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Post by summersox on Sept 20, 2019 13:17:52 GMT -5
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Post by yeayeayeah on Sept 20, 2019 15:45:58 GMT -5
Reads better than the score.
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Post by Mr. Bigglesworth on Sept 21, 2019 3:07:02 GMT -5
Th german site laut.de gave it 2/5 and called it a step down as you were. "caught in his own bubble of nostalgia" kinda is the review.
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Post by elephantstone93 on Sept 21, 2019 3:37:48 GMT -5
Currently on 75 of Metacritic, which gives an average. As You Were finished on 71. It is an improvement on As You Were for me.
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HMSBaz
Oasis Roadie
Posts: 152
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Post by HMSBaz on Sept 21, 2019 4:38:46 GMT -5
Does anyone elses CD sound crap (Amazon Special Edition) production wise?? :-(
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Post by summersox on Sept 21, 2019 5:12:27 GMT -5
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Post by AubreyOasis on Sept 21, 2019 7:35:46 GMT -5
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Post by liammuc on Sept 21, 2019 7:36:12 GMT -5
Does anyone elses CD sound crap (Amazon Special Edition) production wise?? :-( How? I got the version from highresaudio.de which has the same mastering just in original 24 bit resolution and I think it sounds pretty decent. Still brickwalled like every Liam/Noel/Bead Eye/Oasis record but better than on "As you were" imo.
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Post by ricardogce on Sept 21, 2019 15:51:43 GMT -5
At least they admit that it is nonsense, as I got a "Guardian pick" for this comment:
And I'm not even British, but I guess my English gave that one away. Good Lord, I feel like I just watched Petridis masturbate in public. Gross. The smug self-satisfaction of the average commenter in there is something else. A pack of wannabes and never-weres calling the #1-selling artist at the moment a has-been. Unbelievable.
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Post by Derrick on Sept 21, 2019 18:28:42 GMT -5
I'm disappointed there's no financial section in Mojo Magazine, I'd like to have their expertise in stock market analysis.
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Post by joladella on Sept 22, 2019 2:55:30 GMT -5
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Post by mancraider on Sept 23, 2019 13:41:23 GMT -5
American Songwriter 4/5 americansongwriter.com/2019/09/liam-gallagher-why-me-why-not/Toggle navigation MENU Search HOME REVIEWS ALBUM REVIEWS LIAM GALLAGHER: WHY ME? WHY NOT. Liam Gallagher: Why Me? Why Not. Written By Jim Beviglia // September 23, 2019 Liam Gallagher Why Me? Why Not. (Warner Records) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars It’s easy to forget just how compelling Liam Gallagher can be singing rock and roll songs. If you only focus on the peripheral stuff, you might have missed out on the fact that Gallagher is building a better-late-than-never solo career about to take a big leap. Why Me? Why Not. builds on its predecessor, 2017’s As You Were, sounding a lot more confident and sure-footed. Gallagher enlists a bevy of co-writers and producers, most notably do-it-all types Greg Kurstin and Andrew Wyatt. But he is listed as co-writer on every one of the 11 tracks here. However much he contributed, the difference from the previous album is notable. While As You Were sounded like what Gallagher thought people wanted to hear from him, the new record sounds like what he truly wants to say. His voice, once braying and antagonistic on the Oasis classics, has softened up a bit, showing vulnerability on the nostalgic ballad “Once” and empathy on the character sketch “Alright Now.” He can still summon the old sneer on up-tempo thumpers like “Shockwave” and “Halo.” But he also expertly displays open-hearted cheer on “Now That I’ve Found You” and bluesy menace on “Gone.” The songs are stronger as a whole the second time around, with some, like the title track and “Be Still”, nicely approximating an Oasis-like combination of bluster and beauty. Speaking of that star-crossed, brotherly band, “One Of Us” could be seen as a message of sorts to Noel; “You said we’d live forever,” Liam sings. But it is not sung with rancor, rather with a sense of disappointment at opportunities lost. Kurstin has worked recently with Paul McCartney, and Why Me? Why Not. is indeed comparable to one of Macca’s recent solo albums, a little modern, a little throwback, a lot of good stuff. Don’t miss out on the resurgence of Liam Gallagher while you’re hoping against hope for the return of his former band.
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yogurt
Oasis Roadie
Posts: 363
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Post by yogurt on Sept 23, 2019 16:42:42 GMT -5
Reviews averaging out around 3/5. Probably fair enough 5/5 are real classics, 4/5 for still brilliant albums 3/5 can seem low but its still a good rating if you’re realistic about what’s 4/5 and 5/5 is.
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Post by GlastoEls on Sept 23, 2019 17:52:35 GMT -5
75 AVG on Metacritic.
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Post by Mario on Sept 24, 2019 0:14:37 GMT -5
That is exactly where it belongs. Many good songs, and I feel like it's going to grow on me.
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Post by Lennon2217 on Sept 24, 2019 0:55:00 GMT -5
Did the Apple Beats interview surface around these parts yet? Not a member so I can't watch or listen. Bummer city.
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Post by mancraider on Sept 24, 2019 0:56:05 GMT -5
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Post by Lennon2217 on Sept 24, 2019 0:56:20 GMT -5
Pitchfork gave it a 6.3 which I consider a massive success. pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/liam-gallagher-why-me-why-not/?mbid=social_twitter&utm_brand=p4k&utm_medium=social&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=twitterThere’s a moment on “Halo,” the fifth song on Liam Gallagher’s Why Me? Why Not., where the rocker breaks down and a flute comes to the forefront in a flourish of purple psychedelia. At that precise moment, it’s hard not to think of “Halo” as a sideways dig at “Holy Mountain,” the pounding, flute-filled first single from Noel Gallagher’s 2017 album, Who Built the Moon? Then again, it’s generally hard to think of Liam Gallagher without thinking of his estranged sibling. More than being just brothers, the pair have historically had complementary strengths, with Noel providing Oasis their songs and Liam giving the band its voice and charisma.
Noel managed to shake off the ghost of Oasis, but that task has proven much harder for Liam to achieve. Why Me? Why Not. is Liam’s second solo album, arriving after a pair of albums by Beady Eye, a group that was effectively latter-day Oasis without Noel. Considering that Noel was the chief songwriter in Oasis, this was a problem. It’s not that Liam didn’t write. He began contributing to Oasis albums in 2000, once rock’n’roll excess and sibling stress started to take a toll on Noel, and Liam continued to contribute a few tunes every few years, always maintaining a respectable level of craft without ever threatening to approach his brother’s level of mastery.
Beady Eye eroded Gallagher’s sales but not his fame. Tabloids continued to pursue Liam not only because he was mired in personal troubles, but because he made good copy. Tales of divorce and illegitimate children kept him in the spotlight as he made the slow transition from lead singer to lone wolf. When he reintroduced himself as a solo singer in 2017 with As You Were, the move made sense, since he needed to draw a clear line between himself, Beady Eye, and Oasis. What is a mystery is why he’s chosen to replicate this same maneuver for Why Me? Why Not.
Accompanied by a documentary film that attempts to justify Gallagher’s wanderings in the aftermath of Oasis—a movie that quickly devolves into an extended press kit, where the moments of high drama involve a late-night Twitter meltdown where friends plead, “Put the phone down”—Why Me? Why Not. scans as a re-introduction, right down to its title. That’s hardly necessary, in part because Liam has spent half of his life as one of the most documented humans on Earth, but also because musical forward motion is a foreign concept to him. Ever since Oasis conquered the world in 1995, he’s settled for singing psychedelic pop tunes, earnest ballads, and glam-rock stompers, a combination that also fuels Why Me? Why Not.
The sound may remain the same but the vibe does not. Oasis were young men dreaming of escape, but Liam Gallagher is a middle-aged man who is happy to be here now; there is no hunger here, no yearning, just classy contentment. Familiarity is a tonic. Now, when Liam nods to the Beatles—“Once” opens with a melodic line reminiscent of John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy,” “Meadow” has a slide guitar straight out of George Harrison—it’s not a matter of arrogance: The fleeting Fab Four allusions are intended as a secret bond between Gallagher and fans. Similarly, nothing on the album sounds exactly like Oasis—it’s all too controlled and studio-sculpted—but not a song here would’ve been imaginable without the Gallaghers’ enthusiastic embrace of classic rock tropes. “The River” rambles along to crunching chords and swirling organs; “One of Us” indulges in a bit of nostalgic mid-tempo melancholy; “Gone” achieves a bit of cinematic grandeur with its spaghetti Western orchestration.
Oasis never attempted to paint with such a colorful palette, and the increased level of professional craft is surely due to the presence of Greg Kurstin and Andrew Wyatt, producers and songwriters who also worked on As You Were. Kurstin and Wyatt were enlisted as collaborators because Gallagher recognized the limitations of his songwriting; he has no shame in this—it’s one of the plot points in the documentary. This pair, along with a handful of other behind-the-scenes musicians, help turn Liam’s ideas into songs, honing their hooks so they snag quickly and painlessly, polishing the production so it gleams like a wall of mirrors. Every trick in the book is here: sawing strings, fuzzy guitars, stacks of harmonies, all with sequenced rhythms that gently push Gallagher right into the mainstream of modern music circa 2009. Maybe it’s not exactly modern, but it’s closer than Gallagher has been in the past.
The team of producers on Why Me? Why Not. helps refine Gallagher’s sonic signatures, but it also pushes him into adult-alternative territory. Which means that Liam, the last great rock singer of the 20th century, is now a pop vocalist. Age has softened his rasp, a change he modulates by singing with precision, not abandon. It can be pleasurable to hear him sing with such restraint—he’s turning into a nuanced ballad singer, as evidenced by the sepia-toned “Once”—but the shift underscores how his musical and emotional range is restrained by his adherence to the past. This fundamental musical conservatism still has its charms, but as he gets older, it’s beginning to be overwhelmed by nostalgia. Where Liam Gallagher once yearned for years he never experienced, he’s now pining for his glory days, a shift that gives his purportedly friendly music an accidentally pensive undercurrent. Despite the shiny, bright surfaces, what’s left unspoken is that Liam is not quite ready to admit that he’s already had the time of his life and is not quite sure what to do next.
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Post by Mr. Sifter on Sept 24, 2019 1:29:50 GMT -5
Pitchfork gave it a 6.3 which I consider a massive success. That is truly shocking. Impressive!
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Post by AubreyOasis on Sept 24, 2019 1:32:47 GMT -5
Very good ! I was just about to post this. Whatever you think of Pitchfork they remain very influential The reviewer is Stephen Erlewine Thomas, who wrote several (good) Oasis reviews in AllMusic (he gave DOYS 4.5 stars) and is now also in Pitchfork. I have always thought he is a good crític, always worth reading Curious note: he has a Liam pic in his Twitter account: (@sterlewine): twitter.com/sterlewine?s=09
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Post by mrsifters80 on Sept 24, 2019 2:52:54 GMT -5
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is one of my favourite reviewers. Nice to see him work for Pitchfork. I would have expected he'd give the album a higher rating, but very accurate review nonetheless. He is a big fan of oasis, so he surely knows what he is talking about.
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Post by andymorris on Sept 24, 2019 3:37:54 GMT -5
Does anyone elses CD sound crap (Amazon Special Edition) production wise?? :-( How? I got the version from highresaudio.de which has the same mastering just in original 24 bit resolution and I think it sounds pretty decent. Still brickwalled like every Liam/Noel/Bead Eye/Oasis record but better than on "As you were" imo. HMSBaz first half of the record (and The River) is a pain to listen to on quality equipement. More so than any other recording by a Gallagher. Why Me why not marks the spot for me, after that, it's way better. But the first tracks are an absolute mess, brickwalled to the max, compressed to the max. I got the Flac version and it's really, really bad up until WMWN. When you switch to regular headphone the difference is slim and it's not that a mess, so i guess it was intended.
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Post by janedoe on Sept 24, 2019 4:53:57 GMT -5
Pitchfork gave it a 6.3 which I consider a massive success.
Noel managed to shake off the ghost of Oasis...So, the 52-year old's work is OK. The music industry is geared to young rebels. It must be tough reviewing works from people with a long career. Rolling Stones, The Who, and Paul McCartney have not shaken off their ghosts.
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Post by norkbauer on Sept 24, 2019 9:07:40 GMT -5
Pitchfork ratings:
1) Who Built the Moon = 7,1 2) Why Me? Why Not. = 6,3 3) Chasing Yesterday = 5,9 4) BE = 5,8 5) Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds = 5,7 6) As You Were = 4,9
DGSS wasn't reviewed.
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Post by Derrick on Sept 24, 2019 14:41:56 GMT -5
Very good ! I was just about to post this. Whatever you think of Pitchfork they remain very influential The reviewer is Stephen Erlewine Thomas, who wrote several (good) Oasis reviews in AllMusic (he gave DOYS 4.5 stars) and is now also in Pitchfork. I have always thought he is a good crític, always worth reading Curious note: he has a Liam pic in his Twitter account: (@sterlewine): twitter.com/sterlewine?s=09Also what's that tweet mentioning a paper crown? EDIT: hadn't read his review yet, he's referring to "Halo". He still thought it was worth tweeting about, & pinning it!
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