Unfair crucifixion

[shakermaker]

Im sick and tired of my favourite band being forever criticised.
The dismissal of Oasis as nothing more than a Beatles copy band is the most lazy musical analysis ever foisted upon the public.
Through sheer repetition, it has been accepted as truth by people who couldn't name or even identify three Oasis songs.
But as the Gallagher brothers themselves might say: Don't believe the truth.
Not every Oasis song is a gem (not every Beatles song was, either). And not every utterance from the tart tongue of Noel Gallagher, or the marble mouth of Liam Gallagher, is worthy of inscription on a plaque in their hometown of Manchester.
But for my entertainment quid, the batting average of Oasis -- as singers, songwriters and occasionally outrageous personalities -- continues to be far higher than any of its contemporaries.
Respecting both the Beatles and Oasis, rather than pitting them against each other in a bizarre cross-generational rivalry, won't endear me to everyone, I suppose.
And a lot of people won't like this, either, but here goes: While I recognize the quality of fellow British bands such as Radiohead and Coldplay, I find them to be, well, a little dour and dull.
Oasis songs, on the other hand, make me want to pick up my guitar and learn how to play them.
Noel Gallagher, the driving force behind Oasis, once said, "We've only got half a dozen good bands in England -- there's Oasis and there's five Oasis tribute bands."
Really, how can you not love a quote like that? But there are plenty who openly cheer for Oasis to fail as punishment for such audacity, whether you take Noel at his word or think he's just screwing around.
Oasis-bashing has become a rock-critic cliche. In response, fans of the group have developed a bunker mentality as they continue to buy tickets to concerts and sing along to almost every song.
Most reviews of the band's new CD, Don't Believe The Truth, have fallen between "not as bad as their worst" and "not as good as their best." That last charge is something Oasis always will have to live with, and it amounts to the price of past success.
Since Oasis burst to the front of the Brit-pop scene in the mid-1990s with two seminal albums -- the impudently catchy Definitely Maybe and the anthem-laden (What's The Story) Morning Glory? -- the Gallaghers constantly have been reminded how each subsequent effort has not measured up. Alanis Morissette, coincidentally, has gone through much the same thing in the past 10 years, post-Jagged Little Pill, and you probably can point to other examples as well.
Not every Oasis CD has been a gem. But how many artists who have been around as long as Oasis can claim to be clunker-free? To my ear, on average, Oasis still has more good songs per CD than the norm. Regardless, many critics continue to focus on the worst of Oasis rather than the best.
Oasis has taken far more abuse than has been warranted. Really, in this God-forsaken era of sampling-addicted rap artists and Pop Idol squealers topping the charts with the most formulaic drivel in the history of recorded sound, how did Oasis ever become the poster-boys for alleged musical thievery?
Not only is it not fair, it's not accurate.
Listen to Rock 'n' Roll Star, or The Hindu Times, or Lyla, the single from the new CD. The Beatles never sounded like that, folks. Listen to everything Oasis has to offer, rather than picking and choosing certain songs to prove some point about how derivative the band is.
Oasis has its own sound. I can pick it out a mile away.
Do some Oasis songs remind you of Beatles songs? Absolutely. But guess what? Oasis is a British group that plays hard-driving, melodic rock and roll. There are going to be similarities, to the Beatles, to the Who, to T-Rex, to countless others.
I had a good laugh last week when, for the first time in ages, I heard a Rolling Stones song from the mid-1960s called Child Of The Moon. It's the closest thing to an Oasis song that isn't actually an Oasis song I ever have heard, right down to Mick Jagger's vocal. All that's missing is updated instrumentation and Liam's voice, and it would fit snugly onto any Oasis CD.
The point is, just about everything sounds a little like something that came before, if you listen hard enough and have a musical library wide enough to recognize it. Heck, the Raveonettes, a critically acclaimed group from Denmark, owe much of their sound to the Jesus and Mary Chain and almost all of their harmonies to the Everly Brothers. But no one seems to be up in arms about that.
So why does Oasis get picked on so much?
Part of it has to do with the magnitude of the band's profile. But Oasis also has paid for its perceived arrogance, which I find endearing and even humourous, but others do not.
I recall several years ago when Oasis was playing Canada. When Noel Gallagher emerged from backstage, he greeted the assembled throng with the words, "Show some respect for the best f---ing band on the planet!"
I thought it was great. To have the nerve to say that, especially in front of a Canadian crowd that primarily was on hand to see Neil Young, showed incredible rock-and-roll bravado.
Noel's proclamations through the years -- whether he's bragging unrepentently, or ripping himself, or ripping his bands' rivals, or ripping his brother -- have provided me with more chuckles than any stand-up comedian. He's full of bombast. Personally, I think his musical resume gives him the right to say just about anything he wants. But even if you don't agree, why can't everyone just lighten up? When did popular music become so serious?
But Oasis is not exclusively about crazy quotes and battlin' brothers. It comes back to the music, and I am of the strong opinion that Oasis does not get the credit it deserves.
Oasis still takes me someplace.
A place where guitars still are loud.
A place where singers still sneer.
A place where songs still have tunes, not just beats. Call it my own personal Oasis.

[Robdunn24]

first album was great and the rest... hmmm

it doesnt help that noel & liam both think they are john lennon
i think thats why they be compared to the beatles, they are nothing
like the beatles imho

[the real michael]

oasis were good i agree...and they are not the only band to adopt other artists styles and riffs .. they used to practice next door to another great band called.. "the real people" ...and it seems that the vocal style of both
bands were remarkebly similar! ... if any oasis fans out there have never heard of "the real people" then i seriously recommend that you find some
of thier music on the internet and at least listen to a track called "window pane"...... and let me add that this track was released years before oasis
were heard of...mmmmmmm...now then similar vocal style....practicing next door to each other... (i think that "trp" actually sued oasis but dont quote me) .....im sure if you "rip" any song made over the last 30 yrs you will find
something in it identical to another copyrighted tune...unfortunately you only find out when the lawsuit pops through the door! im sorry if you dont appreciate this but some of their stuff is more than a tad "beatle-ish" but its nothing to be ashamed of...really....every artists has an influence or genre
and sometimes this can be detected through their music.....
as for coldplay.....i agree too! .....when i first heard "sorry" on the radio (from the album parachutes) i wondered if it was actually pink floydd! ....(i know..call me backward) i think it was his laid back vioce which reminded me
of them ....when i was informed it was a new band called coldplay i thought..
eh up....then a colleague of mine (who had just seperated from his partner)
purchased said album ... which then made him totally depressed and suicidal!
which goes to show that music is more influencial than you think....he did make an attempt on his life....so one should be careful of what one plays when in a negative mood.!... anyhow it seems these days that coldplay are the cocks for now..i dont know why...even the main riff in clocks has been
"recycled" (cough) from another bands composite but will joe public ever
care? ..... (the prodigys firestarter isnt original either) .....the who...the stones..you think they could ever write an album on their own without
influence? .....(or class a drugs) .....let them say what they want..
if joe public wants to make stars out of weiners like coldplay and the darkness
and other freaks then let them .....give me oasis anyday rather than a screamin woe-man or a manic depressive vegan .....thumbs up mate!

p.s. there is a parody by a band called "playcold" entitled ..jello .....
i think they are releasing it on the net in summer....just heard the first 16 bars
and i had to laugh! .........see ya...........

[Robdunn24]

i have a couple of early oasis demotapes on cd

[doozer]

people can say what they like about oasis it really does not matter
or change the fact that they are a great i've seen them live on 10 occasions knebworth, lock lomand an maine road but three of them
an when a band can sell out those kind of venues at over 100thousand a piece then screw what people think who cares i'm sure they don't