Back in 1995 it was Blur who won the infamous chart battle with their Britpop rivals Oasis when their song Country House beat Roll With It to number one, but Oasis who won the war after they played two era-defining gigs at Knebworth Park the following summer. A quarter of a century later it’s happening again. Though Noel Gallagher’s post-Oasis solo output has so far comfortably outsold his estranged younger brother’s, it’ll be Liam who looks like the overall victor when he reappears at Knebworth for two more vast shows next weekend.
So the hard work is done, and it hardly matters what this third solo album sounds like as long as Wonderwall gets another airing in Hertfordshire. That means Gallagher Jr sounds relaxed, comfortable in his almost-50-year-old skin, and happy to be a bit weird.
