Musical Icon: Oasis

I’m surprised it’s taken me this long to do this post. Today just happens to be the day. (Excuse the pun.)

Oasis have been a huge influence on the music I’ve listened to since I was a teenager. In Britain, songs like ‘Wonderwall,’ ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger,’ and ‘Champagne Supernova’ have become ingrained into wider society. I challenge you to find someone who doesn’t know at least some of the words to all three of these songs. They get played at weddings, funerals, house parties, pub jukeboxes, indie discos up and down the country.

However, there is so much more to the band than these three big hitters, which I discovered as a teenager. From 1994 to 1996, Oasis were untouchable. Everything Noel Gallagher wrote during this period was brilliant: the singles, the album tracks (which are so often underappreciated), and that unparalleled collection of B-sides. The band went from indie obscurity to rock gods in the space of two and a half years. 

After Knebworth in 1996, the pinnacle of their live success, the band continued to make music, including the sometimes maligned album Be Here Now. It’s not that bad, I promise. It just suffers from the weight of its own ambition and the impossibly high expectations following What’s the Story Morning Glory?. Songs like ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’ and ‘Stand By Me’ still stand tall as anthems of the era.

As the millennium turned, a lineup change brought a new dynamic to the band. Though they never quite recaptured the dizzying heights of their peak, Oasis continued to produce great music. Albums like Don’t Believe the Truth and Dig Out Your Soul offered a rawer, more experimental edge to their sound while maintaining the core of what made them special: Noel’s songwriting and Liam’s iconic delivery.

Oasis are on this list because their music is brilliant and, like The Stone Roses, they acted as a catalyst for my musical journey. Falling in love with Oasis opened the door to so many other artists who shaped my taste: The Beatles, The Smiths, The Jam, Bob Marley, The Bee Gees, Punk, and so much more.

They alongside The Stone Roses started a musical journey that I'm still on. A journey that has led me to gigs and festivals, led me to start a music blog. It's been an interesting one to say the least.