The Formative Years – Oasis
Think of them what you will, given their influences and the way they channelled them – controversies , theatrics and drama aside - one would be hard pressed to not deem Oasis a decent band.
The UK has always been a hotbed for genre coining rock bands starting with the Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who, Black Sabbath, Joy Division, Sex Pistols, The Smiths, et cetera.
However, at a time when rock music became more fragmented as a genre and the emergence of new subgenres that started to infiltrate the mainstreams, out of the blue a band from Manchester appeared on the horizon to coin and herald a new age of lad-pop, which with them at the very centre made them one of the most successful bands to come from the old world.
Having had a chance to see them perform live early on in their career, they won me over straight away – not only was their blissful mass of sound brutally loud but infused with an attitude and swagger of each constituent that clearly indicated that this band was their destiny.
A range of great albums followed throughout the 1990s, with each being a milestone in their own right, with especially their two albums “Definitely maybe” and “(What’s the story) morning Glory” being examples par excellence for an output that is paved with anthems, showing their talent and expertise in sequencing the song in borderline perfect order for maximum impact.
Needless to say, what seemed to be very real inner-band animosities and the way they elevated it confidently to performance art to use the ensuing fallout for marketing, did not hurt the ascent of the band either.
The combination of Noel Gallagher’s song writing skills and pop sensibilities in conjunction with Liam’s wonderfully logical yet ultimately meaningless, non-sensical lyricism conjure mental images that serve as a perfect canvas for the recipient to project their own interpretations and ride their big emotions on.
In essence, they brought the evolution and collapse of rock music heroism full circle by reinventing the notion of rock stardom and bigger than life on stage personas and the scale they achieved it on, remains unrivalled to this day.
