Oasis' tough but playful music pushed the burgeoning Britpop genre into the spotlight.
Behind the scenes, however, the group was chaotic, controversial, and self-destructive. From their
early days to the breakup to their highly dubious future, this is the untold truth of Oasis.
Before there was Oasis, there was Rain. Formed in Manchester in 1991,
the band's original line-up had Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs on guitar, Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan on bass,
Liam Gallagher singing, and Tony McCarroll on drums. At the time, Liam's older brother Noel
was working as an under-qualified guitar tech for a band called Inspiral Carpets.
When Noel returned from his tour, Liam asked if he'd be Rain's manager. Noel declined, however,
as he wanted to be the sole songwriter and lead guitarist. The rest of the band agreed to this,
and with their new member came a name change: Rain became Oasis.
A couple of years passed before everything changed forever.
In May 1993, Oasis drove to Scotland to play a gig at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut,
a venue in Glasgow. They weren't technically on the bill, but the band playing third
that night were their friends, and had said they'd get Oasis the fourth slot.
Oasis played four songs, including a cover of The Beatles' "I am the Walrus."
By chance, in the audience that night was Alan McGee,
founder of indie record label Creation Records. He signed them on the spot.
In 1993, Creation Records set Oasis up with producer Dave Batchelor, who took them to
a studio in the remote Welsh countryside. By that point, Noel had already written a number
of original songs for the band's live gigs. As their sessions progressed, however, the band
felt that Batchelor wasn't quite capturing their gritty, unpolished sound. Surprisingly, Alan McGee
agreed that they should start over. Batchelor was replaced with sound engineer Mark Coyle and
producer Owen Morris, whom McGee later credited with the "aggression" the band became known for.
Recording also moved to Sawmills Studios in Cornwall, on the south coast of England,
which was even more remote: you had to take a boat to get to the studio, or,
if it was low tide, walk. Unfortunately for Oasis, this made partying a little tricky.
But it wasn't all work and no play, and drugs weren't exactly impossible to come by.
Liam Gallagher has since admitted that he doesn't actually remember these recording sessions.
In the end, the risk paid off. After the third single "Live Forever" hit number 10 and number
2 in the U.K. and U.S. charts respectively, interest in Definitely Maybe peaked. Released
in August 1994, it became the fastest-selling album in U.K. history, going straight to number 1.
Unsurprisingly, Oasis was under a lot of pressure with their second album. But the band wasn't going
to undermine their own abilities, either. They jumped into recording the follow-up,
titled (What's the Story) Morning Glory? The studio the band worked out of only added
further expectations for the British band of the moment. Rockfield Studios, in Wales,
was the place where Queen had recorded the now-iconic album Bohemian Rhapsody.
More than anything, Oasis wanted to get the album made as fast as possible. Noel arrived
at the sessions with half of the songs ready, and rushed through the second batch in 12 days.
The band put in a total of two weeks of solid work — not including a week off to cool down
after a blow up between the Gallagher brothers. Reportedly, the root of the
argument had been Noel's frustration that Liam kept throwing parties in the recording studio.
"We just loved being in the pub."
"What was Monmouth like?"
"Full of pubs."
The initial response from critics wasn't particularly warm. It was a more mature, subtler
sound, and those expecting a Definitely Maybe clone couldn't get their heads around it. The
public, however, embraced the album, both in the U.K. and abroad. Morning Glory went to number 1
in the U.K., and peaked at number 4 in the U.S. In particular, the album's third track, "Wonderwall,"
was quickly written into music history — as anyone who has been to an open mic night will tell you.
Oasis was never just about their slick studio recordings, and the band proved their talent for
live performance in typically over-the-top fashion. Over August 10th and 11th, 1996,
they played to two crowds that totaled 250,000. And it could have been more:
reportedly, 2.5 million people applied for tickets — that's 4% of the British population at the time.
The venue was Knebworth House, a sprawling estate that had previously hosted enormous
audiences for Queen, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. Oasis was supported by
top British acts, including the Manic Street Preachers, the Prodigy,
and the Charlatans, as well as a Beatles tribute act called the Bootleg Beatles.
The event has since gone down in history as one of the largest and most iconic gigs in British music.
But two people have admitted they don't remember much of it. Noel Gallagher told
radio host Kirsty Young that he has no recollection of walking onto the stage.
And Liam can't remember much of what happened either — but his recollection of details was
shaky even at the time. Liam later revealed that he forgot Oasis was due to play a second night,
and proceeded to celebrate prematurely. He told NME:
"I can't remember anything else."
Fortunately for the two brothers,
a documentary about the event is due for release in 2021, which might just jog a few memories.
"I have people who grab me by the arm, you know… 'why don't you like Be Here Now?'"
The critics eventually came round to Morning Glory, and today it regularly appears on lists
of the greatest albums of all time — often alongside Definitely Maybe. But many critics
still insist that Oasis' third album, Be Here Now, showed a marked dip in quality. By late 1996,
the band's fame was at its peak, and so were their egos and drug use. Producer Owen Morris told Q
Magazine that Oasis made Be Here Now purely for the money. He described the recording process as:
"Massive amounts of drugs. Big fights. Bad vibes. S--- recordings."
Oasis was even kicked out of the iconic Abbey Road studios for being disruptive.
The drama spilled into the tabloids, too. Liam was a popular target, especially after storming
out of various shows. The level of secrecy the label invoked only added to the hype,
as Creation staff who weren't involved in the project were barred from coming to work
at certain times, in case they accidentally overheard the band's recording sessions.
At first, Be Here Now looked like another commercial success. It became the fastest-selling
album Britain had ever seen: but sales quickly slowed down, and critical trouncings flowed. The
only person still defending the album today may be Liam himself. He told Rolling Stone's podcast:
"I think it's a great album. In hindsight, it could've been better, but what's hindsight, man,
when you're living the dream?"
Everyone knows there's no love lost between the Gallagher brothers.
Noel and Liam have been at each other's throats since their pre-Oasis days,
when they were growing up on a council estate in Manchester. Liam has since backdated their
feud to the night he drunkenly mistook his older brother's new stereo for a toilet.
In early 1994, before Definitely Maybe had made them rock 'n' roll stars, the brothers recorded an
interview with NME in which they argued back and forth for nearly 15 minutes. By the time the tape
was released to the public a year later, the rift was becoming common knowledge. In September 1994,
barely a month after their first album was released, Oasis played the famous Whisky-A-Go-Go
venue in Los Angeles. During the gig, Liam mockingly altered Noel's "Live Forever" lyrics,
then hit him over the head with a tambourine and walked offstage early.
Fame did nothing to bring the two brothers closer together. Production on Morning Glory was paused
for a week so they could get over that fight, while Noel frequently criticized Liam in public.
On one occasion, for example, he dismissed his brother's medical excuse for not appearing on MTV
Unplugged as nothing more than a hangover. Having already tried to quit in 1994, another backstage
fight in 2000 saw Noel try to leave the band yet again. But he didn't follow through until 2009.
After nearly two decades of musical harmony and personal animosity,
the relationship between the Gallagher brothers exploded — in the form of one final fight. It
all kicked off backstage at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris, on August 28th, 2009. The
gig was supposed to be the penultimate performance of an intense world tour. By that point, however,
Liam and Noel weren't traveling together, and they weren't speaking off the stage, either.
In 2011, Noel told a press conference that the row was really caused by a buildup of the brothers'
many long-simmering issues. But the spark that night came when, backstage, Liam accused Noel
of manipulating the British press against him. By Noel's account, the row escalated,
until Liam threw a plum at a wall, left the dressing room, and came back… with a vengeance.
"He went to his own dressing room and came back
with a guitar and started wielding it like an axe."
Noel left the room, sat in his car, and decided to quit Oasis. In 2020, Liam told Rolling Stone
that his brother's exit was less about their feuding than Noel's solo aspirations. He said:
"There was always a little bit of s--- going on,
but I just think he wanted out [...] [Someone told Noel], 'You know, you could do a solo record.'"
After Noel left Oasis, Liam chose not to find a new songwriter or continue using the name.
Oasis was officially over. The two brothers continued their own projects individually,
however: Liam put together his new band Beady Eye from the remnants of Oasis,
including rhythm guitarist Gem Archer, bassist Andy Bell,
and drummer Chris Sharrock. The band put out two albums, the second of which received
mixed reviews, but was praised as a promising experiment and a step in the right direction.
Unfortunately, in 2014, Liam Gallagher announced via Twitter that Beady Eye had come to an end.
He later told the Guardian that he felt the label didn't book enough live shows,
and that the other members wanted to do other things. He set out alone,
and is expected to release his third solo album in 2021.
Meanwhile, Noel created his own band, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.
Enjoying much stronger staying power than his brother's project, High Flying Birds celebrated
10 years in April 2021. The line-up has fluctuated over the years, but the most
recent one includes ex-Oasis and ex-Beady Eye members Gem Archer and Chris Sharrock.
Liam has since revealed that he believed Noel was planning his solo career while Oasis was
technically still together. He also pointed out that several High Flying Birds songs were
originally written and demoed for Oasis — a detail Noel has unapologetically acknowledged.
Fans have been clamouring for an Oasis reunion pretty much every day since August 28th, 2009.
The real question, of course, is whether the Gallaghers will ever share a stage again.
The answer depends on the brother, the time of day, and myriad other factors only Liam and Noel
know about. Liam has said publicly multiple times that he's open to a reunion, but that he thinks
the brothers need to repair their relationship first. In 2017, he told Rolling Stone:
"Before we get back together — if we ever get back together — we'd have to become brothers
and friends again. [...] I imagine once that happens and we start hanging out [...] We
would probably go 'F--- it, should we take the f---ing band out for a spin?'"
Publicly, at least, Noel has disputed these suggestions.
In 2021, he said that he would reunite Oasis for £100 million, given that:
"There isn't £100 million in the music business. Between all of us."
Liam at least stoked the rumor mill by responding to an Instagram post about
Noel's comments, claiming:
"I'd do it for FREE."
So it looks like fans' dreams of an Oasis could be just a
crowdsourcing campaign away. Definitely. Maybe.
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