Oasis: Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants ---Ink Blot Magazine

Oasis: standing On The Shoulder Of Giants

Listen To Real Audio
Oasis, "Gas Panic!"

at a glance...

Hometown: Manchester, England
Year Formed: 1991

Personnel:
Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs -rhythm guitar
Liam Gallagher -vocals
Noel Gallagher -lead guitar, backing vocals
Alan White -drums
Paul McGuigan -bass

Bands in the family :
Tailgunner, Hurricane #1, Ride, Paul Weller, The Jam, The Verve, Travis, Ocean Colour Scene, The Seahorses, The Stone Roses, The Chemical Brothers, Goldie, Cornershop, Badly Drawn Boy, Clinton, Manic Street Preachers, Robbie Williams, Richard Ashcroft

Notes:
After playing a blistering unannounced gig in Glasgow, Scotland, Oasis were eagerly offered a record contract by the head of Creation Records. Their first album, Definitely Maybe, went straight to charts at #1, becoming the fastest selling debut album ever in the UK. Instant success led to turmoil, as the Gallaghers ousted drummer Tony McCarroll for Londoner Alan White. A ridiculous media war with Blur also began, adding to the band's reputation of in-fighting and hotel room trashing. It was their second album, (What's The Story) Morning Glory, that made Oasis a household name, selling ten million copies worldwide. They reached Beatles-like popularity as they set European indoor attendance records while playing Earls Court in London and later played to 250,000 people over a two day period in Knebworth, Scotland. Their third album, Be Here Now, sold 650,000 units in four days upon its UK release. Following an extensive world tour in 1998, the band took time off and quietly released The Masterplan, a collection of B-side tracks taken from their UK singles. After the recording of Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants in France, rhythm guitarist Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs and bassist Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan amicably but shockingly quit the band in 1999. The Gallaghers recruited Gem and Andy Bell as their respective replacements, releasing the album in early 2000 on their own record label, Big Brother Records.

Oasis
Standing On The
Shoulder Of Giants
Sony/Epic, Released 2000

Fourth album. Post-backlash. Time for something new, right? Well, yes and no.

Listen to Liam's leap into a new key on the final refrain of "Go Let It Out!", a classic Oasis moment that earns that song its exclamation mark. Dig that sucker-punch Noel Gallagher chord change as he laments "Where Did It All Go Wrong?" Little things, simple songwriter's tricks, but no one does them as well as Oasis. As long as they keep delivering, they don't need to worry about "maturing" and "new directions" and all that nonsense. They'll always thrill.

Not that the new developments on SOTSOG are bad. There are fancy new sounds under several of these songs that, while not exploring much beyond some new mellotron settings and backwards effects, could prove interesting if Noel decides to bring them up in the mix next time.

Lyrically, there is genuine promise in "Where Did It All Go Wrong?" and "Gas Panic!", which are two of Noel's most heartfelt efforts to date. The latter is already everyone's favorite, the most sinister thing they've done since "Columbia," and the paranoid flipside to that song's cocaine confidence. There's also some rhyming dictionary rubbish on a few other tracks, but I suppose that comes with the territory.

We also get Liam's "Little James," which is as silly and sincere as its author but gets buried under a mountainous, desperate arrangement, and "Fuckin' In The Bushes", the rockin' instrumental opener that was supposed to hail a radical departure but is basically an enjoyable visit to the Charlatans' home turf.

In any case, these are just baby steps in a new direction - noble, but for now largely immaterial. Such sophistications are only distractions from the primal appeal of Oasis - impossible to define but even harder to resist. You could moan about a lack of progress and an era of diminished expectations, but you're probably going to get drunk and sing along instead.

If you like Oasis, check out:
Oasis Definitely Maybe
Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory?
Oasis The Masterplan
Kula Shaker K
Richard Ashcroft Alone With Everybody
Paul Weller Wild Wood
The Beatles Abbey Road
The Beatles Beatles for Sale

-- jf

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