IT has to be one of the best comeback stories of 2017.

Since the demise of Liam Gallagher’s rock group Beady Eye, no one had really mentioned the Manchester icon outside of the context of a possible Oasis reunion until his plans for a solo album emerged.

Now here he is reborn with a UK number one and 100,000 tour tickets sold in a single morning.

Liam has many detractors but – like it or not – with As You Were he has proved his musical success is not just synonymous with Oasis. Among the best tracks are single Wall of Glass and Greedy Soul, two big stomping songs with plenty of that signature Gallagher swagger.

It gets the album off to an energetic start but there is a lot of variety here including the 70s-inspired Paper Crown, the rock song of the album, I Get By, and the catchy pop of Come Back To Me.

Some critics and DJs have described As You Were as a bit of a tribute to Oasis but that seems unfair given all the different directions the singer has gone in.

There are only three duds really including Bold, which plods along with little change in tempo, the lyrically bankrupt Chinatown (What’s it to be free man? What’s a European? Me, I just believe in the sun) and Universal Gleam that goes nowhere.

But on the whole it is an accomplished piece worthy of its chart success and you get the feeling For What It’s Worth, Liam’s one and only apology song, will quickly become a live favourite.

That Oasis reunion still seems far away but does it really matter when both the Gallagher brothers are both back in the public eye?