It has been 30 years as of 2024 since the stunning Oasis debut Definitely Maybe was released. That album cemented Liam Gallagher as one of the greatest vocalists of the 1990s, taking inspiration from John Lennon (The Beatles) and John Lydon (Sex Pistols, Public Image Ltd.) as a singer, wishing to be a halfway house between those singers. The Stones Roses were also a large influence on Oasis, namely as an influential band from Manchester, which is the same city that Oasis was from. Indeed, it is noteworthy that Liam Gallagher himself loved the Stone Roses and wanted initially to sing just like Ian Brown, their singer, before progressing into his own sound as a vocalist. John Squire was the guitarist for the Stone Roses and played on their 1989 debut self-titled album, which is now widely perceived to be a classic album. This is the first major effort by John Squire in a very long time, musically speaking. Liam Gallagher loved the idea of collaborating with various artists, but this is the first real amalgamation of his unique singing and music with another musician who is not Noel Gallagher, ever since Oasis was finished back in 2009. This, therefore, needs to be listened to and observed. Let’s check out this 2024 release and we can hope that it is an exciting and essential listening experience.

Raise Your Hands begins with some Fender Stratocaster lead playing, and Liam’s rather awful singing voice. To be fair, he sounds worse than ever and this is an okay song, but is unimpressive vocally. This is exactly why Noel Gallagher doesn’t need his brother Liam Gallagher anymore. He just cannot sing that well in his older age and even autotune cannot help things much here. The music is quite good, but Liam’s raspy vocals destroy this music. John Squire plays some good guitar breaks, but save your ears and go and listen to Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds instead. There is a Blues pickup guitar solo that is actually quite impressive. Some Britpop style na-na-na’s are present, along with some repeated vocals in the second half of this song. A good song ruined by Liam Gallagher’s aged singing, this is enough to put off fans from this album entirely. Obviously, Liam has done some damage to his singing voice over the years. Some piano and pseudo-Jimi Hendrix soloing is at the end here before this thankfully fades out.

Mars To Liverpool is one of the leadoff singles from the album. It begins with some rather The Clash-styled guitar and launches into a really ordinary song, one which demands a better singer. This song is not really that good, and this music is very cringe-worthy. The sounds throughout, although having potential, are like having a strangled cat superglued to an artistic masterpiece, in relation to Liam Gallagher’s singing. This otherwise would be a good song, it just has one of the worst singers (at least in 2024) who has had their day well and truly by this point. The melodies and guitars, along with the organ are decent, but the song in general is not worth listening to. A cool guitar solo is present in this song, and it quickly is destroyed by Liam’s cringeworthy vocals re-entering the song. Nonetheless, this music is okay, but it could have been done so much better. Nothing like polishing excrement here, this is disappointing.

One Day At A Time begins with some nice acoustic guitar and launches into more ordinary Pop/Rock music. This sounds really bad throughout and has Liam Gallagher musing about life and romance. The guitar work sounds really classy but is ruined by Mr. Throat Cancer on vocals. Sadly, Liam has not always sounded this bad. A very disappointing listening experience, but then again, what do you expect from a guy who his own brother abandoned musically? Regardless, this sounds disturbingly bad as an album in that respect. If you can sit through this garbage and not roll your eyes in the process, then you are unique. A poor composition and even the Fender Stratocaster blues pickup guitar solo does not save this music from the scrap heap. An okay listen, it finishes with some repeated vocals and subtle guitar work. Not good.

I’m A Wheel begins with some drum machine sounds and bluesy guitar and enters into a downtempo tune. Liam Gallagher sings like a poor imitation of John Lennon here, and although John Squire plays some mean guitar on this song, this is really ordinary-sounding music that is neither really original nor inspiring and exciting. Instead, this music is very much a disappointing drag, and the sounds would be better matched with somebody who has not damaged their vocals over the years. This Blues-based song is really terrible and disappointing. If you want some great Blues Music, check out Eric Clapton instead. This is well-produced but then again, is not designed to be loved by a ton of people out there. The guitar work by John Squire is very good, all the same. Towards the end, the chorus repeats with handclaps. This is okay, but definitely not the most inspired nor accessible-sounding music. It ends with drum machine sounds and Blues-based riffing to conclude. Not great.

Just Another Rainbow is the key track from this album release. It begins with some odd arpeggio sounds and has Liam singing with a load of reverb and other sound effects. He actually sounds okay here, and the music throughout supports Liam Gallagher well on this track. Again, this is fairly hit-and-miss music, and seriously Liam Gallagher should consider retiring soon as his voice is terribly aged nowadays. In any case, the instrumentation present is quite good and this tune is well-written lyrically and has some good and punchy drumming to match. This is a good song but far and away from being something totally amazing. The Psychedelic imagery throughout, with Liam reciting the colours of the rainbow, is very illuminating musically. This longish piece at over five minutes in length has some interesting guitar leads that hark back to the 1960s and 1970s Rock Music heyday. John Squire plays nicely here, sounding a lot like Jimi Hendrix, in his own way. This Psychedelic Rock tune sounds great when Liam Gallagher is not singing away. This has some potential musically, and it does have some sun-fried 1960s style Fender Stratocaster licks that are sweet. The multitracked guitars on this tune are insane sounding. Liam Gallagher sings again towards the end, and he sounds actually okay here. This song wraps up eventually, fading out at the end. Not too bad.

Love You Forever is an upbeat and Fender Stratocaster heavy tune which sounds good to begin with. Liam’s singing voice again is horrible, but by this point, one is used to hearing it. This is a rather pretentious musical statement by a guy who paints himself out to be rather obnoxious as a person. In any case, this is okay to listen to, but Rock Music has done better than this. Regardless, the sounds and textures throughout are quite interesting musically. The sad fact is that Liam Gallagher’s voice has seen far better days and his singing on early Oasis hits sounds miles better than the efforts on this album. The song itself is fairly repetitive sounding as well, and this screams mediocrity. There is an early conclusion, which quickly finishes off with a Fender Stratocaster-led jam piece. In any case, this is okay. Not fantastic, however.

Make It Up As You Go Along begins with more Bluesy guitar parts and has Liam Gallagher singing a ballad that, quite frankly, is not good at all. The use of profanity on this tune is also not very good to hear. Fortunately, this is a short piece of music that is just over two minutes in length. Liam’s singing is like fingernails down a blackboard at this point in time. It sounds just like he needs singing lessons, pronto. An acoustic ballad that is fairly forgettable. Just uninspired and repetitive musically.

You’re Not The Only One sounds like a parody of an old 1950s song, with overdriven single coil guitar sounds and piano to match. This isn’t the greatest mixture of sounds present by Liam Gallagher and John Squire. Liam eventually gets singing and sings an ordinary and mediocre song about romance. Sure, this may be the more sensitive side of Liam Gallagher, but it sounds out of place with the combination of lyrics and music, as well as his public image. It is an okay song, but fairly forgettable regardless. In any case, this is okay but is not exactly top of the pops stuff. There is quite a good guitar solo in the second half by John Squire, which cuts nicely through the mix here. He plays somewhat like Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) here, and the music is really supercharged to listen to. A powerful and passionate listen, despite the singing, is certainly an interesting listen. It ends dramatically with some great guitar parts and drumrolls.

I’m So Bored is next, and likely most listeners would be after hearing this album as well. It sounds very ordinary from the start, with a bad mixture of overdriven guitars, acoustic guitars and rolling drumbeats. This does not really scream decent or innovative music that works. Instead, this is Liam Gallagher going into a rant about his life and how dull it is. Seriously, unimpressive dude. This tune is nothing special and it sounds rather awful. If you are still paying attention by this point, then you obviously are a fan of one of the most overrated singers around today. The playing by John Squire on guitar is good and prevents this music from being total rubbish. Liam Gallagher compares himself to many positive and negative things in this world, with John Squire playing a solo on his Fender Stratocaster. Again, nothing overly special here. This is a drag musically, and it shows that this album is burning out towards the end of it all. The production and sound effects do sound quite good on this album, however. This is not exactly good though, to be fair. The outro is repetitive, and this song could have been shorter. It has a lengthy and spacey fade out.

Mother Nature’s Song is a direct reference to The Beatles. It begins with some interesting guitar riffs and launches into a whimsical listening experience, and has Liam Gallagher singing okay here about simple things in life. Liam sounds reflective on this song, and as a result, sounds a little wiser than usual. This is not the best sort of music that Oasis used to do, although one can appreciate that Liam Gallagher is actually trying on this song. John Squire’s guitar playing makes for an interesting supporting listening experience, and the music throughout is actually okay. Liam sings better on ballads than straight ahead Rock songs, and this is a good example of that. This finishes a mixed bag of an album, and it sounds more upbeat and pleasant to listen to than the other songs on this album. The long outro has John Squire soloing on slide guitar, which is different. This is okay, but far from perfect. It ends with acoustic guitars and drumbeats to finish up with.

This is not the comeback album by either Liam Gallagher or John Squire that one has been dying to hear. The music is very, very good. Sadly, Liam’s singing voice sounds beyond awful on this album and drags down the music quality by a great margin for this reason. If you like great music with bad singing to match, this is your awkward musical home. Should you listen to this album? If you are prepared to avoid the quality of Liam Gallagher’s singing, then yes, otherwise please don’t bother. You’re not missing out on a great deal by ignoring this album.

Subpar and disappointing.

5/10