OASIS

 "Slip inside the eye of your mind 

Don't you know you might find

A better place to play"

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“D”

Main Decade: 90’s

Main Eras:

Brit Rock (1991-???)

 

Key Members:

Liam Gallagher, Vocals

Noel Gallagher, Guitar and Vocals

 

Key Songs:

Wonderwall, Don’t Look Back In Anger, Champagne Supernova, Live Forever, Stand By Me, Supersonic, Slide Away, Talk Tonight, All Around The World, Aquiesce, Don’t Go Away, Cast No Shadow, She’s Electric, The Masterplan, Go Let It Out, Roll It Over, Rocking Chair, The Hindu Times, Lyla, (It's Good To) Be Free, Fade In Out, 

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Hey you! Don't even think about closing the window and running off to the nearest Death Metal site to whine in disappointment! I find the Gallagher brothers just as hateful as you and the rest of humanity, including their own mother. Come on, I didn't want to give them a chance either. But this is about music, and while these guys fancied themselves the new Beatles, getting into fights every five minutes, stealing each other's girlfriends, not speaking to each other for years, being the only ones capable of feeling proud of punching Keith Richards, and even being parodied on Lost, we have to admit they have more than just a few good songs, right?

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These guys can do whatever they want. The important thing is that they made at least a couple of rock and roll albums the likes of which are hard to find in the '90s. Noel isn't a genius like the ones of yesteryear, but he really knows how to write some great stuff, revisiting sixties sounds that are more reminiscent of the Kinks or the Who than the Beatles, crafting great harmonies, big riffs, creating hooks here and there, giving the guitar tremendous power and feeling... Not only that, but their success opened doors for other Britpop bands like Pulp and Travis and created rivalries like with Blur.

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You might be of the opinion that Britpop isn't a good 90s genre. I have my doubts. The only band from the movement that truly moves me is Blur. Britpop may be light and simple, but frankly, it was a breath of fresh air for 90s music when everything was polarized between grunge and rap. Definitely Maybe and What's The Story were albums that propelled this movement and offered a decent alternative, at least, to the 90s music scene.

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Oasis formed in 1991 in Manchester, from a band originally called Rain, consisting of Paul McGuigan on bass, Paul Arthurs on guitar, Tony McCarrol on drums, and Chris Hutton on vocals. Arthurs, Rain's frontman, kicked Hutton out for being a rather poor singer and replaced him with a friend of his, a certain Lian Ghallager. Liam soon began to take the reins in decision-making and first suggested another name, Oasis, after a poster his brother had in his room. Noel, his older brother, helped with the equipment for the band Inspiral Carpets and eventually filled in as their guitarist. Noel wasn't impressed with Liam's group's sound and didn't foresee much of a future for them, but unable to secure a permanent position in Inspiral Carpets, he began to consider using Oasis to play some of his compositions. One day, Noel arrived and informed them that he would be the band's songwriter and frontman. The incredible thing isn't that he had the guts to do it, but that the others readily agreed, because until then they only had four bad original songs, and with Noel, their possibilities expanded infinitely. He soon made a name for himself as a guitarist as well, and the band began to distinguish itself with its saturated sound. They spent a couple of years playing in various venues until, in 1993, they learned that there was going to be an audition in Glasgow, where Alan McGee, owner of Creation Records, was going to listen to some bands. They managed to sneak in uninvited and impressed McGee with their sound, completely overshadowing the band that was supposed to be the main attraction. The band signed with Creation a few days later.

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Their first single was "Columbia," more of a limited-edition demo. They then released "Supersonic" in April '94, achieving some success. Next came “Shakermaker,” for which they were sued by Coca-Cola for plagiarism, hahahaha. They ended up paying half a million dollars, but they didn't learn their lesson. The following single was “Live Forever,” which finally achieved significant success in the UK, so they immediately went into the studio to record their first album, Definitely Maybe. Their debut album was released in September 1994. Oasis had already made a name for themselves after so long playing in clubs in different cities, and the recent success of their singles had them as a trendy band. Definitely Maybe capitalized on these factors, especially since Blur had been leading a Britpop revival for months with the release of Modern Life Is Rubble a year earlier. As a result, Oasis's first album was fortunate enough to debut at number one on the charts and became the best-selling debut album in British history. For the Gallagher brothers' egos... The album isn't bad, but it's very raw, with poor production, and most of the songs have a practically identical structure. So, while the songs work well individually, the album as a whole is very heavy and tedious. However, they got lucky.

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From then on, their egos corrupted them. By the first American tour, Liam was already performing completely drugged up, so some concerts were disastrous. The audience criticized him, and he lashed out, calling the Americans idiots. On one occasion, he attacked his brother for no apparent reason, which led Noel to "leave" Oasis for the first of many times. From then on, their fights began to become legendary.

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By December of that year, they released another single, “Whatever,” which led to another lawsuit and forced them to credit Neil Innes as a co-writer. In April 1995, “Some Might Say” reached number one. Shortly after, Tony McCarroll was fired by the Gallagher brothers and replaced by drummer Alan White, allegedly because he couldn't keep up with the rhythms of the new songs.

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With the change of drummer, recording sessions began for what would become their second album. The press began to fuel the rivalry between Oasis and Blur, the latter now more established and mature. And so began the so-called “Battle of Britpop.” Both bands released their respective singles on August 14th: Blur with “Country House” and Oasis with “Roll With It,” with Blur's single selling 50,000 more copies. Humiliated, the Gallaghers claimed it was because Blur's single was almost half the price, but the truth is, the difference in song quality was obvious. Shortly after, Noel caused a scandal by saying on the radio that he hoped Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon would contract AIDS and die. What a charming fellow, right?

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Oasis's second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? from '95, was a massive hit, driven by the single "Wonderwall," which was played morning, noon, and night on radio and MTV. The album is undoubtedly the band's best, and it helped Britpop, which had started with Blur and become a phenomenon in the UK, finally break through borders and achieve success in the United States. Oasis became global superstars overnight, generating more media attention than their arch-rivals Blur, and filling stadiums in minutes.

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In 1996, the problems continued. Swept up in fame, they embarked on recording their MTV Unplugged at the Royal Festival Hall, but Liam deserted at the last minute, claiming throat problems. While Noel sang the entire repertoire (from their vast discography of two albums, for God's sake!), Liam could be seen leaning out from a balcony, smoking and happily drinking an ice-cold beer. It was a favor he did us; I think the Unplugged performance sounds better with Noel's voice. For the following dates of their tour, Liam didn't show up, and the band decided to continue with Noel as lead singer. Shortly afterward, they reconciled, and Liam rejoined the tour.

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For the rest of '96 and part of '97, they spent their time holed up in Abbey Road Studios (Sacrilege!!!) recording their third album, which by then was one of the most anticipated in English history. Could Oasis really be the new Beatles? No way, the album is full of heroin-fueled sounds and sibling rivalry. It's good, with songs like "All Around The World," "Don't Go Away," and "Stand By Me," but it's absolutely overproduced, the songs are ridiculously long, and it has duds like "D'You Know What I Mean," which is a kind of self-plagiarism of "Wonderwall." The album was a commercial success, but the press tore it apart once the initial hype died down, and the general feeling was, "What a load of pretentious nonsense, who do these guys think they are?"

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In the same year, 1997, they released a B-sides compilation, Masterplan, which in my opinion is much more accomplished and balanced, showing us a mature and less excessive band. The Masterplan compilation would be Oasis's last truly great and grounded work, although it's not a studio album per se.

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Paul Arthurs left the band in 1999, and shortly after, bassist Paul McGuigan also departed. From then on, it was all downhill. Increasing egos, fights between the brothers, threats to leave the band, reconciliations, increasingly mediocre and recycled albums, brawls in bars and clubs, canceled dates… The albums Standing on the Shoulder of Giants (2000), Heathen Chemistry (2002), Don’t Believe The Truth (2005), and to a lesser extent Dig Out Your Soul (2008), which is a timid comeback and swan song, are nothing more than attempts to cling to the success of their early albums, without much of a plan, releasing albums just to stay afloat, squeezing out pounds and dollars, even though Brit Rock was over, and the brothers' fights forced them to travel separately since they weren't speaking to each other.

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On August 28, 2009, before a concert at the Rock en Sienne festival near Paris, the brothers had a run-in backstage, during which Liam allegedly smashed his brother's guitar. The concert had to be canceled minutes before it was scheduled to begin. Hours later, Noel announced online that the European tour was canceled and that he was leaving Oasis "with great sadness and relief." It was the umpteenth time he'd done so, but this time he meant it. Liam announced that he would continue with Oasis, but the band's breakup was soon official.

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Liam continued with most of the Oasis musicians after the split, but they changed their name to Beady Eye (thankfully), releasing the album Different Gear, Still Speeding in 2010. Noel has mentioned that he has material for a double album, but to date, he hasn't responded to his brother's debut album, which, by the way, is more decent than I expected.

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In short, that's the tumultuous story of a band with one very good moment and many very bad ones. Oasis should have ended in '99, and perhaps they truly would have been a legendary band, but those almost 10 extra years only served to elicit pity and bring them into the spotlight through their scandals, not their music. Precisely what they criticized the Rolling Stones for. Anyway, that doesn't take away from the fact that they left us with two or three very good albums, which undoubtedly defined an era in the '90s, with songs that became part of the soundtrack of our lives.

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I don't wish Oasis a long life for obvious reasons. Rather, I tell them: "Don't Look Back in Anger."

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By Corvan 

Aug/5/2011

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