Where were you while we were getting high?
Like many of you, Oasis were one of the very first bands that I adored and while time has changed my musical palette and preferences, there’s no denying the seismic influence that the brothers Gallagher had on me.
I was 10 when (What’s the Story) Morning Glory was released, already a fully fledged fan of the band following their incredible debut Definitely Maybe (more about that brilliant record here), but ’95 was the year that Britpop exploded and even managed to take cultural parity with some of the other more ‘newsworthy’ events of that year.
The Lansdowne Road riots, Bill Clinton visiting Northern Ireland and the Divorce Referendum were all leading features on the Six-One news that year, but so was the ‘Roll With It vs Country House‘ chart war, madness in a way but a sign of how culturally relevant Oasis were to that era.
This album propelled the band from being beloved indie darlings into fully fledged global rock ‘n roll icons. Speaking with Rolling Stone, Noel said “Whilst [Definitely Maybe] is about dreaming of being a pop star in a band, What’s the Story is about actually being a pop star in a band.”
Nobody could put it any better.
On a musical note, during the recording process Noel changed Oasis’ sound by putting an emphasis on ballads and choruses while the string arrangements on tracks like like Don’t Look Back in Anger and Champagne Supernova are still incredible to hear.
WTSMG isn’t the best album that I’ve ever heard, but it’s easily one of the most important. It’s a perfect gateway record because the band were unashamed in borrowing from The Beatles, The Kinks, Stone Roses, The Smiths, The Clash and countless others.
The album still stands up on its own merits though because you don’t get to play in front of 250,000 people at Knebworth without having talent or a popular list of tracks.
(What’s the Story) Morning Glory received lukewarm reviews upon its initial release, Melody Maker said that ” Oasis are a limited band … they sound knackered”, but the sales figures were phenomenal and many critics have since backtracked on their initial reviews.
At one point, a copy of the album was selling every 30 seconds as Oasis were elevated into the stratosphere. They rolled with it, cast a shadow over the entire musical scene and are probably only looking back now on their incredible influence.
Here’s my five favourite tracks.
5) Morning Glory
The album was the first one that the band recorded with their new drummer Alan White but you would almost completely forget that there’s a drummer on this track, such is the brilliance of that opening ‘wah-wah- riff from Noel.
In typical Oasis fashion, Noel wrote this tune whilst drunk, listening to music on his Walkman and under the influence of cocaine, which makes perfect sense when you look at the lyrics.
It’s still probably the most adrenaline pumping intro to any song on the album.
4) Some Might Say
I love good lyrics, absolutely love them, but in Oasis’ case they’re completely unnecessary at times. Noel Gallagher happily admits that he’s a limited guitarist that usually only plays four-chords but Christ almighty, he knows how to craft a great tune with them.
Most Oasis fans cringe at the cheese and bravado that encompasses Roll With It (one of the weakest tracks, in my opinion) but this tune is Oasis at their crowd pleasing best. It was their very first number one single in the UK and it perfectly defines what the band did brilliantly, catchy hooks that just make you want to jump around and go mad for it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fLR3FRaFsQ
3) Wonderwall
Certain people will be rolling their eyes right now and getting ready to send me a few angry comments, fair enough if you’re that way inclined, but it’s testament to this album that arguably the biggest song of the ’90s isn’t top of my list.
It was Grammy-nominated, voted the second-greatest song of all time in a poll by Q magazine and heralded by U2 guitarist The Edge and Blur’s bassist Alex James as the finest song that Oasis ever recorded.
I don’t need to say anything about it’s composition, we all know every note and word, but did you know that the vocal responsibilities on this track caused major friction during the recording process?
Noel wanted to sing this tune but Liam stubbornly refused, the younger Gallagher felt that Noel was trying to undermine his position in the band, thus causing a punch-up between the two and recording to stop for three weeks until they reconciled. Nothing has changed in 20 years!
For music anoraks, the band were one of the first groups to use the divisive ‘Wall of Sound’ recording technique here. This is a process whereby producers add extra layers of sound which gives the impression that the track was recorded in an empty hall.
Strings, doubled vocals and reverbed drums are all here. Take a guess at what song beat this to number one in the charts? Robson & Jerome’s I Believe/Up On The Roof.
2) Don’t Look Back in Anger
Every drunk person that’s stumbling out of a bar and singing at 3am can’t be wrong, can they?
The first Oasis single to feature Noel on lead vocals is unashamed in its use of The Beatles and John Lennon, the lyric “trying to start a revolution from me bed, because they said the brains I had went to my head” couldn’t be anymore obvious, but hearing this played live is something that will stay with me forever.
1) Champagne Supernova
Another reason why this album still resonates with me is that there are quieter, softer and more introspective moments which really come out of the blue.
Oasis have been heralded as the pioneers of this laddish, bravado and blokey culture that’s only interested in football, females and fighting. To a certain degree, they happily encouraged this image and reveled in it. Hardly a day went by when Liam Gallagher wasn’t in some altercation with his brother or a member of the press, but Oasis were clever about their craft and worked bloody hard at it.
Their producer Owen Morris claimed that the album was recorded in just 15 days (punch-ups aside) and at one rate, they were recording a song a day.
In my view, the band left their best track till last on What’s The Story because as Noel says, “it means different things when I’m in different moods”.
I really love how the strings and symbols rush in to fill the space that the guitars create, Paul Weller provided lead guitar and backing vocals here.
It’s somewhat fitting that “Champagne Supernova” was the last original song that Oasis performed live together. In my opinion, it’s the best track from an iconic album.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
