Different Gear, Still Speeding is the debut studio album by the English rock 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 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.
Contents
Critical reception
Reviews of the album have been generally mixed-to-favourable. According to review aggregator site Metacritic, the album has an average score of 65%.
Reviewing for Rolling Stone, 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 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?, while Garry Mulholland, in his three-star review for Uncut, denied that the album "remotely matches" Definitely Maybe, but felt the album was a step in the right direction. Mojo 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 added that Noel Gallagher is missed as a songwriting partner. The BBC and The Independent both commented that the album bests Oasis' later music, if not lacking innovation from the previous group, while The Sun praised the album's simplicity and variety, citing "Bring the Light" as a surprising highlight, a comment that NME repeated. The album is generally agreed to have surpassed expectations, with Mojo 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.
Track listing
Japanese Edition
Special edition
There is a special edition 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.