Although it’s something that I had always wanted to venture into, music journalism has somehow passed me by in recent years since I have wanted to get into the journalism and media profession.

I did try a poor attempt at reviewing The Stone Roses self-titled album last year but I wasn’t sure on what to do, how to lay it out or what even to speak about. I noticed a few paragraphs in that repeating “Reni’s distinctive rhythmic drumming style throughout was just as key to each song than any of the lyrics or guitars” in various ways just wasn’t going to cut it. However, as this is a blog, I think it will be bit different – so here we go.

The Build-up

I was first introduced to Oasis in the very early 2000s when ‘Roll With It’ would play over the tannoy at football matches. I didn’t know them as Oasis at the time – I was only five, but having been a Bob Marley fan from birth, this new punch in the air rock song was something different. Here was a song that got a crowd of 60,000 pissed-up Glaswegians singing en masse – it was an early treasured memory.

Still oblivious to who was behind this stadium anthem, it wasn’t until 2005 that I properly discovered the band known as Oasis. One primary school ‘Golden Time’ someone in my class brought in an album called ‘Don’t Believe the Truth’. The cover was black and white with the title stretched across it. There was just something about the title that struck a chord with me. However what would solidify the relationship between Oasis and I would be the feature track of the album, ‘Lyla’. I would go as far to say that it was the first song that I realised how good a song can be written, accompanied with the iconic voice of ‘Roll With It’ being the person to sing it.

After that day, the love affair between the Gallagher brothers and I grew year after year. Their split in 2009, the top headline of GMTV engraved in my mind, is something I will never forget. However, with age and the ever growing wealth of information on the internet – articles, videos and interviews, I have come to understand why Noel Gallagher made that decision and ultimately respect it. At current, I am not in favour of a reunion – not because of the bother it may cause the brothers, but the fact that I don’t think nostalgia would hold up. Liam Gallagher’s voice is well off what it used to be and Noel is having a relatively successful solo career.

Oasis formed sometime between 1991 and 1992 after Noel joined his brother Liam’s band ‘The Rain’ on the basis that he would be the song writer and be in control of almost everything musically. The early demos, in my opinion, are hot and cold. It would be the definition of a band starting out as they ventured into different paths and 20 year old Liam was still trying to find what would become his instantly recognisable Johnny Rotten voice. Standouts from this pre-debut album period would include ‘Colour of My Life’, ‘Snakebite’ and ‘Lock All The Doors’ – which would, 22 years later, be produced by Noel’s solo band ‘High Flying Birds’.

‘Colour of My Life’ was a mix of The Stone Roses and The Charlatans with long drawn guitar riffs, some would say calming in a way. This was backed up by the soothing vocals of Liam which I believe complements each other to give out and excellent starting point for future demos. On the other hand, ‘Snakebite’ would be more aggressive, and was maybe a starting point for ‘Swamp Song’. There are no vocals, but it showed from an instrumental standpoint that they had that punch in the air style from the beginning. Finally, ‘Lock All the Doors’ was a song that obviously left a mark on Noel but later remarked that they just never got round to recording it. The lyrics were perfect for the song and the chorus is just as good as any other the band produced at that time.

Oasis’ debut album was released on the 29th August 1994 and was titled ‘Definitely Maybe’. Following a nationwide tour, and picking up thousands of newly acquired fans along the way, the album was the fastest selling debut album in the UK of all time and became the face of a new genre of music which would become known as ‘Britpop’. For anyone with a vetted interest in this genre, this Launchpad for Oasis was perfect with the album getting rave reviews from critics.

The track titles from 1-10 maybe tell the story of a hit musician with the first track being the aspirational ‘Rock and Roll Star’, then in the middle there is ‘Bring it on Down’ and finally ‘Married With Children’. A fan like myself would say that every track on this album could be a number one. Songs which particularly stand out above the rest for me are ‘Rock and Roll Star’, ‘Columbia’ and ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’. The first song of the album makes you want to follow the path of Oasis and start up a band. Oasis’ success from where they came from showed anyone that anything was possible. ‘Columbia’ was another long winded track that, like ‘Colour of My Life’, would make an impression on me – I really like guitars. Finally ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’ is another vintage Oasis track. On the face of it I shouldn’t relate to this track, I don’t smoke or drink alcohol, but again it’s the melody that speaks out to me more than anything – I haven’t forgot about T-Rex.

When Oasis’ second album ‘(What’s the story) Morning Glory’ came out on 2nd October 1995 critics believed that the Manchester band had suffered second album syndrome. It was launched to unenthusiastic reviews, however the album continued like the first and became yet another hit. Some might say that this album even bettered the first release a year previous. However, I cannot differentiate between the two – and I wouldn’t want to.

Obviously the main stand out tune of the album for me is ‘Roll With It’ but additionally ‘Morning Glory’ and the iconic ‘Champagne Supernova’ are just as good. I have already explained my fascination with ‘Roll With It’ so I will press on. The song ‘Morning Glory’ hooks any Oasis fan right away with its instantly catchy intro accompanied with the first line ‘All your dreams are made’, what’s not to like? The final track on the album ‘Champagne Supernova’ is eight minutes of pure bliss as well as absolute nonsense as far as lyrics go – even Noel himself doesn’t know what they mean but points out the crowd singing every word is all that matters. Although the long Oasis track on the end of this album is arguably one of their best, little did fans know at the time what would come of the next album.

The next few Oasis albums were maybe ones only a fan could love. Released in 1997 was Oasis’ third studio album, ‘Be Here Now’. This album is described by Noel Gallagher as the ideal advert for not doing cocaine. This long drawn album received the complete opposite treatment from critics with it launching on the back of rave reviews, only for this to change after its general release. Although it may have bombed in the opinion of the general public, this album was released with Oasis at the height of their power and ‘Be Here Now’ remains the fastest selling album in British chart history.

In my opinion, this period of Oasis’ history is actually my favourite as there was a whole host of things going on in this time period. Drug fuelled recording sessions, in-fighting between the brothers and a wholehearted effort to stop leaks are just some of the stories which went on during this period. I’d highly recommend anyone to look this period up. In terms of favourite songs, my preferred recording off the ‘Be Here Now’ sessions never made it on the album, even though the song did. Noel Gallagher’s demo of ‘I hope, I think, I know’ is up there with some of the best things Oasis ever did, yet the only recording of it is a grainy track from a cassette tape on Youtube. Another favourite of mine is another Noel demo of ‘Lets all Make Believe’. However, off the final album I would choose ‘Magic Pie’, ‘Be Here Now’ and ‘All Around the World’. The title track ‘Be Here Now’ would be my favourite as it still sounded the closest to the material on the two previous albums.

Next came another album which did not match the band’s first two works. The album, ‘Standing on the shoulder of giants’ was released on 28th February 2000. With lead song writer Noel coming off drugs and at a low point lyrically, alongside two of the band dropping out, this was not the best time for the band. Only one song off the album is what I would call proper Oasis level quality and that is ‘Go let it out’. The lyrics appeal to my republican leanings and I believe that it also appeals to Noel’s. He also described the song as “the closest we came to sounding like a modern day Beatles”. I would have to agree as it was the small gem of a fish in amongst an average bigger pond.

Next up for Oasis and their new line-up was ‘Heathen Chemistry’, released on 1st July 2002. Critics saw it on a similar pedestal to the previous SOTSOG album, however I think that there are much better songs across this release. The best songs on this album for me are ‘The Hindu Times’, ‘Stop Crying Your Heart Out’ and ‘Little By Little’. Firstly, ‘The Hindu Times’ was the familiar Oasis sound of the album, much like ‘Go Let It Out’ before it. ‘Stop Crying Your Heart Out’ and ‘Little By Little’ are songs that resonated with the general public and I can understand why due to its widely appealing lyrics and catchy melodies. The latter song when performed live, even to this day with High Flying Birds, is always a joy to see and hear.

Next up we return to ‘Don’t Believe the Truth’, released on 30th May 2005. Finally, Oasis were back with an album which could be befitting of being alongside Definitely Maybe and Morning Glory. It seemed to me that at this point Oasis had to reinvent themselves in a way and bring their music up to a changing music scene. This period was quite a prosperous one in British music with several bands emerging or establishing themselves in the mid-noughties. Almost every track on the album was ‘good’ with a few being even better than that.

My favourites off this album include ‘Mucky Fingers’, ‘Lyla’ and ‘Let there be love’. ‘Mucky Fingers’ appeals to me like ‘Go Let It Out’ did with Noel taking a pop at the upper reaches in society, but I also think that the song can also address growing up in industrial cities in the UK such as Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. ‘Let there be love’ is a special finish to the album and a welcome change to the usual rock songs Oasis are known for. In my opinion this song touches back on those early demos such as ‘Colour of My Life’.

Oasis closed up their studio album catalogue on 6th October 2008 with their seventh and final album ‘Dig out your soul’. This album seemed to be a progression on their previous effort and I believe had Oasis continued then this would be the direction they would continue in. There were already elements of this with spin-off band ‘Beady Eye’. Once again, the album starts off strong until six tracks in when the song quality starts to fade. ‘Bag it Up’, ‘Shock of the Lightning and ‘Waiting for the Rapture’ are my three choices for songs of the album. The first song is a perfect intro to a new Oasis album. This tune sounds a bit different, I can imagine a cowboy in the Midwest strolling along to this song – it just has that vibe about it. ‘Shock of the Lightning’ is the creme de la creme of the album and doesn’t veer much from the usual stadium rock concept that Oasis are known for. According to the band, the song was quickly patched together and is ‘basically a demo’ and that’s what I like most, the rawness of it. Finally, ‘Waiting for the Rapture’ is a peculiar song to me. At first I wasn’t a fan, but after seeing it performed live and hearing the various different bootleg versions out there, the song kind of grew on me and is a fantastic and mature piece of work.

So there we have it – my band review of the old favourites, Oasis. There are a lot of people who don’t like the band or the numerous members in it, but their songs for over 24 years have been familiar to millions. It just shows you the measure and how high regard they are to me that I’ve written over 2,260 words on them – there are not many artists who would be able to ask this of their fans! I could have went on even further than I already have, and even spoke of the two spin-off projects but I may leave that for another day. If you have made it this far, then thank you for reading. If you liked it, please share to fellow fans and spread the world.

Live Forever,

Connor G.