Metascore
59

Mixed or average reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 20
  2. Negative: 2 out of 20
  1. Jul 29, 2013
    80
    BE feels familiar--the group is stuck in the back-half of the '60s, naturally loving the post-Pepper pomp of the Beatles but happy to crib from the Zombies ("Second Bite of the Apple" opens with a riff adapted from "Time of the Season") or any other number of half-remembered, half-forgotten psychedelic oldies--but isn't musty, thanks in part to Sitek's colorful, layered production.
  2. Jul 29, 2013
    80
    Shades of light and dark ripple throughout and keep the listener guessing.
  3. Jul 29, 2013
    60
    The vocals, the terrible rhymes... it's business as usual then for Liam; it's just scrubbed up a bit.
  4. Jul 29, 2013
    0
    What’s not so easy however is appraising something so overwhelmingly awful and so lacking in merit as BE without sounding like one of the smug, condescending middle class intelligentsia.
  5. Jul 29, 2013
    60
    As you can imagine, BE doesn't tread any new ground sonically, but for fans of the group, and likely Beady Eye themselves, it's a welcome distraction as we wait patiently for an Oasis reunion.
  6. Mojo
    Jul 29, 2013
    60
    When it works, it's genuinely exciting, but too often the brave retro-futuristic collision is neither fish nor fowl. [Jul 2013, p.82]
  7. Jul 29, 2013
    60
    Although the musical advance Beady Eye have made in BE does not extend to the clumsy lyrics, Liam shows he is not just a balls-out bawler and the band sound sharp.
  8. 70
    BE’] is certainly an improvement on ‘Different Gear...’, but it’s more of a tentative step in the right direction than a great leap forward.
  9. Jul 29, 2013
    60
    The album definitely grows on repeat listen.
  10. Jul 29, 2013
    48
    [The] familiarity brings you to the cereal, the soap and the market, and some people will be drawn to Be, okay with seeing the imitation. The rest are better holding off for Oasis’ inevitable reformation.
  11. Jul 29, 2013
    58
    If Liam seems hamstrung as a rocker on BE, at least he’s showing more promise as a balladeer.
  12. Jul 29, 2013
    40
    BE starts with a bang but ends with a whimper.
  13. Q Magazine
    Aug 8, 2013
    60
    Some of the more straightforward rockers show signs of fresh thinking. [Jul 2013, p.97]
  14. Jul 29, 2013
    30
    The two biggest problems with BE are thus; the energy that made their first LP a surprisingly decent effort has been removed completely, and Liam’s lyrics have plumbed to new, previously unassailable depths of self-parody.
  15. Jul 29, 2013
    40
    What lets it down is that it is unutterably, irrevocably and unswervingly dull. Dull, dull, dull. As boring as the hum of a fridge.
  16. Jul 29, 2013
    60
    In come motorik krautrock/Velvet Underground rhythms, a brass band, disoriented guitars and an eerie narrative on man's capacity for destruction featuring the words of a murdered French Revolutionary.
  17. 60
    Though marginally better than its predecessor, BE can in no sense be considered a progression.
  18. It's the sound of a deeply dim man backed by competent-but-conventional musicians.
  19. Jul 29, 2013
    50
    The fact that BE is patchy, and solid rather than surprising in its best spots, you have to put down to a failure of nerve or drive. It's not Different Gear, Still Shit, but it is nowhere near as exciting as it might have been.
  20. Uncut
    Jul 29, 2013
    70
    It's the album's deft balance between Sitek's freewheeling and darkly ambient aesthetic and the familiar sub-Beatles melodies that make BE a bold leap forward in the mould of Paul Weller's recent psych-inspired reinventions. [Jul 2013, p.71]
User Score
6.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 49 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 49
  2. Negative: 14 out of 49
  1. Aug 7, 2013
    10
    Beady Eye with the help of Dave Sitek released a great second album, a modern sounding rock record with some of the most interestingBeady Eye with the help of Dave Sitek released a great second album, a modern sounding rock record with some of the most interesting recordings by any oasis member so far.An album that it stands on its own proudly and give us hope for even better things by this band. Full Review »
  2. Aug 7, 2013
    10
    "BE" is an excellent second album by Beady Eye, a step forward to the right direction. The album is a grower and need its time to show its"BE" is an excellent second album by Beady Eye, a step forward to the right direction. The album is a grower and need its time to show its really beauty and quality. With a more mature and modern sound than their debut and a very good production by Dave Sitek, songs find the space and air to breathe and shine. Liam's vocals sound more mature and natural than ever (no effects), sometimes naked and raw and sometimes heavenly sensitive and emotional. “BE” is the work of a band, actually a very good and tight band and for the first time they finally found their own sound and stigma in modern rock era, far away from the Oasis shadows. People should listen it without prejudice and enjoy the music.

    Top tracks: “Flick Of The Finger”, “Start Anew”, “Iz Rite”, “Soul Love”, “Second Bite Of The Apple”.

    Note: It’s funny to say it, but the tracks in the deluxe editions of the album are much better than almost everything in the standard version! (check: “Evil Eye”, “Back After The Break” and “Off At The Next Exit”)
    Full Review »
  3. Jan 22, 2016
    10
    Great second album by Beady eye, an amazing and unexpected set of songs that fit almost perfectly together with the magic touch of D.Sitek.Great second album by Beady eye, an amazing and unexpected set of songs that fit almost perfectly together with the magic touch of D.Sitek. Btw, bonus tracks in the deluxe version of the album are even better than almost anything in the standard version of the album, something that brings me in my mind the good early days of Oasis! Full Review »