''Different Gear, Still Speeding'' is the debut studio album by English
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band Beady Eye, initially released in Japan on 23 February 2011, and released in the UK on 28 February 2011. It debuted at number three in the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
selling 66,817 in the first week. As of August 2012, the album has sold 174,487 copies in the UK. On ''Different Gear, Still Speeding'', all members contributed to the instrumentation, much like the later albums of
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment
Reviewing for ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'', Stacey Anderson, who gave the album 2.5 out of 5 stars, said "On Different Gear, the band attempts stripped down, Stones-y rock but ends up with 'Be Here Now'-style guitar bluster and Liam's blithely boilerplate lyrics". Drowned in Sound awarded the album 4/10 saying that "By and large it radiates the stolid competence of a band on auto-pilot, with a few flashes of likeable enthusiasm." The ''
Independent on Sunday
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...
'' gave it 2/5 stars. Simon Goddard, reviewing for '' Q'', gave the album four-out-of-five stars and described it as "the strongest record Liam's made" since ''
(What's the Story) Morning Glory?
''(What's the Story) Morning Glory?'' is the second studio album by the English Rock music, rock band Oasis (band), Oasis. Released on 2 October 1995 by Creation Records, it was produced by Owen Morris and the group's lead guitarist and chief ...
'', while Garry Mulholland, in his three-star review for '' Uncut'', denied that the album "remotely matches" ''
Definitely Maybe
''Definitely Maybe'' is the debut studio album by the English rock band Oasis, released on 29 August 1994 by Creation Records. The album features Noel Gallagher on lead guitar, backing vocals and as chief songwriter, Liam Gallagher on lead vo ...
'', but felt the album was a step in the right direction. ''
Mojo
Mojo may refer to:
* Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in Hoodoo
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* ''Mojo'' (2017 film), a 2017 Indian Kannada drama film written and directed by Sreesha Belakvaadi
* '' ...
'' also gave the album four stars out of five, citing Gallagher's singing as a highlight. '' The Fly'', however, remarked that the album was "dull", and a disappointment, while ''
Scotland on Sunday
''Scotland on Sunday'' is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by National World and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate ''The Scotsman''. It was originally printed in broadsheet format but in ...
'' added that
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Gallagher is the primary songwriter, lead guitarist and a co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis (band), Oasis. After leaving Oasis, he formed Noel ...
is missed as a songwriting partner. The
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
and ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' both commented that the album bests Oasis' later music, if not lacking innovation from the previous group, while ''
The Sun
The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
'' praised the album's simplicity and variety, citing " Bring the Light" as a surprising highlight, a comment that ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' repeated. The album is generally agreed to have surpassed expectations, with ''
Mojo
Mojo may refer to:
* Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in Hoodoo
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* ''Mojo'' (2017 film), a 2017 Indian Kannada drama film written and directed by Sreesha Belakvaadi
* '' ...
'' remarking that the album "shaped up better than many imagined," and ''Q'' saying that it "decimates all negative preconceptions."
As of January 2012 UK sales stand at 165,864 copies according to ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''.
Track listing
iTunes Bonus Tracks
Japanese Edition
Special edition
There is a
special edition
The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition or expanded edition are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as b ...
of the album, which includes a DVD with music videos for "Bring the Light", "Four Letter Word" and "Sons of the Stage" (a cover of a song by Oasis favourites World of Twist), as well as a documentary entitled ''RAK Them Out''. Japanese copies included the music video for "The Roller". A Japan-only "Limited Tour Edition" includes a bonus DVD featuring highlights from the concert in Paris on 13 March 2011, containing twelve songs in 52 minutes, and music videos including "The Beat Goes On".
Personnel
Personnel per booklet.
Beady Eye
*
Liam Gallagher
William John Paul Gallagher (born 21 September 1972) is an English singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer and co-founder of the rock band Oasis (band), Oasis and fronted the rock band Beady Eye from 2010 to 2014, before starting a succes ...
– vocals
*
Gem Archer
Colin Murray "Gem" Archer ( '; born 7 December 1966) is an English guitarist and singer. He is best known as a member of the rock bands Oasis, Beady Eye and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, making him and Chris Sharrock the only members ...
– guitars, bass, keyboards
* Andy Bell – guitars, bass, keyboards
* Chris Sharrock – drums
Additional musicians
* Victoria Akintola, Nomvula Malinga – backing vocals on "Bring the Light" and "Kill for a Dream"
Production
* Beady Eye,
Steve Lillywhite
Stephen Alan Lillywhite (born 15 March 1955) is an English record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited on over 500 records, and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including new wave acts The Alarm ...
– producers
* Beady Eye, Jonathan Shakhovskoy – mixing
* Jonathan Shakhovskoy –
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...
* Helen Atkinson –
recording
A record, recording or records may refer to:
An item or collection of data Computing
* Record (computer science), a data structure
** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity
** Boot sector or boot record, re ...
assistance
* Rich Cooper – mixing assistance
* John Davis – mastering
* Steve Gullick – photography
* Lawrence Watson – photography
* Paul 'Spooner' Heywood – photography
* Paul Heywood – photography
* House@Intro – album art