Liam Gallagher

William John Paul Gallagher (born September 21, 1972), better known to the world as Liam Gallagher is the vocalist, and sometime tambourine player, of Britpop band Oasis, known for his erratic behaviour, distinctive singing style and abrasive attitude. Although his brother, Noel Gallagher, writes the majority of the band's songs, in recent years Liam has developed himself as a standalone songwriter alongside Noel.

Songwriting

Recently Oasis have adopted a more democratic approach to songwriting, giving Liam a chance to showcase his abilities in this particular area, where his sibling Noel had previously been dominant. Liam had some artistic approaches before 1999 having co-wrote a song (titled "Love Me & Leave Me") with former The Stone Roses guitarist and songwriter John Squire for the band The Seahorses' debut album in 1997, but mostly due to his inexperience and lack of necessity of writing songs, his contigent attempts were unsuccessful.

Related Topics:
1999 - The Stone Roses - John Squire - The Seahorses'

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Liam's first successful attempt to produce a song adequate for an Oasis album was "Little James" about his stepson James for 2000's Standing on the Shoulder of Giants. It became clear from subsequent interviews for the album, that Noel still has a lot of input to this song. However, this first song was not received well by fans or critics who mocked its childlike rhyme scheme.

Related Topics:
2000 - Standing on the Shoulder of Giants

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For 2002's Heathen Chemistry, Liam wrote three songs; a ballad, "Born On A Different Cloud", the sneering rocker "Better Man" and the acoustic "Songbird", written for his fiancée Nicole Appleton. Noel claimed that his brother had written five songs for the Heathen Chemistry sessions and from these they took the best three. His tunes, along with the record, received a much warmer reception from fans and high sales, despite receiving bad reviews from critics again.

Related Topics:
2002 - Heathen Chemistry - Songbird

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The latest Oasis album, 2005's Don't Believe the Truth, features a further three of Liam's songs - "The Meaning of Soul", "Love Like A Bomb" and "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel". The second is described by Noel as "Songbird's bigger brother" and a "song for the ladies", while the latter - as a song in the vein of "Born On A Different Cloud", but without the guitars. Another Liam song is the acoustic ballad "Won't Let You Down" - also inspired by Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance" - which appeared on their new single "Lyla". Noel stressed that most of the batch of 70 tunes written for the turbulent Don't Believe the Truth sessions were written single-handedly by Liam. Another new Liam-written song will be released as a b-side to the new single, "The Importance Of Being Idle". The song, entitled "Pass Me Down The Wine", features a acoustic-led melody in the vein of "Songbird".

Related Topics:
2005 - Don't Believe the Truth - Give Peace a Chance - Lyla

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However, at interview following the release of Don't Believe the Truth, Liam stated that he doesn't believe he is improving as a songwriter and often needs guitarist Gem Archer's assistance. As a consequence, Gem is credited as co-writer of "Love Like A Bomb" on the new album. He commented "Gem helps me out a lot, I struggle with lyrics sometimes... I can't find the words. The words I find hard 'cos I'm fucking thick."

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