The album that made Liam Gallagher love rock and roll
It’s hard to think of Oasis succeeding without the sound of Liam Gallagher behind the microphone. Although Noel may have been able to sing the tunes with his trademark clean tone, the slight crackle in Liam’s vocals, whenever they took the stage, gave the group a punk edge, almost like John Lennon had been reincarnated as a punk rocker rather than a Beatle. Although Liam was known to flaunt his love for Lennon more than a few times, he admitted one album made him want to be a singer.
Throughout the first few years of his development, though, Liam never considered music as a primary avenue for him. Even though he may have had an affinity for rock and roll throughout his youth, most of his time was spent getting into trouble rather than trying to refine his vocal palette.
Even in those days, though, Liam’s love of Lennon’s trademark husky voice was enough for him. When talking about the tone of his voice, Liam would say that he feels every emotion when he hears Lennon sing, encapsulating everything that music should be in a singular tone of voice.
As the psychedelic era faded, the 1980s brought a new sound to rock and roll, with the indie scene bringing exciting bands to the forefront. While Liam was still a passive listener at the time, Noel would become enamoured with The Smiths after seeing them play on Top of the Pops, knowing that he wanted to be involved with rock music when he saw Johnny Marr playing guitar.
After Noel left to become a roadie for Inspiral Carpets, Liam would start his musical awakening when listening to the sounds of The Stone Roses. Coming out of the ‘Madchester’ scene, the creative energy between John Squire and Ian Brown made their self-titled release one of the greatest debuts in rock history. Equally melodic and chaotic, songs like ‘Waterfall’ and ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ would lay the blueprint for where Manchester would be going in the next few years.
Although Noel claimed to be a fan of The Stone Roses, Liam had found his calling when hearing the album, telling Rolling Stone, “Noel brought home The Stone Roses record, and I was ready then. I was at that age, so I was just hooked. And then that opened the doors to all this,’ What does that sound like? And I need more music that sounds like this. I wonder what their influences are.’”
Quickly working his way backwards, Liam would dive deep into The Beatles’ catalogue, loving the sounds of every song John Lennon wrote. Even though most of the band’s classic material tends to come from their later period, Liam would even have love for the group’s early rock and roll days, citing the album Beatles for Sale as one of his favourites save for the covers on the album. The Beatles may have been the holy grail of rock and roll, but The Stone Roses opened Liam’s eyes to the genre’s possibilities.
