Album Review: Beady Eye - BE

Oh, Liam Gallagher. At 40 with three kids you should really leave the teen angst and sibling rivalry to them. With song titles and lyrics still moaning about NME and Don't Brother Me, it's tempting to dismiss Beady Eye's second album BE as juvenile trite. Especially given the band's existence is almost solely down to Liam's seemingly endless desire to stick it to Noel.

However, a few listens in and you start to notice that the lyrics, although lacking in profundity, are incredibly personal. The opening line for Face The Crowd is brutal “Time to face the people/Take a gamble/With your pride”, and it the rest is just as raw. TV On The Radio guitarist Dave Sitek produced the album and has brought the foreseeable element of nu-electro prog to their sound. Read: many tracks go an extra 20-40 seconds longer than they really need to. However he also brings continuity through the many styles on BE. The slower tracks are captivating, with the lullaby style of Start Anew bursting with promise. Ballroom Figured pairs an acoustic waltz with a harmony that sounds eerily like Crowded House's Into Temptation. Echoes of Oasis linger in Shine A Light and I'm Just Saying, which also exhibit a Stone Roses vibe. 

With every spin you start to think of Beady Eye less as Oasis without Noel, and as Beady Eye, who used to let Liam's older brother jam with them, and if you can listen to BE without knowing who the band is, through shuffle or Spotify, there is much to like. However, the chances of the band ever escaping the Gallagher shackles are slim.