Liam Gallagher and John Squire - Liam Gallagher John Squire (Album Review)
Monday, 04 March 2024
Written by Graeme Marsh
Photo: Tom Oxley
This isn’t really what anyone had in mind when it came to Liam Gallagher uniting with another Manchester legend. After so much to-ing and fro-ing with his brother Noel, and the slightest hint of an Oasis reunion, he’s chosen instead to team up with Stone Roses guitarist John Squire.
With the usual dose of self-hype a Gallagher record ensures, their eponymous debut collaboration has been sold as a meeting of minds that will thrill fans of the two bands. “I think they’ll fucking love it,” Gallagher said. They might, if they really like being bored.
Lead single Just Another Rainbow sounds like an echo of the past — highly unoriginal, with tired lyrics that at one point predictably spell out the seven colours of the spectrum, it does at least benefit from Squire’s brilliant playing. At times it recalls a subdued, truncated Breaking Into Heaven or perhaps even I Am the Resurrection.
The second single Mars to Liverpool runs on more well-worn lyrics and, despite Squire’s efforts, its bland and unoriginal chorus fails to ignite. Opener Raise Your Hands is at least catchy, although it plods generically through the remnants of a more illustrious past.
More eyebrow-raising lyrics appear on One Day at a Time, where Gallagher claims “you should have fucked me when you had the chance” before singing “can you hear the music, can you hear the rhymes”. It’s cringeworthy stuff that makes you wish for a mute button that leaves only Squire’s guitar in place.
Elsewhere, there are distant echoes of Digsy’s Dinner and Strawberry Fields (on You’re Not the Only One and closer Mother Nature’s Song) and watered down Led Zeppelin during I’m So Bored — yeah, we all are lads. The best track on an uninspiring collection is undoubtedly I’m a Wheel, where Gallagher’s whining vocals can’t undercut a sublime lesson in bluesy guitar.
Whoever came up with the idea that this collaboration would match up to their heights of either man’s considerable legacy is a little deluded. Time goes by and tastes change — once the initial intrigue fades, most people will sigh and go back to their pleas for Oasis and Stone Roses reunions.
Liam Gallagher and John Squire Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Wed March 13 2024 - GLASGOW Barrowland
Thu March 14 2024 - WOLVERHAMPTON Civic at Halls
Sat March 16 2024 - DUBLIN 3Olympia Theatre
Mon March 18 2024 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE O2 City Hall
Wed March 20 2024 - MANCHESTER O2 Apollo
Thu March 21 2024 - MANCHESTER O2 Apollo
Sat March 23 2024 - LEEDS O2 Academy Leeds
Mon March 25 2024 - LONDON O2 Forum Kentish Town
Tue March 26 2024 - LONDON Troxy
Thu April 11 2024 - BROOKLYN New York - Paramount (USA)
Tue April 02 2024 - PARIS SALLE PLEYEL (France)
Thu April 04 2024 - BERLIN Columbiahalle (Germany)
Sat April 06 2024 - MILAN Fabrique (Italy)
Thu April 11 - BROOKLYN New York - Paramount Theatre (USA)
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