#47 The warring brothers Gallagher and the tale of Oasis

When Oasis first released the album 'What's the Story Morning Glory' here in Canada in 1995, I was thirteen years old and I was blown away. This was everything my young teenage mind had been waiting for. Listening to the fantastic tracks on this album over and over again for weeks, I couldn't help but let my mind race off with the possibilities that Oasis brought to my mind. I really thought they had a shot at attaining the level of the Rock Gods of old. Quite possibly part of my reasoning behind this was the reminiscence towards the Beatles that their music brings to mind. If you listen to this album you can hear Liam Gallagher trying his very best to sound like John Lennon. I mean, just look at the picture here and tell me if you don't think they are trying to channel the Beatles. Not that I minded back then or even now for that matter. I think Liam himself put it to rest when he said in an interview that 'People say we sound like the Beatles or that I sound like Lennon well that I take as a compliment. Lennon had the perfect sound and I will always strive towards that. He was more then just an influence to me, he was like my god.'

Oasis formed in Manchester, UK in 1991. Back then they were originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher (vocals and tambourine), Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs (guitar), Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan (bass guitar) and Tony McCarroll (drums, percussion). Shortly after forming The Rain, Liam managed to convince his older brother Noel Gallagher to join the group (lead guitar and vocals). Noel agreed to join the group as long as they let him write the songs from then on and to change the name of the group. The rest of the guys agreed and Oasis was born.

Oasis released their record-setting debut album Definitely Maybe in 1994. The following year, the band recorded their opus (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995) which is in my opinion one of the greatest rock albums of the last twenty years. The Gallagher brothers featured regularly in tabloid newspapers for their sibling disputes and wild lifestyles. In 1997, Oasis released their third album, Be Here Now, and although it became the fastest-selling album in UK chart history, the album's popularity tapered off quickly. The band lost members Paul McGuigan and Paul Arthurs as they went on to record and release Standing on the Shoulder of Giants in 2000 and were replaced by Gem Archer and Andy Bell who joined the group for the tour in support of Giants. The band found renewed success and popularity starting with 2005's Don't Believe the Truth through 2008's Dig Out Your Soul and their supporting tours.
In August 2009, Noel Gallagher announced his departure from the band after a backstage altercation with Liam before a festival appearance. Liam Gallagher stated that the remaining members of the band would continue to record music, but ruled out the possibility of continuing as Oasis in February 2010, instead forming a new band called Beady Eye.

In the almost twenty years or so that they were a group, they had eight UK number-one singles and eight UK number-one albums, and won fifteen NME Awards, nine Q Awards, four MTV Europe Music Awards and six BRIT Awards, including one in 2007 for outstanding contribution to music and one for the best album of the last 30 years as voted by the BBC Radio 2 listeners; they have been nominated for three Grammy Awards. As of 2009, the band have sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide. Also the band was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2010 for “Longest Top 10 UK Chart Run By A Group” after an unprecedented run of 22 successive Top 10 hits in the UK. The band also holds the Guinness World Record for being the "Most Successful Act of the Last Decade" in the UK between the years 1995 and 2005, spending 765 weeks in the Top 75 singles and albums charts.


Heres a the video of the single "Wonderwall"