Dave Grohl and Liam Gallagher don’t have much in common on the surface.
Personality-wise they’re on polar opposite ends of the spectrum – one is a
relentlessly humble crowd-pleasing ambassador of US rock, whilst the other
is a straight-talking Twitter-rowing cocky jack-the-lad of Britpop
fame. So why have I decided to lump them both under one review, other than
being the lazy sod I am?
Hear me out. Both artists rose to fame in the 90s making
catchy, stylistically-unique rock anthems and have since continued to remain
omnipresent personalities in the rock scene. Even after the inevitable Oasis
breakup, Liam continued to make music via his Beady Eye project, whilst Grohl
has continued to front the Foo Fighters despite every other member seemingly
being replaced. Each rock star has brought an influential and distinctive sound
that they’ve stayed loyal to and right now they’re both at a very similar stage
in their careers.
Gallagher and Grohl have both made half-hearted attempts to
deviate their style in recent years. The Foos formula of epic guitars, singalong
chorus and occasional screeches was traded in on their 2014 album Sonic Highways for some classic rock
homages, but you could hardly call it a fresh new direction. Similarly, Liam
Gallagher’s attempt to do something new with Beady Eye ended up more like a
cheap imitation of The Rolling Stones, of whom Oasis were already influenced by.
Given these small deviations didn’t work, the two artists
have now gone back to their original sounds. Reliability can be comforting – if
it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But after twenty five years of the same shtick,
you have to wonder whether the magic is starting to wear off.
I say this as a diehard Foos fan and a long-time Oasis
lover. Both Concrete and Gold and As You Were turned out to be everything
I anticipated. There’s even signs that they’re now ripping off their old songs.
The Foos 9th album begins with an acoustic intro titled ‘T-shirt’
that sounds identical to the opener of 1997’s The Colour And The Shape. ‘For What Is It Worth’ meanwhile feels
distinctly like a watered-down ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’. These may well be deliberate
self-references, but it doesn’t make them feel any less derivative.
Of course, both artists can still craft tunes that feel
original and infectious enough to make you forgive the blander moments. The
Foos lay down a three-hit-combo at the beginning of the record including
screech-along lead single ‘Run’, groovy Aerosmith-esque ‘Make it Right’ and
belting stomper ‘The Sky Is A Neighbourhood’ that almost has an Imagine Dragons
tinge to it (in the best possible way). Liam’s ‘Wall of Glass’ meanwhile opens As I Were in spectacular style with
squealing harmonica and bluesy guitar, whilst true anthems such as tumbling ‘I
Get By’ and hazy ‘When I’m In Need’ spring up later in the tracklist.
Both artists have never tried too hard when it comes to
lyrics. At this point it’s a mixture of clichés and nonsense, although Liam’s
horror-themed balderdash ‘She gotta 666/
I got my crucifix/ She got a spinning head/ Likes The Ungrateful Dead’ is a
lot more witty and entertaining than the Foos’ ode to aliens ‘The Sky is A
Neighbourhood’. That said the Foos have the advantage that their LP is half the
length of As You Were, which begins
to overstay it’s welcome beyond ‘Come Back To Me’.
Gallagher and Grohl certainly have put some graft into these
albums and both have a superb ear for melody and a good chorus, but both could
benefit from coming up with an album concept rather than creating another
medley of songs. Consider Queens of the
Stone Age’s latest release – whilst I did find the production off-putting,
you can’t argue that it has its own flavour. A reliable recipe works only for
so long – sooner or later people want to taste something new.
Concrete and Gold by The Foo Fighters: ★★★☆☆
As You Were by Liam Gallagher: ★★★☆☆