LIAM GALLAGHER
MTV UNPLUGGED
WARNER RECORDS
★★★★
© Jake Green
If you entertained any fanciful notions that Liam Gallagher’s debut for the MTV Unplugged format would be a rootsy, fireside reinvention of his swaggering brand of unreconstituted rock’n’roll, then think again. Not for him the laid-back cosiness of Eric Clapton or 10,000 Maniacs. It’s a world away, too, from Oasis’ entry in the canon; the night in 1996 at the Royal Festival Hall where Noel filled in on lead vocals at the last minute when Liam pulled out due to a ‘sore throat’ only for Gallagher Jnr to heckle the band from the balcony, beer in hand.