As You Were (Liam Gallagher album)

Last updated

As You Were
Liam Gallagher - As You Were.jpg
Studio album by
Liam Gallagher
Released6 October 2017
Recorded2016–2017
Genre Rock [1]
Length44:44
Label Warner Bros.
Producer
Liam Gallagher chronology
As You Were
(2017)		 Why Me? Why Not.
(2019)
Singles from As You Were
  1. "Wall of Glass"
    Released: 1 June 2017
  2. "Chinatown"
    Released: 30 June 2017
  3. "For What It's Worth"
    Released: 10 August 2017
  4. "Greedy Soul"
    Released: 27 September 2017
  5. "Come Back to Me"
    Released: 23 November 2017
  6. "Paper Crown"
    Released: 11 May 2018
  7. "I've All I Need"
    Released: 25 May 2018 [2]

As You Were is the debut solo studio album by English singer and songwriter Liam Gallagher. It was released on 6 October 2017 by Warner Bros. Records. [3] A critical and commercial success, the album debuted at number one in the UK, outselling the rest of the top 10 of the UK Albums Chart combined and achieving gold certification in its first week. It has since been certified platinum in the UK. It also achieved the highest single-week vinyl sales in 20 years, with 16,000. [4] In part for his work on the album, producer Greg Kurstin also won the 2018 Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical.

Contents

Background

The album was announced in June 2017 with the release of the single "Wall of Glass". Gallagher also revealed that he would launch his first solo tour of the United States and Canada to support the album's release. [5] Once he completed the lyrics, Liam told NME that he cried his eyes out and thought 'I'm back'. The album's title comes from the sign-off Gallagher often used for his Twitter posts. [6] Gallagher worked with producers Greg Kurstin, Andrew Wyatt and Dan Grech-Marguerat on the album, with Kurstin producing the tracks "Wall of Glass", "Paper Crown", "Come Back to Me", and "Doesn't Have to Be That Way", Wyatt producing "Chinatown", and Grech-Marguerat producing the remaining tracks. [7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic? 6.5/10 [8]
Metacritic 71/100 [9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [10]
The A.V. Club B+ [11]
The Daily Telegraph Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [12]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [13]
Mojo Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [14]
NME Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [15]
Pitchfork 4.9/10 [16]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [17]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Uncut 7/10 [18]

As You Were received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 71, based on 24 reviews. [9]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic was highly positive about the record in his four-star review, saying, "As You Were doesn't sound retro even though it is, in essence, a throwback to a throwback -- a re-articulation of Liam's '90s obsession with the '60s. That production does Gallagher a favor but so does Kurstin's presence as a co-songwriter, helping to rein in Liam's wandering ear and sharpen his melodies. Ranging from the icy onslaught of "Wall of Glass" to the stark swirl of "Chinatown" this is his best record in nearly a decade, and they add up to an album that illustrates exactly who Liam Gallagher is as an artist. Now in his middle age, he's a richer, nuanced singer than he was during Oasis's heyday, yet he's retained his charisma and, unlike his brother, he favors color and fire in his records, elements that not only enhance this fine collection of songs but make this the best post-Oasis album from either Gallagher to date." [10] Halina Watts from the Daily Mirror was also very positive towards the record, scoring the album five stars and saying, "'As You Were' is the legendary rocker at his very best" and that the album was "well worth the wait". She went on to describe "Chinatown" as a "catchy uplifting poem to the capital" and "For What It's Worth" and "Paper Crown" as "fantastic ballads". Watts rounded off the review by saying, "Bring on album two". [19]

Accolades

PublicationAccoladeRankRef.
Rough Trade Albums of the Year
32
NME NME's Albums of the Year
10
Rolling Stone 50 Best Albums of 2017
37

Commercial performance

The album was released in numerous formats, from digital versions to vinyl, CD, and a "special box set" that includes a colorized vinyl record, an "exclusive seven-inch, hardback book and an art print by Klaus Voormann, the artist behind the Beatles' Revolver ". [3] The track listing was revealed by Gallagher with the release of the album's second single "Chinatown". [23] [24]

As You Were sold over 103,000 units in its first week in the United Kingdom. [4] It is the ninth-fastest selling debut of the decade within the nation. [25] In 2018, the album was certified Platinum with sales of over 300,000 units in the UK. [26] In the United States, it opened at number 30 on the Billboard 200 with 15,000 album-equivalent units, including 14,000 traditional sales. [27] This marked a successful comeback for Gallagher, as both Beady Eye albums had failed to reach number one in the UK, and their second album had failed to chart at all in the US.

Track listing

Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Wall of Glass"
Kurstin3:44
2."Bold"Gallagher
4:00
3."Greedy Soul"GallagherGrech-Marguerat3:34
4."Paper Crown"
  • Wyatt
  • Tighe
Kurstin3:28
5."For What It's Worth"
Grech-Marguerat4:10
6."When I'm in Need"
  • Gallagher
  • Iain Archer
  • Grech-Marguerat
  • Iain Archer [a]
4:18
7."You Better Run"GallagherGrech-Marguerat3:24
8."I Get By"GallagherGrech-Marguerat3:10
9."Chinatown"
  • Wyatt
  • Tighe
Wyatt3:20
10."Come Back to Me"
  • Gallagher
  • Kurstin
  • Wyatt
Kurstin3:20
11."Universal Gleam"GallagherGrech-Marguerat4:06
12."I've All I Need"GallagherGrech-Marguerat4:10
Total length:44:44
Deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
13."Doesn't Have to Be That Way"
  • Gallagher
  • Kurstin
  • Wyatt
Kurstin3:58
14."All My People / All Mankind"GallagherGrech-Marguerat3:55
15."I Never Wanna Be Like You"Gallagher
  • Grech-Marguerat
  • Dan McDougall [b]
3:51
Total length:56:27
Japanese edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
16."For What It's Worth" (live at Air Studios)4:13
17."Greedy Soul" (live at Air Studios)3:33
18."Paper Crown" (live at Air Studios)3:35
Total length:1:07:48

Notes

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [26] Platinum300,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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