英倫搖滾重要人物 Liam Gallagher 這次在「Apple Music Home Session」帶來兩首選曲。其一是來自新專輯《C’MON YOU KNOW》中的〈Too Good For Giving Up〉，積極的歌詞內容搭配溫暖的民謠慢板曲式，如黑暗低谷中帶來希望的一束曙光；另一首他則翻唱 John Lennon 的反戰歌曲〈I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama I Don’t Wanna Die〉。Liam 曾在 1996 年 Oasis 於 Knebworth 的傳奇演唱會模仿 Lennon 的經典形象，由此可見他對於這位搖滾先驅溢於言表的喜愛和敬意。讓我們在 Liam 依舊桀驁不馴的嗓音中，感受英國兩代搖滾風雲人物的碰撞。

UKのスーパー・ロック・スターのLiam Gallagher(リアム・ギャラガー)が、2022年ネブワース・パークで行った2夜にわたるソールド・アウト公演のライヴ・アルバム『ネブワース 22』をリリース!1996年にネブワース・パークで25万人超を集めたオアシス伝説の野外ライヴ(動員:25万人)から25年。リアム・ギャラガーが再びネブワース・パークへ戻ってきた。自身通算3作目のソロ・アルバム『C'MON YOU KNOW』を2022年5月27日にリリースした彼は、その直後となる6月3日と4日にかけて開催された本人過去最大規模のソロ・ライヴ、それがライヴ・アルバム『ネブワース22』としてファンのもとに届けられる。計170,000枚のチケットは即ソールド・アウト、会場には約26年前のファンからティーンエイジャーまで、多くの世代の観客が集まり、リアムが世代を超えた支持を持つことが証明されたこの公演では、ソロ・アルバムからの楽曲はもちろん、オアシスの人気曲も披露。本作はあの時の公演を体験したいファンにとっては必聴のライヴ・アルバムになるであろう。

A few months before releasing his third solo album, Liam Gallagher told Apple Music to expect a little of the unexpected. “Some of it’s odd,” he said. “I’d say 80 percent of the record is peculiar but still good, and 20 percent of it is classic. If you’re gonna do something a bit different, do it in these times, and if people don’t dig it, blame it on COVID.”

On <i>C’MON YOU KNOW</i>, “odd” doesn’t quite mean a journey into the outer rims of acid trance or vaporwave, but, chiefly guided by trusted producer/songwriter Andrew Wyatt, Gallagher is noticeably freer of spirit. After two albums of bedding himself into a solo career with gently psychedelic rock that didn’t range too far from Oasis or Beady Eye, Liam is now deftly toggling between polemic punk and weightless dub on “I’m Free.” He told Apple Music that he’d bought a tepee to help cope with the claustrophobia of lockdown and, by building from a children’s choir to a grand, strobing finale, opener “More Power” suggests he spent those outdoor nights picking up signals from Spiritualized’s richly orchestrated cosmos. Other more intrepid moments include deeply psychedelic pop (“Better Days”), elegantly psychedelic soul (“The Joker”), and limber funk rock (“Diamond in the Dark”).

While the music peers in new directions, the voice remains unmistakable—and in decent health. There’s a familiar snarl and swagger to “I’m Free” and the trippy, indie groove of “Don’t Go Halfway,” but Gallagher’s sometimes-overlooked warmth and reassurance are also regularly in play. He never likes slapping definitive meaning on the words he sings, preferring that listeners take what they want from the songs, and in a post-pandemic age there’s plenty to draw from the piano-driven heart-tugger “Too Good for Giving Up”: “Look how far you’ve come/Stronger than the damage done/Step out of the darkness unafraid.”

During “Don’t Go Halfway,” he sings, “You were all thumbs/Through the dark days/When your time comes/Don’t go halfway.” On a record released a few months before his 50th birthday, Gallagher is heeding his own advice and emerging as a man whose horizons stretch further than ever.