Noel Was The Heart And Soul of Oasis, Liam Was Just The Mouth

Ever since Oasis broke up, we've all been waiting for the two Gallagher brothers to come up with their much-hyped solo releases. Liam was first out of the blocks with his new band, Beady Eye, which is pretty much just Oasis without Noel (the other two members of Beady Eye were also in Oasis), releasing Different Gear, Still Speeding in April.

At first listen, Beady Eye sounded like Oasis, though that was pretty much probably because Liam was the lead singer of Oasis after all. Then you start listening to the songs properly, and although they were decent, I somehow felt they just did not measure up to what Oasis use to come up with (even during their lesser albums like Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants and Be Here Now). My favorite out of the whole album was probably The Beat Goes On, which ironically was quite Noel-esque in nature. The rest sounded like Liam was trying to sound macho and trying TOO hard to prove that he was better than his brother.

Then, came Noel's High Flying Birds. And the difference was clear. Noel's songwriting is DEFINITELY, WITHOUT A DOUBT the stronger of the two brothers, and it shows. The songs may be gentler than Beady Eye's, but the melodies are splendid, and the lyrics certainly kick Liam's ass soundly. Sure, his singing voice might not have that 'raw madchester' thing Shaolintiger thinks Liam's has, but it certainly is no pushover either.

Besides, if you think about it, I personally think one of the greatest songs Oasis has ever recorded was Don't Look Back In Anger... which was written AND sung by Noel Gallagher. And every other hit the band had, especially on their firsts two albums Definitely Maybe and (What's The Story) Morning Glory? Yup, ALL written by Noel Gallagher. (The only Liam-penned song I REALLY like is Songbird. The rest were pretty shite).

Anyway, I tried an experiement where I put both albums in the same playlsit and shuffled it, and I found that the songs I skipped the most were the Beady Eye ones. Conclusion? Sorry Liam, you may have been the band's voice and attitude, but Noel was the true heart and soul of Oasis.