Liam Gallagher "C’Mon You Know" Album Review

Liam Gallagher C’Mon You Know Album Review

Liam Gallagher is a true musical icon. From his work in Oasis, a band that needs no introduction to his solo material, everyone knows who this man is, whether you love him or loathe him. On Friday, his third solo studio album, “C’Mon You Know” is released, but can it live up to the height of his musical talents? We’ll soon find out…

“More Power” begins the album on a mediocre note. The singing chorus of a choir of children sounds strong, and Liam’s performance is strong, but I don’t like the way the song’s written. Its lyrical content is strong, but its structuring doesn’t work in my opinion and doesn’t fit Gallagher’s vocal style I don’t think, though the track is produced very well and its instrumentation is very strong too. “Diamond In The Dark” improves on the preceding track as the structuring is much stronger, it’s produced well and the songwriting is sublime with a great chorus. It’s a nicely made indie song that works on multiple levels. “Don’t Go Halfway” creates this majorly impressive and bombastic sound, but feels incredibly empty with its contents. The song doesn’t feel anything special, it’s as if I’ve heard it a million times before, with a mediocre sound and a lacklustre performance from Gallagher himself, unfortunately, it doesn’t work. The title track, “C’Mon You Know” on the other hand starts wonderfully and continues this growth of potential. From its gospel singers to its wonderful production and great structure, this is a song that works on many different levels, and that finale was extraordinary.

“Too Good For Giving Up” is a ballad that sounds like Take That meets Oasis, and I’m not sure if I mean that as a compliment or not. It’s a good song for sure, it’s not something I’m gonna keep putting on, but it’s an innocent song that doesn’t break any rules. “It Was Not Meant To Be” on the other hand, I don’t know what he’s trying to do. One minute, it sounds like a weird country song, the next it sounds very Beatles-esque, and it’s not particularly great to listen to if I’m being honest because of how cluttered it is. Moving on, I first heard “Everything’s Electric” live in person at the 2022 BRIT Awards (review here), and it’s a brilliant lead single and puts the record back on track. It contains everything you need in an indie single and every reason why Liam Gallagher is the music icon that he is. The track’s brilliant for sure and it makes for a perfect lead single. “World’s In Need” continues this sort of cringey indie sound, but on this occasion, it very much works. It’s produced very well, but it’s not the best-written song in the world, but it’s still enjoyable, it’s a head-bopper and even though it could be better, I don’t want it to, as it works so well on its own. The same cannot be said for “Moscow Rules” however, which I really don’t know what to make of, other than the fact that I believe it’s a weak track. The production one minute is great and the next it’s poor and the next it’s great again, Liam’s performance wasn’t great on this though, I could tell that he tried his best, but with how the song’s written and made, it’s hard for anyone to sound good on it, which is a real shame.

The album’s… let’s say eclectic nature continues on “I’m Free”, which starts as this very strong indie-rock song, but, the ska-like verses don’t work on this song at all and ruins the whole experience of the song for me I’m afraid. It’s a great attempt, but it sounds like a whole load of ideas in one and so its execution is messy, basically like the whole record so far. The penultimate track “Better Days” is produced very well and starts strong, but it doesn’t go anywhere from there. It’s a good song, don’t get me wrong, but it’s disappointing to hear that it didn’t sound as astonishing as it was hyped up to be. “Oh Sweet Children” ends the album on the same mediocre note that “More Power” set 11 songs prior. The track is as basic indie as you can get and it didn’t do anything for me. It’s one of those tracks that want to explode but instead just fizzles out. It’s written mediocrely, it’s produced mediocrely, and it’s just a song that does absolutely nothing at all for me.

So all in all, “C’Mon You Know” is like a helium balloon, that’s filled to the brim with bright ideas that could work in their own right, but as there were too many ideas, the balloon exploded and you’re left with sprinkles rubber on the floor. In Layman’s terms, this could have been a great album if Gallagher stuck to one of these ideas and ran with it, not putting lots of them altogether and hoping for the best, as it kinda fell flat on its face. There are sprinkles of great ideas here, with some great production and some brilliant tracks, but you kind of have to pick out the gold amongst the rubble here. If you’re a fan of Liam Gallagher and his previous albums then you’ll enjoy his third effort, but if you’re just going in for the ride, then expect a big blockbuster with no storyline or satisfying ending.

Ranking: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

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