ALLAN COLLINS
staff writer

That name that defined the ‘80s for British rock music, Liam Gallagher, is one of the brothers who founded the now-defunct band Oasis.
They were one of the biggest bands to come out of England since The Beatles and Pink Floyd.
But, here we are now in 2017, and Liam decided to start up a new solo career and “As You Were” definitely is an album.
I love Oasis. I love the way that Liam’s voice lingered through their songs and somehow, by God’s grace, his voice sounds the exact same as it did 30-some years ago.
It’s actually quite amazing that his voice still sounds as nasally and raspy as it did back then.
Also in true Oasis fashion, there are quite a lot of songs on the record, totaling out to 15 tracks –13 plus two bonus tracks on the deluxe edition.
There are a lot of great tracks on the listing including songs like “Bold,” “Universal Gleam,” “I’ve All I Need” and “Doesn’t Have to be That Way.”
They all have a great arena rock feel and have a lot of charm and power, whether it be through the groovy guitar chords or the very punchy drum beats.
However, there are some songs like “Chinatown,” “Come Back to Me,” “All My People/All Mankind” and “I Never Wanna Be Like You” that just don’t have enough energy or staying power to keep you listening to them. They quickly become skippable the more you listen to the record.
Now onto production, which there really isn’t much of. It’s pretty straightforward and sounds just like Oasis in the ‘80s.
However, this hits the glaring negative of the record. “As You Were” is basically an Oasis album. The record just feels like 15 tracks that maybe the band recorded but forgot about or a bunch of B-Sides.
The only difference is that most of the time Liam doesn’t have a real drummer, and he has to use a drum beat to create the punchy drumming that is splattered throughout the record.
Everything from the sound, production, melodies and vocals just has the same Oasis flare that made them popular. It’s not that this is bad, but that it’s very uninspired. Liam probably got to recording and realized that he only knows one thing, and it’s this.
There is a quite funny way of summing all this up: overall this album would be a 8/10 or even a 9/10 because of the power, energy and aesthetic that the album brings (other than the few glaring songs). The production and the organization of the songs just add more to the great feel of the record.
But, it’s 2017, not 1987 or even 1997 for that matter. This sound has been dead for quite a while. But, for people who want a nostalgic feel for little under an hour, then go ahead and give this a listen.
I will give this the benefit of the doubt and give the record a little bit higher of a rating than it should receive on the premise that the vocals are still flawless.
Happy listening, Gannon University!

• Album Rating: high 5/10 to low 6/10
• Favorite Song: “I’ve All I Need”
• Least Favorite Song: “Chinatown”
• Related Artists: Oasis

ALLAN COLLINS
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