Hailing from Burnage in Manchester the two brothers Gallagher are the heart of this massive-selling rock group. Older sibling Noel had been playing guitar throughout his teens yet decided on a career as a roadie. Having tired of life on the road however he returned to Manchester with a load of great songs and took creative control of brother Liam’s band, named ‘Oasis’ after a leisure centre in Swindon (or so they say).
Along with Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs (guitar), Paul McGuigan (bass) and drummer Tony McCarroll, the lads began to carve a little niche out for themselves and were promptly signed to Creation Records by Alan McGee. With a couple of singles under their belts the band dropped album 'Definitely Maybe' in September 1994, which entered the charts at number one and became the fastest-selling debut album in the UK at the time.
They followed up the success with the critically acclaimed '(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?' a year later. But cracks were appearing in the band’s line-up. Drummer Tony McCarroll was ousted and replaced with Alan White, rumours of brotherly spats surfaced and Noel ended up saying nasty things about chart rivals Blur which all made them seem like the bad boys of rock.
The music was still doing it for the fans though, with singles 'Some Might Say', 'Roll With It', 'Wonderwall' and 'Don't Look Back In Anger' all scaling the UK charts. However, the party didn’t last, with 'Be Here Now' (1997), 'Standing on the Shoulder of Giants' (2000) and 'Heathen Chemistry' (2002) all receiving a shoeing from the critics.
During the period, the band lost original members Arthurs and McGuigan, but the Gallaghers plodded on, touring, falling out, getting into car crashes and always considering the latest record as a true return to form. Thankfully in 2005 the form did return in the shape of album 'Don't Believe the Truth'. It spawned two UK number one singles ('Lyla' and 'The Importance of Being Idle') and earned the group a host of awards from people like Q Magazine.
Again the Oasis bandwagon rolled on, with Q who obviously really like the lads naming 'Definitely Maybe' and '(What's The Story) Morning Glory?' as the best two British albums of the last 50 years! Even better than The Beatles whom the Gallaghers openly admit are a huge influence on them!
With more line-up changes, the group embarked on new tours and began work on another record, which was finally released in 2008 and called 'Dig Out Your Soul'. Guess what? It was another return to form from the band...
You were conceived on a storyboard
In an uptown high-rise
Where your celebrity was born
From umbilical obscurity
And the list keeps growing
And our ears keep bleeding
And the masses keep begging for more
And your screams keep coming
And the units keep moving
And the masses keep begging for more
The grins of your puppeteers are beaming
Because the quotas will be made
Or your time in the spotlight will fade
At the hands of the same pigs that made you
So speak of movements
To move more units
And invent brand name for your “believers”
Like brands on slaves
We’ll still be waiting for something stimulating
Because in the end all you sold us was boredom
KMC Community Forums
Nov 22nd, 2008 05:20 PM
Have a Cigar by Pink Floyd
