Focus on…Andy Bell

04Dec07

Tracking the song-writing of Andy Bell in four songs:

(1) ‘Vapour Trail’ – Ride (1990)

Ride’s early work is often said to be defined by the twin rhythm guitar playing of Bell and Mark Gardener, however in truth there was much more to the band’s sound than simply wacking their guitars up to ten and strumming hard.

‘Vapour Trail’ probably represents the high point of debut album ‘Nowhere’ and demonstrates the genuine complexity of the early Ride sound. It’s difficult to describe exactly the texture Ride achieve on ‘Vapour Trail’, but the overall feeling is of a sonic wash of sound built up through little guitar motifs carefully placed one upon the other.

Bell’s sometimes questionable vocals delicately float over the top gently guiding proceedings and perfectly complimenting the loose and free-form style of the song.

Following ‘Nowhere’ Ride increasingly abandoned ensemble song-writing, possibly in an attempt to create more commercial sounding songs, however whilst second album ‘Going Blank Again’ was widely recognised as a step forward for the band, things then began to go off the rails…

(2) ‘Sunshine/Nowhere to Run’ – Ride (1996)

Once Ride stopped writing exclusively as a band Gardner’s output continually seemed to trump Bell’s – ‘OX4’, ‘Leave Them All Behind’, ‘Moonlight Medicine’ and ‘Don’t Let It Die’ were all more or less Gardener’s, and following 1994’s ‘Going Blank Again’ Bell became obsessed with creating perfect pop songs, but generally his efforts pretty throwaway – poorly produced and lyrically dire.

Thankfully there were also a few exceptions and one of his best from this era is ‘Sunshine/Nowhere to Run’ from the ill-fated ‘Tarantula’ album. Musically it follows the Byrdsian, Dylan-sque route trod by tracks like ‘Crown of Creation’, but without the same flimsy feel.

Typically for Bell’s solo writing the song is based around a fairly unimaginative chord sequence with relatively few changes enlivened by a neat little middle eight and a nice vocal hook. However it all comes together very well, and even Andy’s notoriously poor vocals sound half decent.

Sadly though, ‘Tarantula’ was the end of Ride. It was time for Bell to take up a new challenge in a world dominated by a couple of cheeky Northern scallies…

(3) ‘Step Into My World’ – Hurricane #1 (1997)

Hurricane #1 are often slighted as nothing more than an Oasis tribute band and to be honest they did sound a heck of a lot like everyone’s favourite Manc brothers.

Frontman Alex Lowe IS Liam Gallagher whilst Bell’s song-writing and playing had clearly been heavily influenced by ‘Definitely Maybe’. Compared with the experimental nature of Bell’s early Ride output Hurricane #1 were anthemic, to the point, painting-by-numbers guitar music.

Unfortunately for Bell, not only did Hurricane #1 have a tendency towards being rather plodding, they pretty much missed the boat with the Britpop. By the time their eponymous debut hit the shelves in 1997, Britpop was on the wane. However they did create one absolute masterpiece in the form of ‘Step Into My World’ – three minutes of decent tune and then a further two minutes of belting soloing from Bell.

The chord sequence which makes up the chorus and refrain is just built for noodling over and Bell takes the opportunity to bring out virtually every lick in his hefty arsenal.

Whilst I love Hurricane #1 I would rarely recommend any of their records to non-Oasis fans, but ‘Step Into My World’ is something else. A genre striding beast of a song that just works.

(4) ‘Keep the Dream Alive’ – Oasis (2005)

Given Bell’s obvious admiration for Oasis he must have been made up with the chance to take on bass playing duties following the departure of Paul McGuigan in 1999.

Initially, with 2000’s ‘Standing on the Shoulders of Giants’ already completed, Bell simply filled the role of live bassist. However since then his song writing influence has steadily increased and in ‘Keep The Dream Alive’ he penned one of the best tracks on 2005’s ‘Don’t Believe the Truth’.

Where Noel seemed a little weary of writing anything too ‘Oasisy’, Andy was only too happy to press the button marked ‘anthemic’ and give Liam something to really get his teeth into.

Arguably ‘Keep the Dream Alive’ represents a perfect marriage of what Bell was trying to achieve latterly with Ride and his work with Hurricane #1. The structure of the song is typically conservative, but the arrangement is spot on and with Liam to carry the vocal everything just falls perfectly into place.

Andy Bell will never be Noel Gallagher when it comes to song-writing, but it will be interesting to see where he decides to go next. In ‘Keep the Dream Alive’ I reckon he has found his niche, so as far as I’m concerned, more of the same would be ideal…

Five great Bell youtube clips:

1) Ride – Twisterella promo video (1992)

2) Ride – OX4 live in Brixton (1992)

3) Ride – Birdman/Lets Get Lost live at Glastonbury (1994)

4) Hurricane #1 – Chain Reaction promo video (1997)

5) Oasis – Keep the Dream Alive on Channel Four (2005)

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Tags: andy bell, hurricane #1, indie, mark gardener, noel gallagher, oasis, ride