“Solo record, are you fucking tripping dickhead? I’m not a c***”. So said Liam Gallagher back in January 2016, before his memorable announcement a few months later proclaiming that, “it’s official, I’m a c***”. What has followed has been a (at times hilarious) one-man publicity blitz on Twitter, signing off every tweet with the now ubiquitous ‘as you were’. Alongside a series of high-profile gigs over the summer, the former Oasis frontman has single-handedly dragged himself back into a spotlight that many felt was now only in his past (or at least until his former band got back together).

Produced by man-of-the-moment Greg Kurstin (Adele, Foo Fighters), alongside Andrew Wyatt and Dan Grech-Marguerat, As You Were feels like Gallagher sweeping the board of indie-rock contenders, taking centre stage once more. Album opener ‘Wall of Glass’ you know. Brash, swaggering, confrontational and with a huge sound reminiscent of Be Here Now. While nothing else on the album sounds quite as fierce, it wouldn’t be right to think of this as a mellow or plodding record. Instead, it simply keeps its anger contained, fists clenched behind its back – Liam has revealed a more mature sound than was perhaps expected, but he is still fully prepared to settle scores when necessary.

Lyrically, it hits all of the marks that you would expect from a Liam Gallagher solo album. Not surprisingly, there is a generous sprinkling of Beatles references peppered throughout both the lyrics and the production itself. He’s also not afraid to pilfer from his own back catalogue, ‘For What It’s Worth’ in particular is a direct descendent of ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ sonically. Thematically, the album has a fairly even mixture of verbal assaults on unnamed individuals, or soul-stirring potential anthems of a sort familiar to any Oasis fan.

It is the moments that show that he has lost none of the fire in his belly, and will tackle any perceived slights on his character, that sets the album alight. ‘Greedy Soul’ references some of his previous troubles (“You’ve got your kiss and tell, I hope you go to hell”), while album closer ‘I Never Wanna Be Like You’ teases with a chorus of: “Oh what a bummer/If they only knew what I’ve uncovered, they’d be swerving you/they’d never want to be like you”. Whether the target is Noel or someone else is unclear, but big brother does seem to be referenced on ‘For What It’s Worth’, as close to an act of contrition that you get, with the lines: “The first bird to fly gets all the arrows/Let’s leave the past behind with all our sorrows/I’ll build a bridge between us and I’ll swallow my pride.”

The truth of course though, is that nobody will be buying this expecting lyrical trickery. It’s all about the attitude and the vibes, and this album has them both in spades. Despite a tailing off in quality towards the end, Liam has somehow (and somewhat surprisingly) produced an album that may just (whisper it) be the best solo Gallagher album so far. The market for this album is simple. Fans of Oasis will relish having Liam back, particularly the re-energised version on display here. As You Were is streets ahead of Beady Eye’s output, which now looks like a knee jerk reaction from a man desperate to keep his band together in some way. People left cold by Oasis will find little here to change their opinions however. Quelle surprise, or indeed…as you were.

Jamie MacMillan

Website – liamgallagher.com
Facebook – facebook.com/LiamGallagherOfficial
Twitter – twitter.com/liamgallagher