Battle of the bands: Beady Eye vs Suede - the Britpop wars return, fashion & cars

MILAN - Beady Eye need a "rival" (but without insults as Blur vs Oasis). In the '90s I used to like very much Suede - called London Suede in the Usa, they were @ Coachella recently (I even put their Coming Up among my "13 favourite albums"), I loved their catchy tunes (so many memories!) and because they were a fashion band (Anderson's voice sounded homosexual, and that's not really rare in fashion world, lol) but their songs often had something about girls (models) and cars, as in Beady Eye album. I notice these two things in common, the other is that we can say Beady Eye is a fashion band too, as it's very linked to Pretty Green. Though we can't really say Liam sounds homosexual ahaha, apart from his voice at the end of Wigwam, lol.

Britpop is back, and no you’re not dreaming. Liam Gallagher has hit the road with his post-Oasis band Beady Eye, while Brett Anderson is back fronting Suede and bashing out the band’s greatest hits. With Beady Eye making their way around the O2 Academy venues and Suede set to play Brixton Academy, it's time for another battle of the bands to see how Suede stacks up against Liam's lot.


Britpop pedigree

Suede

Suede were at the artier end of Britpop spectrum, with Brett Anderson coming off like a council estate David Bowie. While Anderson was unbearably pretentious at times, Suede pumped out a run of catchy singles and albums that hold up in a way that much of the Oasis output doesn't. Sure, they’re poppy, but in a much more highbrow way.

Beady Eye
Oasis were one half of the biggest Britpop battle our fair isle has ever seen, clashing with Blur in the race for number one back in the 1990s. The contest made the 10 o'clock news, and while Blur won a battle (about the singles Country house vs Roll with it), Oasis stayed in the war. Manchester’s finest consistently released albums while Blur shattered into solo projects and spin-offs. Now Oasis are no more, Beady Eye is effectively the final Oasis line up without Liam's brother Noel.

Longevity

Suede
Suede managed to stick around in one form or another from 1989 to 2003 (with one early line up including future Elastica frontwoman Justine Frischmann), and reformed in 2010 for a series of successful reunion gigs. By our calculations that gives them 15 years in the business.

Beady Eye
Technically speaking, Beady Eye formed in 2009 but given that the band is comprised of the final Oasis lineup who stayed put after Noel and Liam Gallagher's combustible relationship finally went boom, we'll give them credit for some of those years. The last member of Beady Eye to join Oasis was drummer Chris Sharrock. He joined them in 2008 so that gives the clan now known as Beady Eye four years together, all told.

Feud factor

Suede
Suede had a fractious relationship at its heart for years, with guitarist Bernard Butler and frontman Brett Anderson bashing lumps out of each other repeatedly. Curiously they later went on to release a record as a duo (under the name The Tears), but Butler has not been part of the Suede line up since 1994.

Beady Eye
Don't head to a Beady Eye gig expecting to hear Oasis songs. Noel and Liam have been engaged in a war of words ever since Oasis split, and while Beady Eye's management have presented them as a brand new entity, they’re inevitably compared to Oasis. Cue Liam Gallagher going loopy, and kiss goodbye to a closing rendition of Wonderwall at the next Beady Eye gig.

Rock'n'roll credentials

Suede
Brett Anderson on Liam Gallagher: "It there's anything I would define as rock'n'roll, it's about passion. It's not about pretending to be John Lennon and wearing his glasses and getting your hair cut like him. That's theme-park rock'n'roll." (2009)

But Liam doesn't pretend to be John Lennon...

Beady Eye
Liam Gallagher on…um…Liam Gallagher: "“I’m not a pop star. And if I am, I’m a real one, matey. I haven’t been invented, I’m an average lad who was born in Burnage, who played conkers. Conkers, mate, conkers." (1994)

And the winner is…
A split decision. If you're craving the retro thrill of hearing songs that soundtracked the mid-90s, Suede is the way to go with Anderson and company cranking out their classic albums. But if you're after a true rock'n'roll sideshow, Liam Gallagher is your man, with Beady Eye bashing out Small Faces-influenced meat and potatoes tunes behind him.

She's in fashion

...She's the colour of a magazine

...She is strung on a tv dream,

and she's the taste of gasoline,

and she's as similar as you can get

to the shape of a cigarette...

Saturday night
...we'll go dancing, we'll go laughing, we'll get car sick...

By the sea
(live Düsseldorf 30/3/97)
...so we sold the car and quit the job,
shook some hands and wiped the make-up right off...
When I start my new life, I won't touch the ground...
...it's by the sea we'll breed...

The chemistry between us
dedicated to Natalie, the best conceivable English model I've known

Lazy
...Here they come, gone 7 am,
getting satellite and Sky getting cable...
...you and me, all we want to be, is lazy...

The Beautiful ones

High on diesel and gasoline,
psycho for drum machine...

Trash
Maybe, maybe it's the clothes we wear...
...Maybe, maybe it's the things we say,
the words we've heard and the music we play...

The wild ones

Obsessions

...it's the t-shirts that you choose like you're in the Air Force...

...It's the way you close the doors of my car...

...it's called obsession, can you handle it?

...obsession is like sex, it's simple and complex...

Everything will flow

...A million cars, a million trains, under the jet plane sky,

nothing lost and nothing gained, life is just a lullaby...

Filmstar
Filmstar, propping up the bar, driving in a car, it looks so easy,
filmstar, propping up the bar, driving in a car tonight...

She

(live München 27/3/97)

She, walking like a killer, she, another night another pillow...

...She is bad, she is bored, she is bony, she is...

Electri-City :)

Positivity

...your smile is your credit card and your currency is your love...

...And the cars crash for you, and the sunshine is free,

and the sirens call you...

Attitude (from "Singles")

New generation