Liam Gallagher & John Squire
Liam Gallagher John Squire

Liam Gallagher and John Squire also join this new (although not completely unprecedented) trend of joint albums.

Introductions are almost unnecessary, but here we go: on one side, the former Oasis frontman, currently riding a wave created by an almost impeccable solo career so far, and on the other side, the sixty-one-year-old former guitarist of the legendary Stone Roses (and later Seahorses). Both join forces in a project that bears nothing but their two names, along with a frankly underwhelming cover (done by Squire himself, who, in the long time spent away from music, has also taken an interest in other forms of art, like painting).

It so happened that Squire had a bunch of new songs ready, right around the time when Liam invited him to take the stage again at Knebworth to play Champagne Supernova many years after that unforgettable first time with the Oasis; Squire then asked the younger Gallagher to sing on those songs, and Liam certainly didn't need to be asked twice, considering his absolute reverence for the Roses.

The super producer Greg Kurstin was recruited both behind the board and on bass, in addition to the highly experienced drummer Joey Waronker (already behind the kit for R.E.M., Beck, and Roger Waters), and together the two produce an album that sounds exactly as we might expect: well-played, hyper-classic in its references, and dominated by the voice of a Liam Gallagher who seems to be experiencing a second youthful phase vocally. Although all the tracks were written by Squire, they seem to have benefited from some very effective melodic ideas from the singer (according to John, while Liam has been more cautious on the topic).

Let's start from a premise that seems obvious but isn't: John Squire isn't Noel Gallagher. If you're looking for a purely Oasis-like sound, you risk being disappointed: there are traces of it in the first two tracks of the album, the opener and new single "Raise Your Hands" (with its na na na and a rhythm somewhat like the Charlatans and somewhat like Stereophonics) and the second single "Mars To Liverpool," especially for a stadium-perfect chorus fitting for Liam's vocals. For the rest of the work, Squire's references aim more at the sixties/seventies (Stones, Faces, Weller) and even at blues tout-court (the splendid "I'm A Wheel," where Gallagher, somewhat surprisingly, feels perfectly at ease).

If the lead single "Just Another Rainbow" seemed to mistakenly confront us with a Stone Roses album sung by Liam (echoes of "Waterfall" are very present), the rest of the work categorically denies this feeling: the Beatles are obviously unavoidable, both in the almost-divertissement "Make It Up As You Go Along" and in the beautiful "One Day At A Time," and surprising is the almost Cream-like turn of "Love You Forever." Punk cannot be missed in the raw and tight "I'm Bored" and the sparkling britpop of "You're Not The Only One" with the final chant "Mother Nature's Song."

Good start for the two heavyweights of Manchester.

Best track: Mother Nature's Song