Liam Gallagher, Why Me? Why Not., Album Rview
Liam Gallagher
Why Me? Why Not.
Album Review
Note: When reviewing this album, I will be mainly referring to the deluxe edition of this record.
The year was 2017, and the date was the 6th October. Former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher released his debut solo album As You Were, which was highly praised by reviewers, fan, and of course myself.
As You Were filled a void in the hearts of many who were longing to experience the unrivalled aesthetic of Oasis once more. Of course Liam's brother Noel Gallagher took off with his own band High Flying Birds, but Noel cemented himself as someone who wanted to break out of the traditional Oasis style, whereas Liam knew that this style is truly what many fans are asking for.
After the critical success of As You Were, I was both nervous and excited to find out where Liam's solo career would take him next. Would he ultimately become a bit of a one-trick pony, or would he develop on his style further? Fast-forward to almost precisely two years later in the late September of 2019, and that looming question had been answered with Liam's second solo album; Why Me? Why Not.
This album was teased back in June, with the fantastic single "Shockwave". The first thing that came to mind was how it basically sounded quite similar to the first teaser track for As You Were; "Wall Of Glass", only this newer teaser track actually managed to sound even better.
Along with this "Shockwave" definitely gave a good impression of how Liam's sound has grown in the last two years. It gave me the sense that this album was going to be a bit more consistent, with Liam nestling a bit more comfortably into a more tightly wrapping aesthetic.
After another three incredible teaser tracks, we finally got the album. And with it, Liam has seemingly embraced his influences a lot more. This is shown with tracks like "One Of Us", which sounds a tiny bit like a Stone Roses track with a more regal touch, the track "Meadow", which carries a lot of The Beatles stylistically, and the standard edition's final track "Gone", which could go toe-to-toe with some of the best Verve tracks. On a side note, the albums title track might just be the most Oasis-esque song since Oasis itself.
Speaking of good tracks though, I feel the need to show some awareness towards the three bonus tracks, especially "Invisible Sun" which essentially feels like the kind of song Noel has been trying to make for years. But somehow, someway, Liam has beaten him to it. On a less biased note though, this track is just downright badass.
In fact, if "Invisible Sun", and maybe "Misunderstood" were swapped out with "Be Still", and "Meadow", I would say that the standard edition of this album would be near perfect!
To elaborate on this. The only three tracks on this record I found a little bit weak were "Be Still" which ultimately missed the mark for me because of how cliche the lyrics and the vocal sequence sounded, "Meadow" just for how it sounded a bit more bleak than any other track on Why Me? Why Not. and instead sounded like it should've instead been on As You Were, and the last bonus track "Glimmer", which almost felt like a very cheesy take that number.
Other than these three tracks, the album is otherwise flawless!
This album just has so much character and "spice", with every song having something that allows it to stand out from the rest. They are all so unique in comparison to each other, yet they all feel very "Liam". With this album feeling very "Liam", this also ultimately leads to it feeling more Oasis-like as well.
And lastly, one thing that never fails to be enjoyable is the use of strings with Britpop. I don't know why, but I am just a total sucker for it. It may be that it is a combination of two of the most British musical elements, and they come together to make some sort of hyper-British grandeur of some kind. The bottom line of this point I'm making, is that Why Me? Why Not. is one of the best albums in terms of executing this well, and it is the sweet icing on the hearty cake that is this phenomenal album.
Thank you for reading,
Booth Boy
This album was teased back in June, with the fantastic single "Shockwave". The first thing that came to mind was how it basically sounded quite similar to the first teaser track for As You Were; "Wall Of Glass", only this newer teaser track actually managed to sound even better.
Along with this "Shockwave" definitely gave a good impression of how Liam's sound has grown in the last two years. It gave me the sense that this album was going to be a bit more consistent, with Liam nestling a bit more comfortably into a more tightly wrapping aesthetic.
After another three incredible teaser tracks, we finally got the album. And with it, Liam has seemingly embraced his influences a lot more. This is shown with tracks like "One Of Us", which sounds a tiny bit like a Stone Roses track with a more regal touch, the track "Meadow", which carries a lot of The Beatles stylistically, and the standard edition's final track "Gone", which could go toe-to-toe with some of the best Verve tracks. On a side note, the albums title track might just be the most Oasis-esque song since Oasis itself.
Speaking of good tracks though, I feel the need to show some awareness towards the three bonus tracks, especially "Invisible Sun" which essentially feels like the kind of song Noel has been trying to make for years. But somehow, someway, Liam has beaten him to it. On a less biased note though, this track is just downright badass.
In fact, if "Invisible Sun", and maybe "Misunderstood" were swapped out with "Be Still", and "Meadow", I would say that the standard edition of this album would be near perfect!
To elaborate on this. The only three tracks on this record I found a little bit weak were "Be Still" which ultimately missed the mark for me because of how cliche the lyrics and the vocal sequence sounded, "Meadow" just for how it sounded a bit more bleak than any other track on Why Me? Why Not. and instead sounded like it should've instead been on As You Were, and the last bonus track "Glimmer", which almost felt like a very cheesy take that number.
Other than these three tracks, the album is otherwise flawless!
This album just has so much character and "spice", with every song having something that allows it to stand out from the rest. They are all so unique in comparison to each other, yet they all feel very "Liam". With this album feeling very "Liam", this also ultimately leads to it feeling more Oasis-like as well.
And lastly, one thing that never fails to be enjoyable is the use of strings with Britpop. I don't know why, but I am just a total sucker for it. It may be that it is a combination of two of the most British musical elements, and they come together to make some sort of hyper-British grandeur of some kind. The bottom line of this point I'm making, is that Why Me? Why Not. is one of the best albums in terms of executing this well, and it is the sweet icing on the hearty cake that is this phenomenal album.
Thank you for reading,
Booth Boy
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