Beady Eye - Different gear, still speeding

It was no surprise that after the lacklustre and patchy releases that failed to revisit the earlier glory days of Oasis that Noel and Liam would finally part ways.
Between them they had flogged that horse to death twice over.
It would however be fair to say that in the aftermath of this decision that the majority would have laid bets that Noel would flourish without the swaggering macho council estate antics of Liam reflecting poorly on him. While Liam himself would slip and slide further down the celebrity status list until the only time we would ever hear about him was if he managed to have a swing at the milkman in the early hours after leaving a tupperware party at Kerry Katona's.
Then in his usual cocksure manner Liam announced that he would be back with Beady Eye to blow Oasis out of the water.
Critics quietly laughed and filed his comments away as the delusional rantings of the compulsive braggart. Last orders had been called on Liam Gallagher.
Now with the album being leaked it would certainly seem that quite a few people, including myself, will have to slice themselves a large portion of humble pie as Liam has just released the best piece of work that he has been involved in since “Definitely Maybe” or “What's the Story”.
Across the breadth of the songs this is the best and most varied he has ever sounded.
Still instantly recognisable, but with a bit of added oomph.
It would seem fair to say that without Noel at the helm he has flourished, or more accurately the whole band have, and I'm sure this will raise much debate. Did he run Oasis with an iron rod to ensure it was his vision, or were the rest of the guys happy to allow him to carry the responsibility on his shoulders while they coasted in his wake? Does anyone really care?
I guess we will never know, but it would be safe to venture that the hardcore Oasis fans aren't going to find much to criticize about this as he has delivered exactly what they have been waiting for.
More surprisingly though is that once “Different gear, still speeding” has sunk in I could envision that there could be quite a few more converts flocking to Liam's corner.
On the album itself the ghost of John Lennon certainly casts a very large shadow, and while it would be easy to claim it was a distraction, the real strength of Beady Eye's debut lies in the career defining vocal performance from Liam and the enthusiasm with which the band attacks the material.
This is very, very, good rock and roll.
I suspect that it doesn't really need stating that it's a homage to the swinging sixties with the crossover appeal that you would expect from that as everything that has come before from Liam has been, but it maybe does need to be highlighted that instead of slavishly recreating the halcyon days of the Beatles, the Kinks et al Beady Eye have successfully dragged that era into the here and now and maintained its exuberance more so than Oasis ever did. No small feat in itself.
They're certainly not the first band to attempt this but they are one of the very few to have done so while maintaining a fresh angle on it.
It goes without saying that Beady Eye should be rightfully proud of their début.
Not because it has redefined anything, or even provided us with a new sound, but purely because it will serve to give many of their maudlin contemporaries a kick up the backside while simultaneously showing others that there is certainly plenty of life in the old dog yet.
Fair play to Liam. The ball is now in Noel's court, and if he returns with some Welleresque balladeering then it will be no surprise if he is the brother who becomes yesterdays nowhere man.
All we can do now is wait and see.
As a side issue I'll add that I fervently hope that “Different gear, still speeding” reignites a love for guitar driven rock and ushers in yet another revival of successful guitar bands in the UK, because we could really do with some more of that to shake up an increasingly sterile mainstream scene.