[“Wall of Glass”]

Fred

This was a pretty pleasant surprise when it came out

André

I enjoy this, yeah. I remember being pleasantly surprised by his voice

Fred

It still holds up well in the studio

André

Begs the question of how much of it is due to post-production processing and effects mind you…

Because some live performances have been pretty bad

Fred

Yeah, he blows hot and cold live

He did a great cover of “Natural Mystic” the other day though, so his voice is still there

Just weaker

André

I did see that and it was nice

Fred

Anyway, strong start this. Easy listening pop rock

André

Yeah, I like the fuzzy bass tone

Not something I’d usually associate with Oasis/Liam either

[“Bold”]

Fred

I think he actually wrote this one himself

André

The mixing is a delight, I will say

Fred

I like this

Production magic or not, his voice sounds great here

André

Definitely Maybe falls down on its mixing and production and this is just affirms that for me

You can hear everything and yet there’s still plenty of room

This isn’t bad at all

Frederick

Yeah, it’s immaculate actually

Definite poppy softness, but a good edge to it as well

André

For sure

I’ll say one thing

These first two tracks have more to them than anything from Noel’s Flying Boring Birds

[“Greedy Soul”]

Fred

I agree, and that’s the thing isn’t it

This really showcases Liam as a frontman

He’s so good at it

Give him a melody and a groove and he’ll deliver

In studio anyway

Haha, he’s not exactly Shakespeare is he

André

Was gonna say..

There just seems a bit more colour here than in Beady Eye or Noel’s stuff

Frederick

His voice is genuinely better now, which helps

André

He’s proper zen, mate.

Have you heard?

Frederick

3/3

Not bad

[“Paper Crown”]

André

is it me

Or is this a bit Bowie?

Fred

It is!

André

Ziggy Stardust era

Fred

This is really good

What’s going on?

The pitch difference on the harmonies are lovely

André

I can’t say it appeals to me directly, and I’m hardly the biggest Oasis fan anyway. But there’s no doubt that this record is shaping up to be one of the best post-oasis works yet – though the standard was hardly high..

Fred

I’m with you, but it’s pretty darn solid

[“For What It’s Worth”]

André

Heard this too

Again it’s kinda decent

The chorus is very Oasis’y

Fred

It’s a nice ballad delivered well

Bit of a throwback

One for the hype train I suppose

André

Sure

Fred

It’s funny, I think I’m enjoying hearing Liam deliver the songs more than I like the songs themselves

Like, it’s just nice to hear him fronting a sound well again

André

He actually has a very sweet falsetto haha

I’d dare tell him that though

Fred

You what mate?

[“When I’m in Need”]

André

This is a nice sonic change

Fred

Shades of Beatles here

Stop the presses

André

Haha

I’m enjoying this one a lot

Perhaps my favourite so far

Harmonies alone are fab

Fred

It’s lovely

Feel like such a waste that Oasis had approximately one sound

Always feels a bit odd having instrumental breakdowns on solo singer records

Like, “Hit it, backing band!”

André

Haha, sure. Particularly as Liam didn’t exact write a lot of this

I’d say though that the choice to go with a co-writer was a good one

Fred

For sure. He’s been very open about it as well, which I appreciate

And he does have this weird knack for a decent tune of his own from time to time

[“You Better Run”]

André

The groove is a little clumsy

and he doesn’t sound too comfortable singing at this tempo either

Fred

It’s just not his style

It’s not bad per se

Just could just as easily not be there

André

Weird though because he wrote this one?

Fred

I don’t think the sanitised sound helps with a song like this

Feels a tiny bit like Villains by Queens

André

That’s very true actually

Apt comparison too

Well it took us 7 songs to find a dud

Which is better than I thought!

[“I Get By”]

André

This one reminds me of something like Come Together – the Spiritualized one

It has a similar problem to the previous song though – and again his voice doesn’t suit this type of tempo.

Fred

That’s a good shout yeah

Would sound good live though

André

I’m sure

Vocal melodies are sore here too actually

Fred

I think half the problem is his voice has been pulled back a little the last couple of tracks

Like, no one’s buying this album for the instrumentals

[“Chinatown”]

André

Hmm…

I have no idea what I think of this

One thing is certain so far though – the first half of the record was way better.

Fred

For sure

This struck me as an odd single choice when it came out

Still does

André

Oh, I didn’t know it was a single

I’ve not heard it before

And I still can’t figure out what it is

Fred

Well, it’s not much of a single is it

Would probably fair better between a couple of belters

Slow things down a bit

André

Strange one

Could be a grower

[“Come Back to Me”]

Fred

This is pretty Oasis-y too

Weird effect on his voice

André

This is a bit better, though still not grabbing me entirely

Think the past few songs have worn me down a little.

Fred

Same. Not sure the production is as good here either, for whatever reason

That should’ve been better than it was

[“Universal Gleam”]

André

I just correctly predicted each chord change in the first verse

Fred

Haha, this is better though

André

It is haha

But it made me laugh

Fred

His falsetto is angelic isn’t it

So odd

André

Unexpectedly yes

This tempo suits him

I’m not convinced he can keep up with the raucous rock’n’roll tempo anymore

Fred

No, the best songs here give him room to gather his vocals a little

And deliver through, like, singing

Rather than shouting

As is tradition

André

Certainly

Fred

Bringing it home nicely here

Right, last one

[“I’ve All I Need”]

Fred

Nice vibe

Same note played over and over seems appropriate for a Liam closer

Ooh nice

André

Haha, true enough.

The chorus is a good’un

Fred

Yeah

Soaring

André

My initial impression on this is at a light 6

I like the first half of the record

I’m in no major rush to return to it, but I’m glad Liam has found his voice again

Fred

Yeah, good for him

And there’s comfortably enough good material to tour with

André

Before the big Oasis reunion

Which will be £80 a ticket but will also DEFINITELY NOT BE ABOUT THE MONEY

🙂

Fred

To be fair, Noel will say up front that’s exactly what it’s about if it ever happens

But yeah, strong start, dips in the second half, but closes well

Looks like Oaysis have competition

André

do you consider it a success?

Fred

I do in the sense that it’s not awful and showcases Liam as a really great frontman when he feels like it

I’m not moved, but that’s not really it’s goal

André

Yeah, I’m with you there

It’s gotten rotten-ish reviews from P4K and Guardians and whatnot but they are never gonna his audience anyway

Fred

Indeed. There’s some nice tunes in there, and people will see him live and get a healthy dose of Oasis and slightly contrived rock and roll

Everyone’s happy

Except Noel

André

Hurrah