Sons Of The Stage (Godfather Records GR 645)
(77:45): “The British Red Cross Japan Tsunami Benefit Gig” – O2 British Academy, London, England – April 2nd, 2011: DJ intro. / interview, Intro, Four Letter Word, Beatles And Stones, Millionaire, The Roller, Bring The Light, Standing On The Edge Of The Noise, Kill For A Dream, Man Of Misery, The Morning Sun, Sons Of The Stage, Across The Universe. “Live Remote In-Studio Exclusively For KEXP” – London – February 22nd, 2011: Three Ring Circus, Millionaire, The Roller, The Beat Goes On. “Zane Lowe Sessions” BBC Maida Vale, London – February 23rd, 2011: Sons Of The Stage. “Live From Abbey Road Studios” London – February 28th, 2011: Bring The Light, Kill For A Dream
Beady Eye is one of the more interesting bands to form in recent years. Certainly many bands were formed out of conflict, but rarely does it occur in such a high profile band such as Oasis. When Noel Gallagher abruptly quit the band in late 2009, Liam and the others wasted almost no time in carrying on under a different name.
Without the drama of a sibling rivalry Beady Eye are able to concentrate upon creating new and better music than the old band. Their first two promotional singles, “Bring The Light” and “Four Letter Words” both did very well with the first topping the charts when issued on CD.
Their third single, and first commercial single, “The Roller” was released before their debut full length album Different Gear, Still Speeding which was released on February 28th, 2011.
Sons Of The Stage on Godfather offers four unique documents from telecasts earlier this year. The first is the XFM radio broadcast of their set from the Japan Tsunami Benefit gig in London. They headlined the event and were supported by Richard Ashcroft, The Coral, Graham Coxon, Primal Scream and Paul Weller to raise money for the British Red Cross.
It starts off with a short interview with Liam before the band hit the stage. Their set includes their major singles and songs from the new album. They show the diversity in styles and instrumentation, such as utilizing mellotrons for a progressive rock effect or the simplicity of “Beatles And Stones,” which sounds like a rewrite of “High Heeled Sneakers.”
The set ends with their cover of The Beatles’ “Across The Universe.” Beady Eye also recorded the track afterwards and released it as a download-only single with proceeds going to the British Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal.
The rest of the disc contains three short BBC sessions from February, all in excellent sound quality. Sons Of The Stage is a very good comprehensive silver release for Beady Eye. Since they are a new band with limited titles, it forms a good compliment to what is already available.
