sunshine follows thunder

August 27, 2024 3:05 AM

Oasis are back together. 15 years after the band broke up, they have announced a reunion tour of 14 dates in 2025 in Cardiff, Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Dublin, with tickets on sale on Saturday. “The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised,” the band said.
posted by fight or flight (118 comments total)

still waiting for a champagne supernova
posted by HearHere at 3:15 AM on August 27

A lot of Brits are very excited about this. How do Americans feel about it?
posted by Paul Slade at 3:26 AM on August 27

I'm an Italian super excited about this. My American partner a bit less, ah well, but both looking forward to a trip to the UK or Ireland *if* we manage to get a hold of tickets and that's a big *if* because of course Ticketmaster is involved and of course my verified phone for the local country website is not verified when I try to log in onto the .ie or .uk or even .con website so arghhh.

And that's even before thinking about how much the end price will be.

But I'm excited and I'm glad they are doing this. I saw that recent short video interview with Noel in the legendary Sifters record shop mentioned in Shakermaker and he's talking about how they have been noticing younger and younger generations coming to his solo shows and I guess that must have played a part in the decision to reunite for a tour.

That and seeing SuperTaylor playing Wembley, I bet Noel thought can't have that can't leave that kind of legendary crowds for an American popstar. Bring it on.
posted by bitteschoen at 3:36 AM on August 27 [2 favorites]

Metafilter: this. How do Americans feel about it?
posted by ominous_paws at 3:45 AM on August 27 [31 favorites]

And every dude with an acoustic guitar who has ever said the words, "Here's one of my favourite songs: Wonderwall. I'd like to play it for you now" rejoiced.
posted by Kitteh at 3:50 AM on August 27 [1 favorite]

It's easy to rank on Oasis but at one point they were the new Beatles.
posted by chavenet at 3:55 AM on August 27 [2 favorites]

If ever there was a tour where you should prioritize going to one of the earlier scheduled shows, this is it… fingers are crossed for their fans that the brothers can hang on for this many consecutive weeks.
posted by elkerette at 3:57 AM on August 27 [10 favorites]

As a gen X Brit I view this with a certain degree of eye rolling. The specific machismo of Oasis never sat well with me. The tunes are (mostly) great but the culture can do one, frankly.
posted by freya_lamb at 4:01 AM on August 27 [19 favorites]

Truly the darkest timeline.
posted by pattern juggler at 4:04 AM on August 27 [10 favorites]

To be fair, Oasis does have some really good songs, but it's often hard for me to get past the enormous egos of Liam and Noel. I know I am showing my Gen X age because I was absolutely startled when my 14 year old niece donned an Oasis tee last time I saw her; she was firm in that they were awesome.

Getting older is a trip.
posted by Kitteh at 4:09 AM on August 27 [10 favorites]

Good to know that financial incentives can still (briefly) overcome a deep, lifelong animosity. Nature is healing.
posted by Smedly, Butlerian jihadi at 4:14 AM on August 27 [16 favorites]

I liked Oasis in their prime well enough to have owned a copy of (What's the Story) Morning Glory on cassette for a while - but my tastes have changed and I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to them now.

Might Noel's recent divorce have been a factor in the reunion?
posted by misteraitch at 4:14 AM on August 27

Long ago, I had a British friend who'd only recently come to the USA. The Internet wasn't quite a thing yet, so if you wanted to know something, you had to find someone and ask them. She had never really heard "Southern Rock" before, but this was Georgia, so now she did. When we were talking about it, she made the understandable mistake of thinking "Sweet Home Alabama" was by a single guy named Leonard Skinner, and I had to explain that Lynryd Skynyrd was the name of the band, not a guy (although it's named after a guy, a gym teacher they hated) and then I had to explain how their using the Confederate flag wasn't quiiiite straight up racism, but a little more complicated than that: it's more like a white Southern working class solidarity thing than entirely anti-black. She took it in, nodded, said "Oh, they're Oasis for Americans" and explained that yeah, they used the British flag in much the same way, not NOT racist, but not totally racist, either, and that one has really stuck with me for a long time. Every time I hear Oasis, I think of this, that they're the British Lynyrd Skynyrd, and both bands are honestly pretty good. Anyway, [slaps thighs like Tim Walz and stands up] I guess I gotta go walk the dog.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 4:24 AM on August 27 [28 favorites]

Can you PLEASE stop singing Wonderwall?

......Maybe.
posted by lalochezia at 4:36 AM on August 27 [6 favorites]

Who? Is this one of those alt bands where the dudes (it's always dudes) have big heads and vocals that are so nasal and off key you want to pelt them with cold medicine? Like U2? That kind of thing was certainly in style for a while! Golly I'm old. I wonder what Def Leppard are up to (still making albums, apparently).
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:37 AM on August 27 [3 favorites]

Every time I hear Oasis, I think of this, that they're the British Lynyrd Skynyrd

Oysys
posted by chavenet at 4:39 AM on August 27 [23 favorites]

My partner and I have this thing where wherever we go, whatever we're doing, Wonderwall finds us. Driving through the woods in a rental car with only one station available? Wonderwall. Visiting Stockholm and walking by some street musicians? Wonderwall. It's always Wonderwall.

We loathe Wonderwall.

I never understood the "new Beatles" thing. The Beatles had dozens of amazing songs spanning multiple genres; Oasis had like three hits that all sounded alike?
posted by phooky at 4:48 AM on August 27 [6 favorites]

Genuinely recoiling in horror at the city being taken over by blokes on coke for this. Can't argue with the tunes tho.
posted by Klipspringer at 4:56 AM on August 27

Alan McGee posted on Instagram saying this is "Good for music/Good for them/Good for us." I hate to argue with Mr. McGee, but no, this is only "Good for their wallets". The shows will be a pale imitation of Oasis' past glories (such as they were), the old people attending them will fail to recapture their youth and the young people attending them will fail to recapture the old people's youth. Humanity won't benefit from this, it will only lead to heartbreak and confusion.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 5:07 AM on August 27 [9 favorites]

but no, this is only "Good for their wallets".

This is basically their Filthy Lucre tour.
posted by Ayn Marx at 5:12 AM on August 27 [3 favorites]

Radiohead covers Wonderwall.

Not really relevant to the discussion but it's a lovely video. It's always good to make fun of Oasis.
posted by Diskeater at 5:15 AM on August 27 [6 favorites]

I don't think they were ever the new Beatles. And even when they were photocopying bits of the old Beatles, they were still far, far less than the sum of those parts. They had a couple of good singles and a fun album, were very popular, but the new Bay City Rollers seems fairer to me. They'll look more Showaddywaddy now, I reckon

Edit: they really wanted to be the Beatles, obviously. Sigh.
posted by onebuttonmonkey at 5:18 AM on August 27 [2 favorites]

Now they just remind me of the opening scene of Ted Lasso...
posted by schyler523 at 5:28 AM on August 27

My excitement about this (or about anything really) will survive any attempt to kill it but really, there are easier, lazier ways to multiply your wealth if you are already a multimillionaire. They're not doing this for the money. Playing live at their level to adoring crowds for a much awaited reunion is worth more than can be calculated in figures. They'd be insane not to do it.
posted by bitteschoen at 5:36 AM on August 27 [3 favorites]

As an American, I will say I won't be surprised when they murder each other. My understanding is that their original breakup was pretty acrimonious.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 5:36 AM on August 27 [1 favorite]

I like them pretty well. But I like them perfectly well on records and wouldn't pay what it'll cost to go see them. I would not place bets on how many shows they will actually make it through. And I think it's possible to do it for the adoring crowds AND the money, I don't think it's necessary to choose one or the other.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 6:00 AM on August 27

I’ve noticed that in the UK, Oasis, or at least their songs, are always referred to as “great,” even by people who dislike them. Never “good” — “great.” It’s a rare, erm, oasis of bombast and overkill in the collective British psyche.

I think they’re boring, but I also don’t think I’m their target audience.
posted by argybarg at 6:02 AM on August 27

I liked them initially but then realised I never listened to them.

They have a lot of baggage in the UK - being that opinionated for that long has lead to a lot of very ill-informed comments over the years.

The late great Neil Kulkarni summarised it well in a blistering take down a few years ago.
posted by treblekicker at 6:08 AM on August 27 [18 favorites]

"We still hate each other with a vengeance, but we’ve found a common cause, and that’s your money.”

-- Johnny Rotten at a press conference announcing the Sex Pistols' Filthy Lucre tour, 1996
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 6:14 AM on August 27 [15 favorites]

How do Americans feel about it?

I don't believe that anybody feels the way we do about them now.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:19 AM on August 27 [89 favorites]

Oasis have to reform because there’s a gap in the heritage rock industry to be filled. Ok, they’re not at the level of Springsteen or Dylan, they’re not even a Metallica, but they’re a household name and people will pay to see them. However, Noel’s only a couple of years off retirement, and they’re notoriously unstable as a group, so it I don’t think we’ll be seeing the be here right now tour in 2045.
posted by The River Ivel at 6:23 AM on August 27 [1 favorite]

In Japan, news of the reunion are on every news platform, from the NHK on down. A Japanese twitter user mused if the reason it's such a big thing here is that for some Oasis was their introduction to western rock. I assume they mean to a certain generation but it does make sense. Grunge did not really have that big an impact and neither did most of Britpop. It could be the new Beatles thing. Japan does love them some Beatles.

When I heard news was impending via, of all things, an Awful Announcing post, the MeFi thread in my head went about the same as it has here. There will always be the "meh, Oasis" fans for many (justifiable reasons).

I'm a fan but not like, a super fan. I dropped off over the years and listened to a High Flying Bird or Beady Track here or there.

Anyway, here's...the Masterplan video they released 10 (!) years ago.

And of course, Noel talking trash about his own band's music videos.
posted by LostInUbe at 6:32 AM on August 27 [2 favorites]

They're not doing this for the money.

Maybe not, but the only good thing they'll get out of this is more money*. Pretending to like each other will cause Noel and Liam all kinds of distress, playing sub par shows will also cause them distress and trying to recapture their former glories will also casue them distress. Nobody will benefit mentally from this. The only thing that will cushion all these blows is the fact that Oasis ended on a low - they've known defeat for a long time.

I mean, absolutely, go to these shows, break out the booze and have a ball. But I can guarantee you that you'll wake up the next morning with a nagging feeling that an Oasis reunion wasn't such a hot idea after all.

* You may argue this is not a good thing.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 6:37 AM on August 27 [1 favorite]

At least they can stop doing lawn work and posing for shower photos for a while.
posted by delfin at 7:02 AM on August 27 [1 favorite]

Well thank you soundofsuburbia for the encouragement lol... I suspect we have such different attitudes to this that it would be useless to argue, but I can assure you no matter what happens by next year if I even manage to get within eyesight of a stage with both the Gallagher brothers on it I will be very happy no matter how it goes. I saw Oasis more than 20 years ago in one of the gigs where one of the brothers fucked off after a fight. You know, they were always fighting from the start so if anything they were always "pretending to like each other". In that case it was Noel who fucked off before the show. Liam was awesome, but a Noelless gig is still not proper Oasis. I didn't get a chance to see them again together after that. So if I get my chance after all this time now I will wake up the next day with a big smile on my face, I promise.

And I don't even drink or do drugs or smoke anymore, so no booze no coke not even cigarettes and alcohol, just looking forward to seeing them together, older and still rocking it. Cheers
posted by bitteschoen at 7:03 AM on August 27 [4 favorites]

Champagne Supernova and Don't Look Back in Anger are great songs, and hold up years later.

But as someone who was in a band and trying to make it as a musician at the time when Oasis became successful, I will always resent them for being unmitigated, miserable assholes. I would have killed for a tiny fraction of their success, and they had to squander it by being twats.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 7:08 AM on August 27 [7 favorites]

A lot of that fin de millennium Britpop stuff just completely passed me by. I finally got around to listening to "Wonderwall", so I finally got a couple of jokes: the whole "anyway, here's 'Wonderwall'" thing (apparently it's very easy to play on the guitar) and a reference in the Preacher comic book (Arseface sings it in one issue; I had no idea what the tune was because it's a comic, and no idea what the lyrics were because it's Arseface). Not even that great of a song, IMO, frankly.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:18 AM on August 27

What if they get along great and it's all keyfabe?
posted by Ragged Richard at 7:20 AM on August 27 [2 favorites]

A lot of Brits are very excited about this. How do Americans feel about it?

About fifteen years ago, my best friend and I wandered up to our local (Orange County Social Club, Carrboro, NC) and sat down at a table for a drink on a quiet Monday. It wasn't super crowded. There were maybe 20 people in the bar, total. One of the bartenders put "What's The Story Morning Glory" on the PA. It was not a record that I remember ever hearing much in that bar. And over the course of the album, basically every single person in the bar started singing along, so by, say, 'Don't Look Back in Anger" we were just in it. And it just kept going all the way through "Champagne Supernova," It was sort of this great community generational moment (it would have, that night, been a bar full of young Gen Xers and older millenials) and I think everybody left in a good mood.

I do/did a lot of eye-rolling about Oasis (I tended toward Blur/Elastica in the early days, and Pulp was my favorite of the BritPop era--I'm seeing them in a couple of weeks and nearly electric with anticipation about it), but, even here, they are the band you sing along to in a bar with thirty of your closest friends and strangers.
posted by thivaia at 7:30 AM on August 27 [8 favorites]

Didn't Blur just release a new album (they did I actually like it better than their older stuff). I think Oasis are required by law to match.

Also to this American, they had 2 good albums worth of singles, and after that, it went way down the drain to completely unlistenable. Past What's the Story, they are worse than Nickelback.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:47 AM on August 27 [1 favorite]

How do Americans feel about it?

There are many things that I would like to say to you but I don't know how.
posted by alex_skazat at 7:49 AM on August 27 [17 favorites]

As an American and a MP3 collector in the 90s, I know Noel best as the guest vocalist on this Chemical Brothers track.
posted by credulous at 8:01 AM on August 27 [3 favorites]

seanmpuckett Def Leppard are still touring. My son just went to a show featuring Steve Miller Band, Journey, and Def Leppard down in LA...
posted by Windopaene at 8:15 AM on August 27 [2 favorites]

well, I'm North American and I guess you could call me an early adapter. I saw them on their first tour, a somewhat astonishingly strong show in Vancouver's best live venue. They owned that room, hit like a prolonged and beautiful thunderstorm. Though they didn't actually move much. Too cool for that. And that first album was strong all the way through, not really a weak a moment to be found ... and it still sounds pretty good.

But past that, nah. The second album obviously mattered to a lot of people but to my ears, it was an overpolished not-as-good retread of the first. And after that, I did everything I could to not pay attention, which was hard to do, but I mostly pulled it off. Don't think I could name a song.
posted by philip-random at 8:25 AM on August 27

I'm just waiting for Duran to get back together with Duran.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 8:27 AM on August 27 [13 favorites]

Oasis definitely went the 'waaaay too much coke' route by the 3rd album, but they genuinely came up with some bangers before that, that absolutely define that late 90's period in the UK before we jumped to the darkest timeline of everything inevitably getting worse forever. Wonderwall is admittedly overplayed to death, but Don’t Look Back in Anger, Champagne Supernova, even Rock ’n’ Roll Star still take me straight back to when I was at uni, and anything was possible; which is odd, because I was a Blur fan back then.

Screw dealing with ticketmaster though.
posted by Absolutely No You-Know-What at 8:30 AM on August 27 [2 favorites]

As a longtime MOJO reader, I always felt like Oasis was the band that the British mainstream music press held up as "See! See! We have a big rock band from later than 1980…"

I never ever got the adulation that MOJO, particularly, showered on the band and the Gallaghers. I mean…yeah, some decent tunes? But the thirstiness on the magazine's part made me feel a little sorry for the journos who had to feature the Gallaghers, like, at least once every six months as the Second Coming of The Beatles and proof positive that U.K. mainstream rock still had standard bearers.

Besides which, little I read about the brothers Gallagher, at least back in their salad days, dissuaded me from the belief that they were simply yobbos who needed to expand their vocabularies beyond "c**t."

So, this U.S.-ian is underwhelmed by the news.
posted by the sobsister at 8:43 AM on August 27

The only Manchester album you need from 1995 is A Guy Called Gerald's Black Secret Technology.
The only Manchester guitar-based band you actually need to hear is The Chameleons.
Oasis were just a handful of good tunes and some innovative, at the time, compression tech.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 8:43 AM on August 27 [2 favorites]

There is a nonzero chance that this reunion tour will involve an onstage knife fight at one or more stops.
posted by delfin at 8:57 AM on August 27 [1 favorite]

My reaction to this news was certainly "meh," but there certainly seem to be a lot of "vintage" acts touring at the moment, some of which I am excited for. I think it would be fascinating to see some kind of empirical study of (say) secondary-market ticket prices to understand the "exchange rate" between them. Like, how many tickets to an Oasis show in Dublin could you get for the price of a ticket to see Soul Coughing in Seattle? How strong is Journey/Def Leppard/Steve Miller relative to Green Day/Rancid/Smashing Pumpkins?
posted by nickmark at 9:01 AM on August 27

This seems to be a good time to link to TRAINWRECKORDS: "Be Here Now" by Oasis.
posted by Pendragon at 9:03 AM on August 27 [2 favorites]

Also, the Beatles comparisons were entirely by design. Wonderwall is an obscure George Harrison reference, after all.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 9:07 AM on August 27 [1 favorite]

y tho
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 9:07 AM on August 27 [5 favorites]

“Your favorite (reunited) band sucks”?
posted by kerf at 9:12 AM on August 27 [4 favorites]

I always assumed that every British family had an Oasis album and a Dalek in the cellar.
posted by credulous at 9:22 AM on August 27 [6 favorites]

I'm an American, and I was a huge Beatles fan in high school. I loved (What's the Story) Morning Glory because of the explicit Beatles ripoffs homages. I was in London when it was the biggest record and it played everywhere you went. It reminded me of how people talked about Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band being everywhere in 1967.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:35 AM on August 27 [3 favorites]

A lot of Brits are very excited about this. How do Americans feel about it?

*rolls eyes, shakes head* Why? WHY? *quietly sobs*
posted by ZenMasterThis at 9:42 AM on August 27 [2 favorites]

I was just starting to try "adulting" in the 90s, and had pretty much stopped being into music at that point. Later 90s a friend turned me on to Pavement, Built to Spill, etc. But totally missed the Oasis years. Knew the brothers were assholes, but never heard their stuff. Went to the tube to listen to Wonderwall. I may have heard it, sounds a bit familiar, but never in my wheelhouse or knowledge.

I dig many reunion tours, though they will never be the same. But, everyone needs money, so, if they can pull it off, good for them I guess?

Squeeze was also the next Lennon-McCartney songwriting team. And XTC. And The Knack. And...
posted by Windopaene at 9:53 AM on August 27 [2 favorites]

A lot of Brits are very excited about this. How do Americans feel about it?

meh.

I thought they were overplayed and not that great at the time they were big. Most of the dipshittery and racism that was uttered in the british press never really made it over here so like Morrissey, Americans have a better opinion of them than they deserve.
posted by Dr. Twist at 10:06 AM on August 27 [4 favorites]

One of the brothers described the other as 'a man with a fork in a world of soup', which is my favourite thing they ever did.

The only Manchester guitar-based band you actually need to hear
I mean, let's not get confused - whatever you think of Oasis, Manchester has produced a lot of good music!
posted by Hermione Dies at 10:34 AM on August 27 [9 favorites]

Also, the Beatles comparisons were entirely by design. Wonderwall is an obscure George Harrison reference, after all.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 9:07 AM on August 27

Do tell?
posted by bluesky43 at 11:03 AM on August 27

This seems to be a good time to link to TRAINWRECKORDS: "Be Here Now" by Oasis.

Beat me to it! (Frigging work....)

If even N+L can work together again, then maybe there's hope that Lush will give it another try. Maybe.
posted by gtrwolf at 11:12 AM on August 27

Also, the Beatles comparisons were entirely by design. Wonderwall is an obscure George Harrison reference, after all.

Do tell?

His solo debut was the 1968 soundtrack album Wonderwall Music.
posted by rory at 11:16 AM on August 27 [3 favorites]

Squeeze was also the next Lennon-McCartney songwriting team. And XTC. And The Knack. And...

I love all these next Beatles bands. A lot of the artists I like are Beatlesy, like Crowded House.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:19 AM on August 27 [2 favorites]

i could never take them seriously. they always just sounded like an atavistic Beatles ripoff to me
posted by tovarisch at 11:26 AM on August 27

Eagerly awaiting anything to go even a little wrong with this and Damon Albarn to stick the knife in. He's a twat too, but hey 90s drama coming back around again? Sure. Why not.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:29 AM on August 27

I'm just waiting for Duran to get back together with Duran.

Duran Duran actually just released a new album fairly recently. I quite enjoyed it.
posted by pattern juggler at 11:43 AM on August 27 [1 favorite]

is Oasis 2D's old band before the Gorillaz, right? I lose track.
posted by egypturnash at 12:24 PM on August 27

I always assumed that every British family had an Oasis album and a Dalek in the cellar.

Better than a Dalek album and Oasis in the cellar.

ANY-WAY. HERE. IS. WON-DER-WALL. YOU. WILL. EN-JOY. IT.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:24 PM on August 27 [7 favorites]

Perry returns from Manchester.
posted by Paul Slade at 12:25 PM on August 27 [3 favorites]

Also, the Beatles comparisons were entirely by design. Wonderwall is an obscure George Harrison reference, after all.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 9:07 AM on August 27

Do tell?

Wonderwall was a 1968 psychedelic film featuring a character named Penny Lane. George Harrison composed the music for the film, which is mainly instrumentals inspired by Indian classical music, and released the soundtrack on an album called Wonderwall Music. Because this was 1968 (the same year the Beatles released the White Album), Wonderwall Music has the distinction of being the first solo album released by a Beatle.

So the whole Oasis thing was a "nudge nudge wink wink" for fans of Beatles trivia. Although "you're my Wonderwall" makes zero sense.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 12:34 PM on August 27 [4 favorites]

I'm not against bands reforming to give their fans another chance to see them live but I prefer it when they put out a new album as well so that we can get a feel for how they've grown musically over the intervening years. I went to Midnight Oil's concerts when they came to Toronto on their final two tours because I wanted to see them one more time before they called it a day. The second last one was in essence a greatest hits tour which was fine but the final one accompanied a new album and it was fun to see them playing new songs, especially as some of them were quite good. It would be fun to have the Gallagher brothers go into a studio for months trying to make a new album, think of all the news stories that would generate, and who knows maybe they'd actually be proud of the results.

Somewhat unrelated, Fontaines D.C. just released their latest album on Friday and it's quite good. On the final track, Favourite, the way the lead singer starts a couple of phrases reminds me quite a bit of Liam Gallagher.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:47 PM on August 27 [1 favorite]

Having just read the Nate Silver thread, I can imagine betting markets are rubbing their hands and licking their lips over the prospect of wagers on weather or not this tour actually finishes with both Gallagher brothers intact.

At any rate, if they tour North America I'd probably see Oasis. I've seen the brothers on tour separately and both Liam and Noel sound better than they did in the 90s. I assume they'll have Gem Archer and Andy Bell with them, and if they can manage not to claw each other's eyes out it should be a good show.

I have this one indelible memory of coming home from a long road trip in maybe 2017, stopping late at night at a very modern gas station off I-80 that was brightly lit but utterly deserted, and over the loudspeaker they were playing "She's Electric"- an Oasis tune I have never, ever in my life heard playing anywhere outside of my own record collection. It's not a particularly deep cut, but was never a single and even when Oasis was around was not played on the radio in the U.S. My partner and I both looked at each other with the WTF look, and I checked to see if there was anyone in the closed gas station store, but no. Just us, in the middle of nowhere at some fluorescently lit highway off-ramp, in a place that was still around 80 degrees close to midnight, serenaded loudly with a fairly obscure, 20 year old Britpop tune chosen by an algorithm as sprinklers watered ridiculously green grass and drenched a brand new sidewalk that probably no one has ever walked on, before or since. It's my best Oasis memory and I hope that if I see them live they don't ruin it by playing "She's Electric".
posted by oneirodynia at 1:59 PM on August 27 [6 favorites]

Brian Molko of Placebo once remarked in an interview (regarding some of his own songs):

"They're not my best work, but they're better than anything Noel Gallagher's ever written"

"Wonderwall" is catchy, but for whatever reason the rest of that disc left me meh. "Champagne Supernova" I've always hated.
posted by maxwelton at 2:02 PM on August 27

I was wondering why now until I read in the Guardian that Noel's recent divorce from his second wife cost about £20 million.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 2:38 PM on August 27 [4 favorites]

How do Americans feel about this?

It's not like I haven't seen The Rutles.
posted by Sphinx at 2:45 PM on August 27 [7 favorites]

The volatile soul duo Sam & Dave worked together for over two decades, eventually getting to the point where they spoke only through intermediaries, arrived at the venue separately, insisted on separate dressing rooms and - according to Wikipedia - refused even to look at one another on stage.
posted by Paul Slade at 2:50 PM on August 27 [5 favorites]

Even The Eagles got back together for the money
posted by chavenet at 4:02 PM on August 27

Here's a Ripley's Believe it or Not item:

There is an old bloke in Colorado who has never, as far as he knows, heard an Oasis song. When you say "Wonderwall," he thinks of the George Harrison album.
posted by kozad at 4:09 PM on August 27 [2 favorites]

I'm being completely honest here. I was very confused by references to Oasis and Wonderwall when I knew this was out there, (Andy Partridge and "l Wonder why the Wonderfalls"). I've been out of touch for a while, and the music of Oasis passed me by, even if knowledge of their attitude didn't. This says more about me than it does Oasis, I'm sure.
posted by mollweide at 4:39 PM on August 27 [1 favorite]

So in their whole desperate attempt to be The Beatles, they failed at the one most important part:
Don’t reunite.
posted by chococat at 4:45 PM on August 27 [3 favorites]

By the time the Beatles realised that their squabbles were petty and that they could hash it out like adults, it was too late.

Anyway I imagine this will fall apart extremely quickly.
posted by Merus at 5:17 PM on August 27 [1 favorite]

Yeah, my immediate thoughts were:
1) I bet one of them has some big bills to pay
2) I'd be fun to bet if they make it to the end of the planned tour or not
posted by TwoStride at 5:24 PM on August 27

On a whim, Mrs. Otters got tickets to one of last year’s Blur shows at Wembley, so we flew over and made a fun little vacation out of it. I just asked her if she wants to do the same for Oasis. She said no.

I worked in a record store in the mid-90s. Oasis were definitely a love-‘em-or-hate-‘em choice among the staff and customers. Nobody had any problems with Blur and Pulp, even if they didn’t particularly like them. Everybody liked Supergrass.
posted by otters walk among us at 6:46 PM on August 27 [5 favorites]

I'd be fun to bet if they make it to the end of the planned tour or not

how do we get this on predictit
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 7:25 PM on August 27 [1 favorite]

I’m a little saddened by most of y’all taking the piss on Oasis here. I guess MetaFilter runs a little snooty sometimes.

I got into them just a few years before they broke up, as I was finishing high school and starting college. For a time they were almost all I listened to, and I went deep. I’m sure I’ve listened to every one of their B-sides and most of their recorded live performances. (The only other artist whose discography and back-catalog I’m even more familiar with is Bob Dylan.) It’s been years since I crawled out of that rabbit hole, but I still dig ‘em, especially their 90’s oeuvre. Just a bunch of straight-up rock-n-roll bangers, with the attitude to match. It’s a shame they split the way they did, though as someone who’s lived with narcissistic abuse, I totally understand Noel saying “fuck it” after Liam pulled yet some more bullshit in 2009. (Though as a fan I’ve always loved Liam’s swagger.)

I hope they’ve made honest amends, at least for the sake of their fans, if not each other. They’ll always be a huge part of many people’s lives, no matter what the haters might say.

Who knows, maybe they’ll incorporate some of their respective solo stuff into the shows, too? They’ve each got some good ones.
posted by khrusanthemon at 8:27 PM on August 27 [8 favorites]

how do we get this on predictit

73 cents on liam
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 8:32 PM on August 27

I’m a little saddened by most of y’all taking the piss on Oasis here. I guess MetaFilter runs a little snooty sometimes.

Ragging on Oasis is not snooty, it's what the common people do.
posted by Pendragon at 11:39 PM on August 27 [5 favorites]

"I wanna live like common people
I wanna do whatever common people do
Wanna sleep with common people
I wanna sleep with common people like you."
Well,​ what else could I do?
I said "I'll... I'll see what I can do"
posted by chavenet at 1:42 AM on August 28

The best thing Liam ever did for Oasis was "get a sore throat" before their MTV Unplugged session, then heckle from the audience - it's a great performance from everyone else and reveals Liam as an utterly redundant component.
posted by Molesome at 2:13 AM on August 28

common people

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
posted by khrusanthemon at 4:46 AM on August 28

Labor government, Oasis and Blur in tour, cargo pants are back
This is the winter of our disco tent
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 4:56 AM on August 28 [14 favorites]

I'm 50/50 on them ever making it to the North American leg of the tour without a massive blowup
posted by thecjm at 6:16 AM on August 28

> It's easy to rank on Oasis but at one point they were the new Beatles.

In live shows, Soul Coughing occasionally did a Wonderwall interlude in True Dreams Of Wichita containing the lyrics “and after all / you're McCartney Paul”
posted by farlukar at 6:18 AM on August 28 [1 favorite]

So in their whole desperate attempt to be The Beatles, they failed at the one most important part:
Don’t reunite.

If only that were true.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 6:39 AM on August 28

The big way Oasis failed to emulate the Beatles was the way Oasis were bad at making music.
posted by pattern juggler at 7:04 AM on August 28

Ragging on Oasis is not snooty, it's what the common people do.

You will never understand
How it feels to live your life
With no meaning on control
When "Wonderwall" is on the radio
posted by thivaia at 8:30 AM on August 28 [2 favorites]

Ragging on Oasis is not snooty, it's what the common people do.


I know a girl called Elsa, she's into Alka-Seltzer
She sniffs it through a cane on a supersonic train
And she makes me laugh
I got her autograph
She done it with a doctor on a helicopter
She's sniffin' in a tissue, sellin' the Big Issue
When she finds out
No one's gonna tell her what I'm on about
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:22 AM on August 28

At some point, we should chart out the Jarvis Cocker Meridian, that is, the point in at which a thread about Brit pop or class warfare inevitably results in a quote from "Common People."

Not a dig. I love this about us.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:27 AM on August 28 [1 favorite]

I'm surprised they broke up only 15 years ago!

I think I'll go listen to The Mike Flowers Pops now.
posted by Pronoiac at 3:43 PM on August 28

ANY-WAY. HERE. IS. WON-DER-WALL. YOU. WILL. EN-JOY. IT.

OUR. CHAM-PAGNE. SU-PER-NO-VA. WILL. EXTERMINATE. YOU!!
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:02 PM on August 28 [3 favorites]

How do Americans feel about it?

“He’s got a brother
They don’t get on with one another...”

Well, not anymore! 🙌 I had the pleasure of seeing Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds last year in Tennessee. He’s so quick witted, very fun banter with the audience. Sounded better than I remember. Buy ticket protection, ya’ll.
posted by edithkeeler at 4:47 PM on August 28 [1 favorite]

From: Stop the celebrations – Oasis are the most damaging pop-cultural force in recent British history

I’ll never forget being present at the Q Awards in 2000, when Liam Gallagher repeatedly heckled Robbie Williams with “Queer!” and Kylie Minogue with “Lesbian!” as the assembled music business and media tittered nervously, reluctant to kill the goose that laid the golden egg. It’s one of the ugliest scenes I’ve ever witnessed. This wasn’t a one-off either. In 2016, on Twitter, he called Russian football hooligans “batty boys”, and in 2018 used another homophobic slur, “bum chums”, against Noel, Johnny Marr and Paul Weller.

Noel, too, has repeatedly expressed prehistoric views, complaining about a hip-hop artist, Jay-Z, headlining Glastonbury in 2008 (though he’d softened his stance by the time Stormzy headlined in 2019), and describing the then Labour leader, Ed Miliband – yes, Ed Miliband – as a “fucking communist” in 2015 and later Jeremy Corbyn in similar terms.

In 2021, he appeared on the front page of the Sun calling Prince Harry an “effin’ woke snowflake”, and in 2024 complained about Glastonbury becoming too “woke”. (Hint: when anyone uses the word “woke” as an insult, they’re immediately emblazoning another word across their own forehead, which also begins with a “w”.) It’s no coincidence that Oasis are the band of choice for flag-shaggers and Reform voters – it’s remarkable how often their fans have the butcher’s apron on their Twitter bios, just as Noel had it painted on his guitar.

posted by Acey at 4:51 PM on August 28 [3 favorites]

A question I was just asked by an American: “Why are people losing their minds at the Oasis reunion? Were they that big of a band?”
posted by edithkeeler at 4:57 PM on August 28

at least they didn't do that your body is a wonderland shit
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 5:30 PM on August 28 [1 favorite]

Re: Acey’s post above: I certainly hope we’re not denigrating all or even most Oasis fans. That is far too broad a brush to paint with.

That said, I’ll bow out and go celebrate somewhere else. Y’all are a bunch of party poopers.
posted by khrusanthemon at 6:32 PM on August 28 [3 favorites]

It’s no coincidence that Oasis are the band of choice for flag-shaggers and Reform voters

What is this person even on about, that's ridiculous

Not to mention a very narrow view of Oasis fandom which numerically is probably even more substantial *outside* the UK than inside. I'm not even counting the US. They have massive followings in Japan, South Korea, Brasil, Argentina, just to name a few places, and then yeah all of Europe.. and Australia... And of course Ireland... So wtf is this about Oasis fans being Farage voters pffft

So narrow-minded to see only the worst examples of Englishness as somehow coinciding with Oasis fandom. They have millions of followers, there's bound to be idiots in there too but that's inevitable with such a big following.

Also, come on, both Liam and Noel (but especially Noel) despite their politics being overtly lefty have been saying stupid provocative things in interviews so often especially as throwaway jokes and insults, since they became famous, since forever. It's their thing. Good thing they didn't start a party but a rock band really...

Also Noel has said things and then their complete opposite just months later he's about as consistent as the weather.

Anyhow here's a more entertaining overview of their "political" utterances in recent years, on Politico.eu
posted by bitteschoen at 1:57 AM on August 29 [2 favorites]

I can't believe we're this far into the thread and I haven't read the word 'Mega' once.
posted by OHenryPacey at 6:35 AM on August 29

And The Knack.

Get the Knack came out when I was a freshman in high school. I loved all the Beatles-inspired stuff. The album cover looked like a Beatles album cover. The album was on the Capitol rainbow label, like the Beatles.

That said, covering "A Hard Days Night" at Carnegie Hall was a little on the nose.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:32 AM on August 29

Maybe Noel and Liam can do like Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon of Journey and get a court appointed custodian to resolve disputes
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 9:53 PM on August 29

Just popping back in to say that Noel and Liam have always leaned left, so for those upthread who were insinuating something else (about them and the band’s millions of fans), way to take a few quotes out of context.

I find a lot of good on MetaFilter, but sometimes, some of you just really love to kiss your own butts. Even when you’re dead wrong.
posted by khrusanthemon at 10:25 PM on August 29 [3 favorites]

There is a nonzero chance that this reunion tour will involve an onstage knife fight at one or more stops.

Don't threaten me with a good time!
posted by evilDoug at 5:16 PM on August 30

The big Britpop plot: Is the return of Oasis a government psyop?
posted by chavenet at 2:11 PM on September 1 [2 favorites]

Too many people in this thread (and elsewhere) think that Wonderwall and Champagne Supernova are the extent of Oasis’ oeuvre. If any of you actually gave them a listen, you’d find a myriad of gems in their discography. You don’t have to like their music, but they’ve never been one-trick ponies.

Again, for the supposedly intelligent crowd that makes up MetaFilter, I’m disappointed I even have to say this sort of thing.
posted by khrusanthemon at 5:42 PM on September 4 [2 favorites]

I have heard other Oasis songs. Not nearly as often as their two hits of course, which were inescapable for a while. But those other tracks also sounded awful to me. The music was boring and the vocals were deeply annoying. I haven't searched their whole discography for hidden gems. I don't think it would be worth my time, and more than hunting Aerosmith or GNR for gems. I have heard enough to know I have zero interest in hearing more. The brothers who front the band seemed like deeply obnoxious people.

I am in the US, and I remember them as a mercifully brief but inescapable fad. It is extremely surprising to hear they have a lot of fans anxious to have them back.

I am glad for those fans, but people can think your favorite band sucks without being ignorant of their work or on some internet bandwagon.
posted by pattern juggler at 6:20 PM on September 4

Perhaps.

Or people can recognize their ignorance and keep their mouths shut. I do it all the time.

Again, people can think what they want, but what could have been a celebratory thread for those who enjoy the band instead turned into a pile-on, slagging-off of the band by people who freely admit their judgements are superficial.

It's frustrating, man, but that's on you all.
posted by khrusanthemon at 9:50 PM on September 4

I am a big Journey fan, which a lot of people rolled their eyes at in the 1990s. I like Steely Dan and Jethro Tull. Not groups that are universally respected.

They don't get as much hate as Oasis because they weren't omnipresent in the same way.

I don't think these people are all one listen to Steel Monkey from being converts.

No ignorance is required, sometimes people just don't dig your music. Don't let other people's opinions keep you from celebrating what you like.
posted by pattern juggler at 6:13 AM on September 5 [1 favorite]

No one’s keeping me from celebrating anything. I’m just calling you folks out for having no manners. But if you want to go, “I’m not trying to hear that!” then, again, that’s all on you.

Cheers.
posted by khrusanthemon at 6:33 AM on September 6