It’s those two. So why do we care?
When Keith Cameron from NME first reviewed Oasis’ debut album Definitely Maybe in 1994, he countered the band’s loud critics who cried of simplistic songwriting and immature brothers by saying “This, damn it, is rock as it’s meant to be rolled”
30 years later, the sentiment has lost no validity. Even discounting the band’s later albums, that first record has sold out shows across the country as Liam Gallagher performed it alone this year. Clearly, it remains rock as it was meant to be rolled.
Liam performed it alone because of a world famous, volcanic falling out with his brother Noel. A conflict that seems to have only escalated over the years. But on a random Tuesday, the world found out it wasn’t actually all that bad, they’re back in action. Ready to bring all the hits back to the world. Oasis. Back together. Finally.
Except they’re not.
Like any band, Oasis’ tenure saw their band members revolve over the years, but in the 90s, arguably their greatest window of output, they had a solid lineup of four. Consisting of, of course, our two marvellously cocky brothers as well as Paul ‘Guigsy’ Mcguigan and Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs. Original drummer Tony McCarroll was replaced by Alan White shortly after the release of Definitely Maybe. Keith Cameron highlighted these men’s additions to Definitely Maybe in his review, noting that the sound would not be what it was without them.
So where are these men in the conversation of brotherly love?
Well, they’re nowhere, because this is not an Oasis reunion, it’s a family reunion. And to some, that is unacceptable. But to the hundreds of thousands who are barging at the Ticketmaster gates for entry, it’s water off a duck’s back.
The music is just that transcendent. The Adidas Sambas, bucket hats and parkas in the crowd couldn’t care less who isn’t there because the last time Noel and Liam were up playing Colombia together, you can make a safe bet that all of those dads and uncles were having a much simpler time of life.
And that’s what music is. An escape. As much as I would love to see its original lineup take the stage, I am perfectly content seeing the Gallagher show because the music will always mean more to me than the men playing it.
The time may come and I may be proven wrong, but it would struggle to impact the legacy of Oasis because, as Keith Cameron delightfully put it: “Oasis have encapsulated the most triumphant feeling.
“It’s like opening your curtains and seeing someone’s built the Taj Mahal in your back garden and then filled it with your favourite flavour of Angel Delight.
“Yeah, that good.”
