Oasis (band): Difference between revisions

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Oasis as of 2005, left to right: Andy Bell, Noel Gallagher, Liam Gallagher and Gem Archer

Oasis are a British rock band. Originally called Rain, the band were formed in Manchester.

The group shot to stardom in the mid 1990s with a sound based upon traditional British rock, a sound that had lost favour in the early 1990s due to the popularity of such movements as Shoegaze, House Music and Grunge.

Combining mass-appeal melodies, mod style fashions, mop-top haircuts and arrogant swagger, Oasis quickly established themselves as one of the most recognizable bands of the period. The band's behaviour on and off stage quickly became fodder for tabloid newspapers, with reports of heavy drinking; drug abuse; violent confrontations both with the media and each other appearing regularly in the press. The reports usually centred on the band's nucleus: vocalist Liam and older brother and main songwriter Noel. The band have undergone several lineup changes since their formation, leaving Liam as the only founding member in the lineup as of June 2005.

History

Early years and breakthrough (1991-1994)

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(1991-1994) left to right: Liam, Guigsey, Noel, McCaroll, Bonehead

Rain were a guitar based group who had taken their name from the popular Beatles' b-side, and were originally comprised of Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan (bass), Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs (guitars), Tony McCaroll (drums) and Chris Hutton (vocals). When Guigsy invited school friend Liam Gallagher to join the group, Gallagher accepted, and quickly pushed for the band's name to be changed to Oasis, having seen the word on an Inspiral Carpets tour poster.

The band then played their first gig under the new name in August, 1991, at the Boardwalk club in Manchester. Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher, who had recently returned from touring America as a guitar technician for the Inspiral Carpets, came to watch his younger brother play. A few months later, Noel, a guitarist and Beatles fan, was invited to join the band. Although he had been critical of the band, he agreed, with the proviso that he would be the band's sole songwriter and leader, and that they would aim for the very top.

After gaining a loyal and vocal following on the local Manchester gig circuit, Oasis signed to Creation Records. It i often reputed the band signed following a Glasgow concert in late 1993, a concert they were allowed to play only after threatening the owner of the club, but this version of has not been substantiated. Following a limited white label release of their song "Columbia", the band released its first commercial singles, "Supersonic" and "Shakermaker," in the spring of 1994. Both gained national UK radio airplay and were Top 40 hits in the United Kingdom.

In August 1994 their true breakthrough came with the melodic single "Live Forever," which was a UK Top 10 hit. Around this time the band were involved in a high-profile incident on a ferry just outside Holland in which four members of the group were arrested; Liam and Guigsy were for fighting; Bonehead and McCarrol for shoplifting. All four were refused entry to Holland, and this incident was widely reported in the UK press, serving to build a recognition of the band. Soon after, Oasis released their acclaimed debut album, Definitely Maybe, which entered the charts at #1 and became the fastest selling debut album in UK history.

In August of 1994, whilst on a tour of the U.S., Noel Gallagher announced he had left the band. Although the tour finished, Noel was persuaded to rejoin the band, and soon after the single "Cigarettes & Alcohol" was released. With its catchy T-Rex riffing it proved popular and reached number 7 in the UK chart that October.

The EP "Whatever" was released in December 1994 and saw the band in a transitional stage between the heavy sound of Definitely Maybe and the more mellow, string-laden psychedelic sound of their upcoming second album. The EP reached number three in the charts.

Britpop and the Blur rivalry (1995)

The year 1995 saw a minor setback to the Oasis lineup. During early recording for their second album, original drummer Tony McCarroll was sacked after a reports of scuffles with Liam and Noel. He was swiftly replaced with Londoner Alan White, whose brother Steve had drummed for Paul Weller and his Style Council. McCarroll later attempted to sue Oasis over his sacking, citing breach of contract, but lost the suit on a technicality.[1]

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(1995-1999) clockwise from left: Guigsy, Bonehead, Liam, Whitey and Noel

Oasis returned to recording their second album in Wales, and soon had their first UK #1 with the first release from this album, "Some Might Say" (notably the only track from the new album to feature McCaroll's drumming), in late April 1995. During this period the British media built up a career-making rivalry between Oasis and fellow "Britpop" luminaries Blur, a rivalry the two bands were quick to maintain.

Whilst the rivalry was mostly assumed to be fictional, Noel, in an interview, told The Observer he hoped Damon Albarn and Alex James would "catch AIDS and die. He subsequently apologised for this in a formal letter to Melody Maker [2].

On Monday, August 14th, 1995, Blur and Oasis deliberately released brand new singles on the same day, a hype tactic that dominated the week's news. Perhaps because it was more aggressively priced (99p vs £1.99), Blur's "Country House" eventually won the day over Oasis' "Roll With It" - selling 274,000 copies over the week to Oasis' 216,000. In the long run, however, Oasis' second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, outsold Blur's current offering, The Great Escape, and at the time, became the second-fastest selling album of all-time in the UK.

Whilst its predecessor was hailed by many as having resurrected guitar rock, Morning Glory was arranged more orchestrally, and served as the breakthrough album that made Oasis international superstars. Despite this the album received mixed, mildly disappointed press reviews. The music represented a definite change of pace from Definitely Maybe, with heavier guitar tracks being replaced with introspective, organic ballads reminiscent of 1960s British Invasion groups.

The album has since sold 3 million copies in the UK alone and spawned two further hit singles in "Wonderwall", and "Don't Look Back in Anger" which reached numbers 2 and 1 respectively. As their rise to fame reached its zenith, Oasis performed back-to-back concerts at Knebworth Park on the 10th and 11th August 1996. The band sold out both shows within minutes, with tickets sold to an aggregate of 300,000 people for the two nights, a then record breaking number for an outdoor concert held in the UK.

The concert saw the group supported by amongst others, The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, and Manic Street Preachers, and was voted the third "greatest gig" of all time by readers of Q magazine in 2004.

In September of 1995, whilst on another tour of the US, Guigsy, briefly left the band, citing the depression he was currently suffering. He was replaced by Scott McLeod (Ex- The Ya-Yas), who featured on some of the tour dates, and in the "Wonderwall" video before he abruptly left; reputedly without telling anyone. In order to complete the tour, Guigsy was implored to return to the fold, and he relented. Seeing the humour in this turn of events, Noel would quip "he looks a bit like the old one, doesn't he?" after introducing Guigsy as the new bassist.

The recording and release of Be Here Now 1996-1998

Oasis spent the rest of 1996 and the start of 1997 plotting their third album. Be Here Now was released in August 1997, the band choosing to launch it on a Thursday rather than the traditional Monday. Preceded by the hit single, and UK #1, "D'You Know What I Mean?", the album was perhaps their most anticipated effort, and as such became the subject of considerable media attention, fuelled in part by the record company's public relations department. Anticipation culminated with the screening of the documentary, "Right Here, Right Now" on BBC1 on the eve of the albums release. The attendant press attention and hype helped the album become the fastest-selling album in UK history, selling 423,000 units on day one: nearly 100,000 more than the previous album had managed in its first week, and reached number 2 in the US album chart.

Be Here Now's momentum carried on for the rest of the year, and it comfortably outsold Definitely Maybe worldwide, but failed to reach the heights of (What's the Story) Morning Glory. Although early media reviews seemed very promising, including a five-star appraisal in the respected UK magazine "Q", after the media frenzy settled, critics and record buyers branded the record "bloated" and "derivative" compared to their earlier efforts, coments echoed in Noel's public criticism of the album. Public attention also began to turn to other UK acts such as Radiohead and The Verve during this period, seeing them as more serious that Oasis, who come to be caricatured as slightly cartoonish in parts of the media.

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the Gallagher brothers - Noel and Liam - in a rare moment of laughter

Shortly after its release, British music magazine Melody Maker published an article claiming that Be Here Now was also the album most sold to second-hand record shops. The album also marked the high point of their fame in the US: Be Here Now remains the final Oasis album to go "gold" in America. Some critics have also cited this album as signifying the end of the Britpop movement.

Even the Gallaghers have different opinions: Liam still staunchly defends Be Here Now, compared to Noel's public criticism of it, blaming it on indulgent, lavish overproduction, a blasé attitude, a very high intake of alcohol and cocaine (allegedly the band were also taking drugs in the previous two sessions, but not ot the same extent), and a lack of time and care spent on writing the songs.

Johnny Depp, a close friend of Noel's, is sometimes mistakenly credited with playing slide guitar on the track "Fade In-Out", allegedly because Noel was too drunk and high on cocaine. Noel Gallagher has admitted he did not play this part saying "I'll have to own up and say that's not actually me playing the slide part. That was the engineer, because no one in the band can play slide."

Not long after Be Here Now was released, a typical Oasis row dissolved the band's promotional tour for the album. After a memorable Yellow Submarine-inspired video for their fourth UK #1, "All Around The World", the group kept a relatively low profile throughout 1998, although a compilation of popular B-sides, The Masterplan, was released in autumn 1998 to critical acclaim with the tracklisting voted for by fans on the Internet.

Later years (1999-)

In 1999, with the band starting work on their fourth album, ex-drummer Tony McCaroll returned briefly to the spotlight. He sued the band over performance rights concerning Masterplan, which featured amongst its tracklisting b-sides sourced from the Definitely Maybe era. McCarroll and the band eventually reached an in-court settlement, which saw the drummer awarded £550, 000. [3].

The recording of the fourth album also saw founding member "Bonehead" leave the band, after a series of violations of Noel's 'no drink or drugs' policy for the album's sessions resulted in a confrontation between the two. Noel had instituted the policy in the hope that it would keep Liam sober. Matters came to a head after Bonehead had broken into Liam's room at night and poured alcohol over Liam's head. Noel, infuriated, retaliated in kind, dragging Bonehead from his own bed and pouring a bottle of red wine over his head. Arthurs, angry and surprised, left the band the next day[4].

Finding the pressure of being in the band without his close friend too great, bass player "Guigsy" soon gave notice. White, however, elected to remain with the Gallaghers, waiting for replacements. Thus he, Liam and Noel had to re-record much of the album, with Noel playing all three guitar parts.

After intense speculation in the press about replacements, with Johnny Marr; Paul Weller; and Ocean Colour Scene's Steve Cradock all linked to the vacant guitarist position; and with an offer from ex-drummer McCaroll to re-join them as bassist ignored, Oasis announced their new members. Colin "Gem" Archer, formerly of Heavy Stereo was the new guitarist, and Andy Bell, formerly of Ride was to join on bass. Bell's role as bassist was considered unusual, given that he been a guitarist in Ride and had never played bass before in his life.

With this period also seeing the demise of Creation Records, Oasis formed their own label, Big Brother as a subsidiary label of the Sony group, trough which to release their records in the UK.

Oasis's fourth album, Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, a misquotation of Sir Isaac Newton, was released in February 2000 to initially good first-week sales. However the album was greeted by luke warm reviews, seen as experimental and a departure from their traditional sound, and as of June 2005 remains their lowest-selling album worldwide, although it did spawn another UK number 1 in "Go Let It Out".

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(1999-2003) left to right: Gem, Whitey, Liam, Noel and Andy

The spring of 2000 saw the new line up embark on a world tour, which again proved eventful. In Barcelona they were forced to cancel a gig at the last-minute because of a hand injury sustained by Alan White. As a result, the band spent the whole night drinking and a heavily drunk Liam made an off-hand comment about Noel's then-wife Meg Mathews. The subsequent row resulted in Noel jetting home immediately and announcing he was quitting overseas touring, with the band replacing him with guitar technician Matt Deighton to fulfill the outstanding tour dates.

After two months of on-going rumours about band's long-term future, Noel returned for the British leg of the tour, which culminated in a Wembley show. A live album of the show, called Familiar to Millions, was released in late 2000. Meanwhile broken marriages followed for Noel, Alan White and Liam, who had married the actress/singer Patsy Kensit in 1997. Liam immediately started relationship with former All Saints – Nicole Appleton.

In mid 2001 the band returned to work on their next record. Oasis' fifth album, Heathen Chemistry, was released in July 2002. The record retained an experimental flavour, but also borrowed heavily from traditional British sounds. Heathen Chemistry was also a much more democratic recording process for the band, with Liam, Andy and Gem all penning songs for recording. This new working method, along with a lack of fighting and drug abuse in the studio, ultimately gave the record a more relaxed feel compared to past efforts. Johnny Marr provided additional guitar as well as backup vocals on several songs, and whilst critics gave Heathen Chemistry lukewarm reviews, it was commerically successful and has sold 5 million copies up to date.

The following tour, despite being successful, once again failed to pass without incident. In late summer of 2002, whilst the band was on tour in the United States, Noel, Andy and touring keyboardist Jay Darlington were involved in a car accident. While none of the band members sustained any major injuries, some shows were cancelled as a result.

In December of 2002, whilst on the Eurpean leg of the tour, Liam, Alan White, and three members of the band's entourage were arrested in Munich after being involved in a drunken fight at a local club. Liam was considerably inebriated and became involved in a scuffle with other drinkers; notably a 6'6" builder known as "The Powderkeg". The scuffle saw Liam lose his two front teeth. Liam also jumped on the club's stage and kicked a police officer in the groin. As a result of the brawling, two of the band's security guards required serious medical attention. The altercations led to 12 shows being cancelled, the band incurring £170,000 in losses, and two years later Liam was fined £45,000. After the end of the tour, the band spent the rest of 2003 out of the spotlight.

After nine years in the band, Alan White left Oasis in early 2004, the announcement coming just a month into recording the follow-up to Heathen Chemistry. Although various rumours have circulated regarding the reasons for White's departure, his brother Steve stated on his own web-site that "Alan was just tired with being in Oasis and wanted some time off to be with his girlfriend". Noel has recently stated that White "fucked off and we haven't seen him since." This became the first of many setbacks in the recording of Oasis' sixth studio album, seeing as it did the scrapping of the first sessions.

In June 2004, Oasis headlined the Glastonbury Festival, for the second time in their career, and debuted two tracks - Gem's "A Bell Will Ring" and Liam's "The Meaning of Soul". The gig was met with poor reviews and has prompted Noel to declare Oasis will never play the event ever again. The concert also saw the official introduction of drummer Zak Starkey, son of the Beatles' Ringo Starr, who had actually debuted with the band at their low-key warm-up performance in Poole two days previously.

However, it wasn't until the 28 May, 2005 that Noel Gallagher confirmed the status of Zak Starkey in the band as that of the full-time replacement for Alan White, resurrecting the traditional five-member line-up. Gallagher said: "We have waited for so long to reveal it, not because we wanted to create a certain mystery, it's because he (Zak) had to resolve his contractual problems with the Who, with which he has played in the last years."

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(2004-) from left: Liam, Gem, Zak, Andy and Noel on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross

In September 2004, the band released Definitely Maybe: The DVD in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the release of their debut album. The DVD contains an enhanced audio version of the album, four hours of live footage, and interviews with band members and the production team.

In May 2005 the band resurfaced after much recording turbulence with their sixth album Don't Believe the Truth. It featured the previous albums democratic songwriting duties with Noel contributing five songs, Liam three, Andy two and Gem one.

The album was leaked on the internet a month before its actual release and was received extremely well by fans. AMG and RYM gave the album very positive reviews, claiming that the record to be their best since (What's the Story) Morning Glory?.

The album signaled the end of Oasis' current recording contract. Following Noel's comments whilst accepting the "Best Music DVD" award at the NME Awards in London in February 2005, speculation grew that they were seeking to work once again with former boss Alan McGee on a new label, albeit one with major backing. Noel has since claimed that this was not what his comments referred to. As of June 2005 the band are still without a contract for future albums.

June of 2005 also saw the band on tour again not without incidents, with one date witnessing the audience pelting the stage with bottles and objects after Liam had walked off stage midway through Champagne Supernova. Noel carried on alone singing "Little By Little" and "Wonderwall", before closing the gig with the usual "Don't Look Back In Anger".

Later in the month the band had two espcially large gigs. The first being at the Madison Square Garden, where 16,000 seats were sold within the first hour that the tickets were released to the public. The band made sure it was a show to remember. The next gig was at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts where the band had their largest gig of any tour in the United States according to the offcial site. At this gig there were 20,000 people who attended and the band gave a show that will be forever imbedded in the hearts of the fans who attended. They opened up with songs from their new album and then continued on strong with songs from previous albums. Everything went on without a hitch and the band ended the show with "My Generation" by The Who.

Discography

Studio albums

1. Definitely Maybe (August 30 1994) - #1 UK, #58 US - 10 million

2. (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (October 2 1995) - #1 UK, #4 US - 18.5 million

File:Oasis Be Here Now album cover.jpg 3. Be Here Now (August 21 1997) #1 UK, #2 US, #1 CAN, #1 AUS - 8 million

File:StandingontheShoulderofGiantsOasisalbumcover.jpg 4. Standing on the Shoulder of Giants (February 28 2000) - #1 UK, #24 US, #8 CAN, #12 AUS - 3 million

File:HeathenChemistryOasisalbumcover.jpg 5. Heathen Chemistry (July 1 2002) - #1 UK, #23 US, #5 CAN, #3 AUS - 5 million

6. Don't Believe the Truth (30 May 2005) - #1 UK, #12 US, #3 CAN, #5 AUS

Compilations

The Masterplan (B-sides compilation album) - (November 2 1998) - #2 UK, #51 US, #11 CAN - 2 million

Singles

• "Supersonic" - (April 11, 1994) #31 UK
• "Shakermaker" - (June 13, 1994) #11 UK
• "Live Forever" - (August 8, 1994, #10 UK, #35 US
• "Cigarettes & Alcohol" - (October 10, 1994) #7 UK
• "Whatever" - (December 19, 1994) #3 UK, #40 AUS
• "Some Might Say" - (April 24, 1995) #1 UK
• "Roll With It" - (August 14, 1995) #2 UK, #48 AUS
• "Wonderwall" (October 30, 1995) #2 UK, #6 US, #1 AUS
• "Don't Look Back in Anger" - (February 19, 1996) #1 UK, #39 US, #19 AUS
• "D'You Know What I Mean" - (July 7, 1997) #1 UK, #3 CAN, #16 AUS, #22 US
• "Stand By Me" - (September 22, 1997) #2 UK, #48 AUS
• "All Around The World" - (January 12, 1998) #1 UK
• "Go Let It Out" - (February 7, 2000) #1 UK, #1 CAN, #23 AUS
• "Who Feels Love?" - (April 17, 2000) #4 UK, #7 CAN
• "Sunday Morning Call" - (July 3, 2000) #4 UK, #8 CAN
• "The Hindu Times" - (April 15, 2002) #1 UK, #1 CAN, #22 AUS
• "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" - (June 17, 2002) #2 UK, #6 CAN, #48 AUS
• "Little by Little" / "She is Love" - (September 23, 2002) #2 UK, #2 CAN
• "Songbird" - (February 3, 2003) #3 UK, #2 CAN
• "Lyla" (16 May, 2005) #1 UK, #4 CAN, #23 AUS, #17 US
• "The Importance of Being Idle" (22 August, 2005)

Exclusive International Singles

• "Champagne Supernova" - (Australia only, June 17 1996) #26 AUS
• "Morning Glory" - (Australia only, October 30 1996) #25 AUS
• "Don't Go Away" - (Japan only, February 19, 1998)

Lives and Videos

• Live By The Sea - (August 31 1995)
• ...There And Then - (October 14 1996)
• Familiar to Millions - (November 13 2000) - #5 UK, #182 US - 1.5 million
• Definitely Maybe - The DVD - (September 7 2004)

Plaudits

Oasis are regularly voted towards the top of many "Greatest of all time" polls, some of which include:

• Observer Music Monthly 100 Greatest British Albums poll, June 2004- #19 Definitely Maybe, #70 (What's The Story) Morning Glory?
• Channel 4 100 Greatest Albums of All Time, April 2005- #6 Definitely Maybe, #15 (What's The Story) Morning Glory?
• NME's 100 Best Albums of All Time, 2003- #13 Definitely Maybe, #37 (What's The Story) Morning Glory?
• Q Magazine's 100 Greatest Albums of All Time, 2003- #8 Definitely Maybe, #22 (What's The Story) Morning Glory?
• Q Magazine's 50 Greatest Bands List, 2004- #13 Oasis
• Virgin Radio's 100 Greatest British Artists, 2003- #3 Oasis
• Q Magazine's 100 Greatest Gigs, 2004- #3 Oasis- Knebworth 1996

Band Members Over the Years

Breakthrough and uprising 1991-1994:

• Liam Gallagher - Lead Vocals
• Noel Gallagher - Lead Guitar/Lead Vocals/Backvocals
• Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs - Rhythm Guitar
• Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan - Bass
• Tony McCaroll - Drums. Replaced by Alan White in 1995

Britpop and the height of fame 1995-1998:

• Liam Gallagher - Lead Vocals
• Noel Gallagher - Lead Guitar/Lead Vocals/Backvocals
• Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs - Rhythm Guitar. Replaced by Gem Archer in 1999
• Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan - Bass. Replaced by Andy Bell on Bass in 1999
• Alan White - Drums

Later years (1999-present):

1999-2003

• Liam Gallagher - Lead Vocals
• Noel Gallagher - Lead Guitar/Lead Vocals/Backvocals
• Gem Archer - Rhythm Guitar/Backvocals
• Andy Bell - Bass
• Alan White - Drums. Replaced by Zak Starkey in 2004

2004-present

• Liam Gallagher - Lead Vocals
• Noel Gallagher - Lead Guitar/Lead Vocals/Backvocals
• Gem Archer - Rhythm Guitar/Backvocals
• Andy Bell - Bass
• Zak Starkey - Drums

See Also

• The Music
• Primal Scream
• Blur
• Ian Brown
• Paul Weller
• The Chemical Brothers
• Best selling music artists - World's top selling music artists chart.

External links

• Oasis - official website.
• Masterplan Forum - fan forum with live concert downloads.
• Live4Ever - Oasis Fan Site with large community and frequently updated site.
• Oasis Fanatic - Oasis Fanatic
• German Oasis Fansite