Saddleworth2
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Some do. Some don’t.
Said the profound yet belligerent Scot.
The Album Review Club - Week #191 (page 1286) - Harlequin Dream - Boy & Bear
- Thread starter RobMCFC
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Said the profound yet belligerent Scot.
threespires
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Yeah, what I wrote's clearly wide of the mark but your responses have got me thinking about it all a bit more. Including about my own "inner lad" which was never that strong anyway and had definitely gone awol in 94. This album is juvenile, and I don't mean that in a perjorative sense, it's an observation and possilbly even a compliment. I remain a bit juvenile to this day but in a very different way to this, which is in part why, though I don't mind it, I don't really connect with it the way others do.
RobMCFC
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I would say the biggest rip-off on the album is "Cigarettes & Alchohol" which is basically T-Rex's "Get it On".
However, I do agree with you point in general. There's only 8 notes and all that. In fact, it amazes me that we still have space for original music these days! All the best riffs must have been done already.
RobMCFC
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Definitely Maybe - Oasis
The first time that I heard Oasis was courtesy of a free CD that came with Q magazine in the Autumn of 1994. I was 26 years-old for the pollsters . Same CD that included a track from Grant Lee Buffalo, so that was an influential issue. Having said that, whilst Grant Lee Buffalo remains in my all-time top 20, Oasis is nowhere near it. It took me a while to get around to buying Definitely Maybe and after buying the first three albums, I just let the band driftquietly noisily away.
The track on that Q sampler was “Slide Away”, and as @BlueHammer85 says, it’s an amazing track. Whilst I’m not too fussed on the opener or “Shakermaker”, the album really gets going with “Live Forever”. From this point, it’s a brilliant six-song run. A couple of average tracks bracketing the magnificent “Slide Away” and you have an album that’s definitely got more going for it than against it. Maybe. You're saying definitely maybe, I'm saying probably no - bonus points if somebody can name the artist and song there.
What I like about Definitely Maybe is the sound of the guitars, and whilst Liam Gallagher’s vocals are not everybody’s cup of tea, in my position of Chairman of the Association of Anti-British Indie Mumblers, have this to say: he doesn’t hold back, he gives it his all, goes for it and communicates with his audience. He’s not the best singer, but he's better than 99% of the indie mob.
The strength of this album is in the consistency of the songs. “Live Forever”, “Supersonic” and “Slide Away” are all classics but when you have songs like “Up in the Sky”, “Columbia”, “Bring it on Down” and “Cigarettes and Alcohol” in the support slots, you are doing something right. I also think Noel Gallagher is a decent songwriter; I respectfully disagree with Bill in that the songs are too simple. Many Creedence Clearwater Revival songs have a simple chord structure, but for me are some of the defining moments of late 60s music. However, you can’t ignore that Noel is a bit of a musical Dick Turpin.
I own this album but it’s not one I play often, and it wouldn’t be in my top 100, but it is a very good listen. So, throwing all of this into the score blender, I’m going to give it 8.5/10.
The first time that I heard Oasis was courtesy of a free CD that came with Q magazine in the Autumn of 1994. I was 26 years-old for the pollsters . Same CD that included a track from Grant Lee Buffalo, so that was an influential issue. Having said that, whilst Grant Lee Buffalo remains in my all-time top 20, Oasis is nowhere near it. It took me a while to get around to buying Definitely Maybe and after buying the first three albums, I just let the band drift
The track on that Q sampler was “Slide Away”, and as @BlueHammer85 says, it’s an amazing track. Whilst I’m not too fussed on the opener or “Shakermaker”, the album really gets going with “Live Forever”. From this point, it’s a brilliant six-song run. A couple of average tracks bracketing the magnificent “Slide Away” and you have an album that’s definitely got more going for it than against it. Maybe. You're saying definitely maybe, I'm saying probably no - bonus points if somebody can name the artist and song there.
What I like about Definitely Maybe is the sound of the guitars, and whilst Liam Gallagher’s vocals are not everybody’s cup of tea, in my position of Chairman of the Association of Anti-British Indie Mumblers, have this to say: he doesn’t hold back, he gives it his all, goes for it and communicates with his audience. He’s not the best singer, but he's better than 99% of the indie mob.
The strength of this album is in the consistency of the songs. “Live Forever”, “Supersonic” and “Slide Away” are all classics but when you have songs like “Up in the Sky”, “Columbia”, “Bring it on Down” and “Cigarettes and Alcohol” in the support slots, you are doing something right. I also think Noel Gallagher is a decent songwriter; I respectfully disagree with Bill in that the songs are too simple. Many Creedence Clearwater Revival songs have a simple chord structure, but for me are some of the defining moments of late 60s music. However, you can’t ignore that Noel is a bit of a musical Dick Turpin.
I own this album but it’s not one I play often, and it wouldn’t be in my top 100, but it is a very good listen. So, throwing all of this into the score blender, I’m going to give it 8.5/10.
BimboBob
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Yeah, only 6 in Aussie MOR.
Saddleworth2
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I don't mind admitting that they bring out the juvenile in me. Liam in particular, his delivery, persona, the swagger all of which isn't a natural fit for my personality. And they were blues...
From someone that grew up listening to the John Mclaughlin Mahivishnu Orchestra, the music was simplistic and obvious, the lyrics dire, but, I still loved them.
I still amuse my granddaughters by adopting a Manc accent and the Liam swagger. "oh Grandpa, you are so silly".
They got that right.
RobMCFC
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Ha ha. I had actually types 12 and then deleted it because I couldn't remember whether it was 12 or 13.
Anyway, the original 8 now goes up to 10 - according to Holly from Red Dwarf, he added "boh" and "woh" to form the 10-note musical scale.
threespires
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My family piss themselves if I do my Liam impression ; the least manc manc in the world I think is the phrase they use.
He may be a good frontman. He is not a good singer though. And better than 99% of britrish 'indie' singers? Aye ok.
I don't like either album. But I agree with this, DM is the better album. It also as their debut is fresher, and purer.
And doesn't come with the accrued side shit that surrounds them and is ultimately what makes them both so popular and unpopular.
Saddleworth2
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Onholiday(somemightsay)
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He has a unique talent - divisive likeability............ ;-)
RobMCFC
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OK, 99% is an exaggeration - let's go with 90%. He doesn't mumble into the mic which immediately puts him into the top 10%.
I cannot stress enough that this is what amazes me about the popularity of UK indie music. Most of the singers just can't sing or don't seem to want to communicate, with Ian Brown being the torchbearer (in the negative sense, that is). Most of these singers don't "go for it" with the mic in their hands.
He doesn't mumble into the mic? Ok now you are just wumming lol. That's literally his trademark.
BlueHammer85
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No, i get what he means. You clearly hear the words Liam is belting out, whereas Stone Roses, Radiohead, Arcade Fire etc have frontmen that sing in a way that it's quite hard to work out the lyrics. Never bothered me either way to be fair.
I disagree.
And apart of some of arcade fire, none are bands I like or feel the need to 'defend', it is more a comment on Liam's singing. He is a mic-mumbler as well.
The Lightbowne Cowboy
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I always said he'd be much better if he just had a bit more confidence and self belief. :-D“I’ve mellowed, but not in the sense of liking Radiohead or Coldplay.”
“I see myself as one of the f**king true great rock’n’roll singers on the planet.”
RobMCFC
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BlueHammer has hit the nail on the head.
Definition of mumble:-
say something indistinctly and quietly making it difficult for others to hear.
That is not the very definition of what Liam G is doing. You might think he has an awful voice or stretches his vowels in a stupid way, but he certainly doesn't mumble.
We'll just have to agree to disagree, but I don't wan to derail the album discussion.