Beatles and Stones
| "Beatles and Stones" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Beady Eye | |
| from the album Different Gear, Still Speeding | |
| Released | 28 February 2011 |
| Recorded | 2010 |
| Studio | RAK Studios, London |
| Genre | Rock and roll |
| Length | 2:57 |
| Label | Beady Eye |
| Songwriters | Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer, Andy Bell |
| Producers | Beady Eye, Steve Lillywhite |
"Beatles and Stones" is a song by English rock band Beady Eye from their debut studio album, Different Gear, Still Speeding (2011). Recorded at RAK Studios in London in autumn 2010 with producer Steve Lillywhite, it was issued as the album's fourth track on 28 February 2011.[1][2]
Background and composition
When Beady Eye announced Different Gear, Still Speeding in December 2010, "Beatles and Stones" was listed as the album's fourth song.[3] In a March 2011 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Liam Gallagher was asked about the line "I'm going to stand the test of time like Beatles and Stones". Gallagher replied that the lyric expressed his basic ambition for the band: to make music that would still sound as good years later as "all them old classics".[4]
The song's heavy debt to 1960s British rock was a common theme in contemporary reviews. The Independent wrote that its "self-aggrandising nod" to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones "should also include the Kinks, judging by the riff",[5] while The Guardian later judged in a live review that "The Roller" and "Beatles & Stones" owed too much to the Beatles and the Who, respectively.[6] Reviewing the album for Drowned in Sound, Andrzej Lukowski described the track as "rough, bar room rock'n'roll, gilded with handclaps and honky tonk piano".[7]
Reception
"Beatles and Stones" received a mixed but often engaged response from critics, many of whom treated it as a kind of mission statement for Beady Eye's first album. Hot Press singled out the lyric "I'm gonna stand the test of time / Like Beatles and Stones" as a blunt statement of the band's ambition, adding that while nothing on the album matched either group's finest work, neither band would have been ashamed of it.[8]
Other reviews were more divided on the song itself. Drowned in Sound argued that, despite the potentially self-parodic lyric, the track's handclaps, piano and bar-room feel made it a relative departure for the band.[9] PopMatters called it "rather good", presenting it as an unusually frank acknowledgement of the band's influences.[10] The A.V. Club, by contrast, referred to it as a "boastful rocker" and the album's most blatant Beatles homage,[11] while The Independent suggested that its musical borrowings extended beyond the song's title and lyric to the Kinks as well.[12]
References
- ^ "Beady Eye announce album details". Creation Records. 6 December 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
- ^ "Beatles and Stones – Song by Beady Eye". Apple Music. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
- ^ "Beady Eye announce album details". Creation Records. 6 December 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
- ^ "Beady Eye: Liam Gallagher talks about his new band's CD, the last time he spoke to Noel, and why he 'likes the Gaga'". Entertainment Weekly. 8 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
- ^ Gill, Andy (25 February 2011). "Album: Beady Eye, Beady Eye (Beady Eye)". The Independent. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
- ^ Petridis, Alexis (4 March 2011). "Beady Eye – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
- ^ "Album Review: Beady Eye - Different Gear, Still Speeding". Drowned in Sound. 3 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
- ^ "Beady Eye - Different Gear, Still Speeding". Hot Press. 24 February 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
- ^ "Album Review: Beady Eye - Different Gear, Still Speeding". Drowned in Sound. 3 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
- ^ "Beady Eye: Different Gear, Still Speeding". PopMatters. 3 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
- ^ "Beady Eye: Different Gear Still Speeding". The A.V. Club. 1 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
- ^ Gill, Andy (25 February 2011). "Album: Beady Eye, Beady Eye (Beady Eye)". The Independent. Retrieved 13 March 2026.