Rasta Mouse, this TV program. And I just found out that the Go! Team are bringing out a new album, so I’m excited to hear that.

L: I’m excited just to be having my dinner in about half an hour! I don’t know what it sounds like, but I’m betting that it tastes good!

Continue reading...

-5 days to the start of Beady Eye tour

GLASGOW - Glasgow was where it all began for Oasis and Liam Gallagher hopes lightning strikes twice as he returns to the city to launch Beady Eye.
Eighteen years ago, in May 1993, a young Manchester band led by brothers Liam, who sang, and Noel Gallagher, who wrote the tunes, played King Tut's Wah Wah Hut and were spotted by Creation boss Alan McGee.
He signed them and Oasis became the biggest band of the Nineties, steering Britpop to chart dominance, seeing all seven of their albums go to number one and scoring eight number one singles.
But on August 28, 2009, the fractious relationship between Noel and Liam finally splintered shortly before Oasis were due to perform at a Paris festival. Noel quit claiming he was sick of the "verbal and violent intimidation".
He'd quit before but this time it was final and as he plots a solo career, Liam has bounced back.
He has taken the ashes of Oasis (Beady Eye are made up of the group's final line-up: guitarist Gem Archer, bassist Andy Bell and drummer Chris Sharrock) and claims his new band will be the biggest in the world. But it's not gone totally to plan so far. The first single The Roller didn't make the Top 30, scraping in at number 31 (STOP IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!! really, there's not even 1 tabloid, 1 site, 1 whatever, who understood that this was referred to the iTunes downloads, as there were no Beady Eye singles in the shops, and the songs, on vinyl, were even limited edition - Marco).
Of course, the fans could be waiting for Beady Eye's debut album Different Gear, Still Speeding which is out on Monday.
What will be a far harder test will be Beady Eye's first gigs at Glasgow's famous Barrowland next Thursday and Friday.
Will the fans just call out for Oasis tunes or allow Liam and his new band to grow into their own? The man with more bluster than the north wind is ready.
"They're gonna dig it, cos we're gonna be on form," he insisted.
And those Oasis fans who just want his old hits? "I've got a microphone, we've got guitars, we'll drown them out. They can shout what they want."
But this is also a different Liam. The brash, strutting man of Oasis days has been smoothed down.
The 38-year-old father of three doesn't have to fight against his brother for his voice to be heard anymore, doesn't have to toe whatever line Noel dictated.
His Beady Eye bandmates claim he's having fun, is chilled and enjoying being part of a team.
Maybe that's why he admits he'll be scared in Glasgow.
He said: "There was never any fear with Oasis. You knew people were going to dig it because it was Oasis. But I'll be honest, when the gigs come round with Beady Eye, we'll be shitting it, because it's a new thing."
Like The Roller (again, NOOOO!!!), Oasis' first single Supersonic also got to number 31 but that was when they were unknown.
The same placing for The Roller must have been a kick in the teeth (NO, tabloids deserve a kick in the teeth), but the band claim it's become about the music again.
What if Different Gear, Still Speeding doesn't match up to Oasis' seven for seven album number ones? "We're not bothered about chart success, but this deserves to be massive," says Liam.
"It's exciting not knowing what's going to happen, but we know it's good enough to change people's lives. We hope it does."
Gem added: "We just want people to dig us, for Beady Eye to have an energy, to keep on rockin'."
Oasis became Noel's band despite Liam forming it and giving it a name, but Beady Eye is a team effort.
And although Gem was close to Noel it seems there was no split. He left and the rest of the band decided to carry on, under another name.
With Steve Lillywhite on board as producer, Beady Eye entered London's RAK Studios in June last year and over 12 weeks put down what Gem calls, "the best thing I've ever been involved in".
He, like Andy, joined Oasis in 1999 working on Heathen Chemistry, Don't Believe The Truth and 2008 Oasis swangsong Dig Out Your Soul.
Liam added: "We're fired up, not because we thought we'd show everyone it could happen without you know who (Noel), we're fired up because we're doing music."
This time there is no boss. Liam said: "The key is just not being afraid to say something when it needs to be said.
"There is nothing worse than being in a band when you can't say anything."
Liam doesn't see Oasis reforming and he wants his old fans and Beady Eye's new ones to move on.
"It was important not to sit and dwell on the past," he said, talking about the weeks after Noel quit.
"We'd just come off a tour and we were on fire, if we'd said, 'let's do something in a few months, or next year', the flame would have burned out or we'd have got the fear."
The 13 songs on Different Gear, Still Speeding sound like Oasis but there's added bounce.
Tunes like Bring The Light and Beatles and Stones sound like a band having fun. Given Liam called his first child Lennon, the Beatle's sound is all over this album from The Roller to Three Ring Circus.
He never hid his affection for The Beatles but his songwriting was hardly Lennon/McCartney.
But his songwriting greatly improved from the clumsy Little James on Standing on the Shoulder of Giants in 2000, to the five songs he had on final Oasis album Dig Out Your Soul which included I'm Outta Time - as good a tune as any Noel was putting in.
The lyrics are direct and will be great to sing along to and as Liam says on album opener Four Letter Word: "nothing lasts forever".
And so to Glasgow next week.
The touring band will see the core four joined by Jeff Wootton on bass (Andy going back to the guitar) and Matt Jones on keyboards.
After the two dates in Glasgow they'll be back in Scotland on April 18 at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange and then play the Sunday at T in the Park on July 10.
They have dates lined up in Europe and Japan but whatever happens with their debut expect a new album sooner than happened with Oasis.
Liam said: "What happened with Oasis was you'd end up on an 18-month tour and you wouldn't have any time to put new music out.
"When you get big, it slows you down.
"When you start out fresh, it's all about the tunes. And remember, we're a new band, we're not going to get above ourselves and start thinking we can play stadiums."

Continue reading...

father of Oasis stars given police warning after parking bust-up

MANCHESTER - The father of Oasis stars Liam and Noel Gallagher has been warned by police after launching a foul-mouthed attack during a parking bust-up.
Thomas Gallagher, 66, ‘went into a rage’ on a Burnage cul-de-sac when he spotted a vehicle on the pavement outside his house.
He is alleged to have frantically banged on a female neighbour’s door before delivering a foul-mouthed tirade and threatening to remove the car’s wheels.
Police were called to the scene and warned Mr Gallagher about his behaviour but no further action was taken.
The row broke out on Ashburn Avenue at around 6.25pm on February 16. A witness said Mr Gallagher was ‘fuming’ when he spotted a car parked outside his house.
He apparently banged on a neighbour’s door and demanded they moved it as he had a friend due to visit.
The witness said: "He’s not parked there for over a year and nobody thought he had a car. But he was swearing and screaming saying he had a friend coming over and demanding the car that was there be moved right away. There were children there and it wasn’t very nice. I think the woman was frightened." It is understood Mr Gallagher went back to his house before officers arrived.
He gave them a statement and was warned.
Despite a claim Mr Gallagher had kicked the car no damage was found. Mr Gallagher refused to comment when approached by the M.E.N.
He is estranged from former wife Peggy, who left the house with Noel, Liam and other brother Paul in the mid 80s.
Neither Noel or Liam are said to have spoken to him since they left.

Continue reading...

Different Gear, Still Speeding out now in Italy: timeless stadium chants

MILAN - As an Oasis stadium song said: today's the day...
Liam says he's not really worried about whether or not faithful fans of Oasis will follow the singer's latest venture, Beady Eye. 

The new band features three of the four members of Oasis, excluding just Noel, the U.K. quartet's guitarist and principal songwriter. He quit Oasis amid another public slanging match with his brother in 2009.
But the reliably outspoken Liam says he's not concerned with whether Oasis devotees welcome his new outfit with open arms or not.
"I'll tell you what mate, they've got no ... choice in the matter 'cause we're doing it," he said in a telephone interview, punctuating the sentence with a choice profanity.
"We hope people get onboard and enjoy it as much as we do, and we understand if it's not their cup of tea at all ... but we're going to do it regardless, whether they like it or not, know what I mean?"
And yet, it's unlikely Oasis fans will take issue with Beady Eye's debut disc, "Different Gear, Still Speeding," since it picks up almost exactly where Oasis left off.
All the typical Oasis hallmarks are here: stadium-sized riffs drenched in reverb, passages that could have been plagiarized from '60s Britpop (one tune is even called "Beatles and Stones"), and throwaway lyrics that are meant to be chanted, not analyzed.
The record does sound more sure-handed and fleet-footed than some of Oasis's bloated later work. First single "The Roller" ambles along winningly on a simple melody, shimmying rocker "Standing on the Edge of the Noise" is a throwback to in-their-prime Oasis, and "Four Letter Word" opens the album with an invigorating blast of stadium bombast.
In other words, little of "Different Gear" could be considered a departure for these guys.
"It's not like we sat long and hard about trying to get a new sound or anything,".
"That's what's in us, and that's what was in us 10 years ago. This is the kind of (stuff) we like, you know what I mean?
"We haven't had a makeover, where we go, 'Right, now let's go and try to sound like Jerry Lee Lewis.'
"We're just glad to be making music again, man — this is what we like to do.... We like to perform, not making music again was horrific."
There were other reasons the past few years might have felt so "horrific."
In 2009, Noel quit the band suddenly following the cancellation of Paris gig and a couple of important gigs (the last one in Milan) and another high-profile fight between the brawling brothers.
At the time, he released a statement announcing the split saying that he was sick of the "verbal and violent intimidation towards me, my family, friends and comrades." He also felt that he didn't receive enough support from his bandmates.
On this day, however, Beady Eye guitarist Andy Bell (who played bass with Oasis) did have Noel's back when asked about his former bandmate.
"I have absolutely no problem with Noel — he's cool," Bell said. "I hope he likes (the album). I haven't spoke to him, but I hope he likes it. I'm sure he will. It's good."
While Liam kept quiet then, he couldn't resist taking a shot at his brother a little later in the interview.
Bell mentioned that the band's last visit to Toronto was "horrific," referring to their 2008 gig at the Virgin Festival, when a man jumped onstage and attacked Noel during their performance.
Daniel Sullivan pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm and was sentenced to 12 months house arrest. Noel, in a statement read aloud in court, described the impact of the hit as akin to being "hit by a bus."
But during this interview, Liam snorted when the incident was referred to as an "assault."
"It's a big word, 'assault. I think (Noel) milked it a bit."
Liam has already gone on record declaring that Oasis won't reunite. Similarly, he has no interest in performing his old band's tunes during Beady Eye's upcoming tours.
"Going and nicking about and playing Oasis songs is just ridiculous. (Our) set is absolutely storming. We're just going to do what we do, that feels natural.
"I'm very happy with what we've got, man, and I think we can give people a really good time."
Many of the early reviews have been positive, though some of the critics have actually seemed a little surprised that they like Beady Eye. One BBC critic wrote, "It's actually quite staggering that Beady Eye's debut album is anything less than abysmal."
That skepticism is largely the result of two factors.
First, the last Oasis album to generate much critical goodwill was 1997's "Be Here Now," and even that record was coolly received in many corners.
And secondly, the low expectations for Beady Eye could also have something to do with the fact that Noel was always credited as Oasis's mastermind, the one who penned nearly all of the band's biggest hits on his own.
But Bell says such thinking does a disservice to the rest of the group's members.
"I never felt underrated ... (but) it is kind of surprising when people assume that you'd just be useless," he said.
"Say, for example, I was a Stone Roses fan, and three of the Stone Roses started a new band — I'd probably think I'd expect to like that band."
Whether fans warm to the new group or not, Bell and Liam say Beady Eye is here to stay.
They're clear that this isn't a side project, nor a temporary arrangement meant to kill time before the brothers finally announce a truce.
"We're extremely happy with the album, we made it the way we wanted to make it, we knew that it would probably get slated in some quarters, and hopefully praised in other quarters," Bell said.
"Really, we're a little bit older, so it's not all about the impact of it right now — it's 20 years down the line. We wanted to make a timeless album."
Added Liam: "We can't wait to get on the stage, with a load of people, and do what we've been doing in the rehearsal room but better, and just see what the reaction is. We want to make people smile, man, and make people jump up and down and have a good time."
And after that?
"We want to make great music all the time".
"So yeah, we'll tour this album, come back ... and then back in the studio."

Continue reading...

Beady Eye second bootleg

LONDON - Click here (mp2, with the Roller live video) and here (mp3) with 2 songs and the interview, 

Four Letter Word here

Continue reading...

Liam: "Noel has definitely written his album"

LONDON - Another track from deejay Zane session. The yellow alcohol lemon haze is back :) ...
it's about time that your mind took a holiday, you're all grown up, don't you ever wanna play...

Speaking to Xfm on the eve of the release of his new band Beady Eye's debut album, 'Different Gear Still Speeding', Liam Gallagher claimed that brother Noel had been working on his own record for some time, despite claims that he was too busy.
"I reckon he's written it, man," said Liam. "He's probably going down that Radiohead thing - it's probably out already! He's definitely written it, he's been in the studio for ages. So I don't know what he's talking about. I'll be interested to hear it, see if I'm on it... In the background somewhere..."
Gallagher then indicated his Beady Eye band mates Gem Archer and Andy Bell, adding: "These two are on it!"
Archer was not so sure. "We'll see won't we?" he replied. "It was weird... Noel's a top songwriter, so when you're hearing whatever he was coming up with... well, that's that. But now [with Beady Eye] it's all brand new."

Continue reading...

Swedish festival + Alan: "I hate festivals, they're for hippies"

GLASGOW - Ahahaha the legend is back, talking as Noel did: "fucking hippies", lol. And Liam too, time ago: "they should wash".

Yesterday Beady Eye announced they will be at the Hultsfred Festival in Sweden this summer and I was thinking to go (because it's interesting: Suede, White Lies, Primal Scream - their song "Kill all hippies" was ironic), but then immediately, as usual, a Swedish girl (with a hippy lifestyle) behaved in a nonsense way, she used to be very friendly but then they're totally full of racist stereotypes about Italians (I noticed the same in Norwegian people), they clearly suffer from inferiority complexes, having a shite weather, shite food and have to drink a lot to stay warm, so to forget their absence of brain. These things, weather-food-drinking, influence very much the life of a person.

I remember another one, Isabella, a Swedish model interested in festivals (she was coming to Rome for a festival with White Lies-Franz Ferdinand-Killers) who behaved the same, and she used to like a foreign "bloody rocker" insulting her and stalking her on "social networks", very social.

Time ago another one, called as me, Anna Nelson (but as Liam said: I'm called Lisa now ahaha), was afraid to come to Italy again because she was on holidays at the seaside in South Italy and a guy tried to flirt with her in the street (I've never seen this in Milan), and this fact shocked her life. In cold Sweden they flirt through messages. Or just with bloody rockers stalking them through a computer.

The times of La Dolce Vita (1960) seem very far away, when the Swedish sex bomb Anita Ekberg was coming to Italy and was the one shocking Latin lovers and paparazzi.

Hats off to Alan McGee, he’s not a man to mince his words.
In Glasgow for the Film Festival showing of Upside Down: The Creation Records Story - a documentary film about McGee’s record label that brought the world the likes of The Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream and Oasis – he took time out to give his thoughts on the current state of the music industry. One band dominated the conversation: Glasvegas.
“Glasvegas are amazing.”
Clearly passionate about the talents of the Glasgow rockers he continued: “Glasvegas were telling me they might be pipped at the post for the no.1 slot by Katie B, but I don’t even know who she is. I’m not much of an authority on anything anymore. I’m just a guy who likes the Beatles.”
Mark Gardener, the singer and guitarist with Ride who features in the film, now works as a music producer. He said: “There’s one hell of a challenge for interesting bands to get heard but it’s like anything, you stick with it and hopefully in time you get noticed.”
McGee agreed: “It changed around 2000 because Glasvegas, if you take them as an example, if anybody’s watching this that gives a shit, don’t give in.
“They started in 2003, I found them in 2006, they got a record deal in 2008 and now they’re fighting Katie B for no. 1.
“But maybe it should be that difficult, maybe you should mean it that much and they (Glasvegas) do mean it.”
It’s impossible to interview Alan McGee and not bring up the subject of Oasis, although he was keen to point out that he only agreed to the making of Upside Down if it wasn’t some backhanded way of making an Oasis doc, but nevertheless, he gave his thoughts on Liam Gallagher’s new band, Beady Eye.
“I’ve ordered the album, what more can I say. I’m big mates with Andy (Bell) obviously.
“I thought they were unfairly criticised for that first song Bring the Light, I thought it was pretty good. I am dying to hear the album.”
Since the infamous Oasis / Gallagher brothers split, has McGee taken sides?
“I am told I am in Noel’s camp. I am in nobody’s camp. I am in the music camp.
“I am not in Liam’s camp or Noel’s camp I want them both to be great.”
So will he be heading along to RockNess this summer to support his beloved Glasvegas or see Liam and Beady Eye in action at T in the Park?
“I hate festivals, they are for hippies.” 

That will be a no then.

video here

Continue reading...

Noel will join Beady Eye ^_^ - Liam: "no problem if the album sells 2 copies" - impossible - I ordered 3 :)

TORONTO - That's why last night  I added the Beady Eye logo on Hollywood Milano image featuring Noel :), you read my mind.

Beady Eye have suggested they have "forgiven" Noel Gallagher.
The ‘Bring The Light' rockers explained "life is too short" not to move on from their public spat with their former guitarist.
Asked if the lyrics of 'Kill For A Dream', which feature the lines "Life's too short not to forgive/ You can carry regrets but they won't let you live", are abut Noel, Andy – who wrote the song - said: "People might well hear it that way if they want. I'm well aware of that.
"Look, whoever it's directed to, it's a true statement. Life really is too short not to forgive."
Meanwhile, Liam admitted Noel – who left the band in August 2009 after claiming to have been "verbally and violently intimidated" by his brother – still has "an opinion" on the state of play of Beady Eye, despite not actually being in the band.
Liam told: "That song was written ages ago, but he can still have a fucking opinion on the whole state of play, you know."

Now that Liam is finally free of big brother, he's in no hurry to find a replacement. Or become one.
The former Oasis vocalist insists he's not the boss of his new band Beady Eye - which is really just his old band without control-freak songwriter and older-sibling guitarist Noel Gallagher.
"I don't think a band needs a leader," the 38-year-old singer proclaims from London. "I think it just needs everyone to be on the same page. It can work that way, and it does work that way for us."
He's got a point - if their fittingly titled debut Different Gear, Still Speeding is anything to go by. It finds the band picking up where the Beatlesque Brit-rockers left off in 2009, when they imploded in Paris after the latest of many battles between the volatile Gallaghers. At the same time, however, they're also wiping the slate clean: The band refuses to play Oasis songs live, and Liam adamantly rules out a possible reunion.
The always-outspoken Gallagher and bandmate Bell got on a speakerphone to discuss new music, old grudges and how they view Canada.

Liam, you and Noel have had plenty of other fights when one of you has walked away from the band temporarily. At first, did you think this one would blow over too?

L: Oh no. I was aware we couldn't make up after this one. I'd seen it coming; it had been brewing. It was well thought-out by a certain someone. I'm no fool. I knew what was going down.
Was carrying on an immediate decision? How did it happen?

Andy: We all ended up back at the hotel in Paris and had a couple of drinks. Obviously, we were all gutted and a bit shocked. But as time went on, we decided it would be a shame to just leave it and not play together. We thought, 'We are potentially a great band. Let's make a new band.'

Were you never tempted to carry on as Oasis?

A: Oasis is a band that should have Liam and Noel in it. It would have been wrong. Plus, if we'd have gone out as Oasis, we'd have had to play Oasis songs. It wouldn't have felt right.

Do you feel you have to prove yourselves again?

L: Only to ourselves. We know how good we are together as a band. Obviously, we've got to go onstage and fucking play well and do great gigs. But that's just 'cause we want to do that, you know? We've just got to prove to ourselves we're not all talk.

Once you decided to carry on and started rehearsing, how did it go? Was it tough at first?

L: We just started demoing these songs and they sounded good the minute we plugged in. We thought, 'This is it, man.' Even if we wanted to have a year off, we felt like there was a higher force saying, 'Get out there and get on with it. There's work to be done.' We knew instantly, man: 'We've got it.'

Was making this easier than making Oasis albums?

L: Yeah. Beady Eye don't think and overanalyze as much as Oasis. We just move along. On Oasis records, there was a lot of, like, just fucking banging your head against the wall when you didn't need to. With Oasis, it was Noel's vision. With this, we all wanted to make a great album. Everyone was involved. And there's not one thing on this record I would have done differently.

Are there things you would have done differently on Oasis albums?

L: I'd have liked to sing fucking earlier on in the making of the records. I was always singing at the end, so you'd be waiting about for a lot for people to get off out of the fucking studio, and then you sing. So there was just no vibe. It was like rent-a-singer. This time, I feel like I'm more in the band. The vocals go down earlier. And I think it helps everyone.

It sounds like you're saying this was a more enjoyable experience than making an Oasis album.

L: It was. I'm sorry to say it, but it was, mate. It was mega.

Are you nervous about how the album will be received? You know you're going to get compared endlessly to Oasis.

L: We don't mind. That's life. We know we've made a great record. Whether it changes peoples' lives is one thing, but it's changed our lives because we made it. So if it sells 2 million copies, 200 million copies or 2 copies, that's just something you've got to deal with (hey Liam that won't happen - I ordered 3, lol - you know, for the family ahaha - also the cat wants one ahahaha - and my turtle Alberta feels to be the alligator on the cover ^_^ - Marco). But that doesn't mean it's not a great record. And it's not going to stop us from making another one.

Andy, is it easier having one Gallagher in the band than two?

A: Two Gallaghers was cool. Having one is just as good. However many Gallaghers turn up is fine with me.

L: I know what he really wants to say, but he won't speak up while I'm here. I'll let you chaps swap numbers and chat later.

After what happened in Toronto on the last tour - when Noel was attacked by a fan onstage - are you hesitant to come back to Canada?

L: Listen! Little fucking cunts like that ain't going to stop the rock 'n' roll machine that is the Beady Eye, man! No fucking chance.

A: We'll be there - with our security guard.

Continue reading...

Beady Eye in Milan: tickets are sold out but Beady Eye will leave the window open :)

MILAN - Rock Tv is by the son of AC Milan chief Adriano Galliani

Continue reading...

Beady Eye are Oasis without fighting... happy, with no need to live in the past

LONDON - So it's positive, that's why Beady Eye songs are happy, so I think more people should like them. I often find people who live in the past... and I see they're not happy. As I was writing time ago, from the past I don't even have old friends, but I'm happy.
Another good article here, it also names Led Zeppelin so I like it :)

Charismatic ex-Oasis singer Liam Gallagher talks to Neil McCormick about his new band Beady Eye .
'People know me as Oasis, so it will be weird for a bit. It’s like a transvestite walking into a room and going, 'Right, that’s it – I’m called Lisa now.’ But people will be calling their kids Beady Eye by the end of the year.”
Oh, it’s good to have him back. Liam Gallagher, last of the great, unreconstructed rock stars, returns next week with his new band, Beady Eye. So named, apparently, in order to be placed in record racks next to the Beatles “instead of the fucking Osmonds.” Never the most shy and retiring of frontmen, Gallagher has been declaiming his greatness to anyone who will listen, describing his latest offering as “proper rock and roll. Oasis was a pop band compared with what we’re doing.”
Well, they were certainly popular. When Oasis swaggered from the streets of Manchester and into the hearts of the nation in 1994, their Beatles-meets-Led Zeppelin bluster kicked off Britpop mania and spawned legions of imitators. The definitive British rock band of the past 20 years, they scored 23 top-10 singles and eight number-one albums, with an estimated 70 million record sales worldwide.
The Gallagher brothers, songwriter and guitarist Noel and singer Liam, were rock’s most compelling soap opera, fighting, swearing, storming off tours and falling out with each other and every original member of the band. Even as their music became repetitive and their critical reputation declined, Oasis were selling out stadiums till the bitter end, leading tens of thousands in mass singalongs.
They finally split in August 2009, minutes before they were due on stage in Paris, when a seemingly trivial argument resulted in guitars being smashed and Noel departing, claiming: “I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.” The tour was cancelled, with their website carrying the simple statement that Oasis “does not exist any more”.
So what to make of Beady Eye, a new band featuring not just Oasis’s frontman but Oasis guitarist Gem Archer, Oasis bassist Andy Bell and Oasis stand-in drummer Chris Sharrock? The band formed within hours of Oasis breaking up.
“We went to the bar,” according to Liam, “had a couple of beers and decided that our musical path doesn’t stop just because Noel Gallagher’s jumped ship. This is what we do.”
And what they do, judging by their forthcoming album, Different Gear, Still Speeding is play loud, lairy, Beatles-inflected rock with bags of sneering, Lennonesque vocal attitude. Remind you of anyone?
Whatever Liam Gallagher claims, it is hard to escape the feeling that Beady Eye are effectively Oasis without their erstwhile leader, main songwriter and, by implication, without the volatile sibling relationship that was their defining characteristic. What they do have, however, is one of the great frontmen in fighting form. On The Beat Goes On, Liam sings, “I’m the last of a dying breed”, and he may be right. Always an outrageously charismatic character with a crackerjack belligerence, Liam could hold the attention of an entire stadium with nothing but a sociopathic stare and a great, big voice, his soulful, resonant tone bringing an edge of emotion to even his brother’s most throwaway lyrics.
Beady Eye’s debut may break no new creative ground and make no discernible contribution to the future of popular music but it has a game of spirit almost entirely absent from Oasis over the past 10 years.
Produced by U2 veteran Steve Lillywhite, there is a spaciousness, depth and variety to the sound that eluded Oasis under the leadership of Noel. There is even, in moments, a Rubber Soul-ish lightness of touch verging on folky tenderness. Where Liam’s singing had become increasingly hoarse and shouty, here he finds the melody again. This was one of the key things Oasis brought to rock music. Hard rock tends to encourage high, raw, one-note roaring that enables the voice to fly above the range of electric guitars. Armed with his brother’s almost Abba-esque pop songs, however, Liam was confident enough to just deliver the notes amid the band’s wall of noise. This is the voice we hear once again at the centre of Beady Eye.
Liam has been ascribing his new-found commitment to a changed dynamic, as the band has shifted from dictatorship to democracy, with all members sharing songwriting credits. “There is no boss,” he claims. “We haven’t got it in us.”
What is immediately striking is how much fun they are having, and how happy Liam seems. The sad thing is that it has taken Noel’s departure for Liam really to come into his own.
The Gallagher brothers are like chalk and cheese, as is often the case with siblings (I confirm this, lol - Marco- I'm still not speaking to my sister since 2009 as Liam and Noel - the problem is that I have to see her, lucky you Liam). As the eldest, Noel took the role of leader, and to some extent that meant being the sensible one, but it also meant being an authority figure, controlling and disapproving of his younger brother’s rebelliousness. A smart, thoughtful and generally very considerate man, Noel seemed to have a blind spot when it came to Liam, who (contrary to his image) is capable of being very charming, friendly, generous and creative.
It often struck me that what Liam really wanted was his older brother’s love and approval. When that was not forthcoming, he acted up. You can see the same dynamic in any family. In a sense, he can only be his better self when Noel is not around.
Whether what is good for Liam is good for music is another matter. For all the delights of Beady Eye’s debut, they lack generation-defining, utterly memorable pop songs. There is nothing to even match the immediacy of late Oasis hits such as The Importance of Being Idle or Lyla. Their latest single, The Roller, went into the charts at number 31 – not a position Liam is used to occupying (again, it was the iTunes DOWNLOADS chart! - Marco).
Yet he seems undeterred, relishing the idea of having to fight for their right to be heard. He has declared himself delighted to be back in small venues (the tour kicks off at Glasgow’s Barrowland on March 3) and insists they won’t be performing any Oasis songs: “We don’t need to live in the past.”
Noel has kept his thoughts on this venture to himself. Liam, out on the promo trail, has been less circumspect about his brother, peppering his comments with insults (“How many cunts were there in Oasis? Here’s a clue. It was more than zero and less than two”). Yet, many songs on the album read like an open letter to Noel, from the “nothing ever lasts for ever” riposte of Four Letter Word to the you-go-your-way-and-I’ll-go-mine acceptance of gorgeous epic The Morning Son.
When pushed, Liam has been unexpectedly magnanimous. “Listen, me and him will be sweet, man. Our little venture’s come to an end, but I’ll never have a bad word about Oasis, it was fucking amazing. It’s why I’m adored by millions. But it’s over. And we’re buzzin’. And I hope our kid’s buzzin’. I hope he’s gonna make great records. And he probably will.”
He even appears to welcome the idea that the Gallaghers might be reconciled one day. “I suppose I’ve got to grow up a little bit, and I suppose he has. But not just yet.”
Meanwhile, Liam has gigs to play, records to make and dreams of his own to fulfil. “The bigger you get, the harder it is to move and groove. Now we’re like a little Mini. We can dart about a bit more. Before, we were just a big, fat Bentley – it might feel nice, but it’s fucking hard to drive.”
Whatever happens, it promises to be an entertaining ride.

Continue reading...