In the world’s biggest band, every week offers its own new dose of pandemonium.
Festivals. Fights. Flings. Flights.
When you’re a rockstar, each seven-day period is more intense, thrilling and exotic than the last.
That’s why no two pages in the story of Oasis are the same.
Throughout the nineties and noughties, this group of Mancunian rascals were overindulgent, grandstanding superstars who practised what they preached; living a hard and fast lifestyle that served as a perfect visual accompaniment for their self-produced soundtrack of roaring guitars and crashing symbols.
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But in their two decades at the top, no week of Oasis mania was ever more definitive than this one: The first seven days of October.
This was the week that propelled the band beyond the island of tea and scones onto the international stage. And it was also the week that would ultimately mark the end.
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It all started on October 2, 1995.
The scene was set for Britain’s most exciting up-and-coming band to justify the hype – as Oasis’ sophomore album, What’s The Story (Morning Glory)? was carefully placed on shelves around the UK.
Once those store doors opened, nothing was ever the same again.
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What’s The Story was snapped up by more than 345,000 fans in its first week – spending 10 weeks at number one in the UK charts.
One glance at the tracklist reveals why.
Roll With It, Wonderwall, Don’t Look Back In Anger, Some Might Say, She’s Electric, Champagne Supernova.
The record was packed with anthemic earworms created to stand the test of time – enjoying constant airplay, analysis and mimicry for twenty-five years and counting.
When What’s The Story landed in shops, Oasis achieved superstar status.
Fast-forward almost exactly thirteen years, and another similar scenario was unfolding.
It’s October 6, 2008, and for the seventh time in history, legions of Oasis supporters are swarming to stores for a another new release – an album the group has titled Dig Out Your Soul.
Fans didn’t know it at the time, but they’d never queue for an Oasis album ever again.
Dig Out Your Soul signalled the end.
In the same week the world watched Oasis swagger into the spotlight, we would also soon hear their swansong.
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An epic 18-month promotional tour of Dig Out Your Soul proved to be the tipping point for the two Gallagher brothers.
The pair had quarrelled over the cancellation of a show at V Festival (Liam citing laryngitis, Noel calling bullshit and said his brother had a hangover) before pulling the plug on a performance in France seconds before stepping out on stage.
By the time they’d reached the Rock En Seine festival in August 2009, tensions were as high as they’d ever been, with the two siblings already travelling separately to shows.
Just before the Paris gig, a blazing row culminated in Liam “wielding a guitar like an axe”.
The pair were interrupted by a sudden knock at the door that cut through the chaos: It was their five-minute warning to prepare for the gig.
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Instead of using these 300 seconds to make his way to the stage, Noel spent them inside his car.
It was during those few moments he decided that was that.
Oasis was done.
A message on the band’s website, written by Noel, eventually appeared stating: “It is with some sadness and great relief…I quit Oasis tonight. People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.”
And that was that. The band was gone, and the two brothers remain at loggerheads a decade down the line.
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Rumours of a reunion have been a weekly occurrence in the eleven years ever since, but a reconciliation has always been just out of reach.
The post-Oasis years have given birth to bands Beady Eye and High Flying Birds, and whilst there’s never really been any sight of a sincere olive branch, Noel has seemingly ignored impromptu tweets by Liam asking to give things another go, if only for a one-off gig.
The band’s’ closer, Dig Out Your Soul, is often lost within the footnotes of Oasis trivia today; bundled beneath the glory days of What’s The Story, origin tales of debut Definitely Maybe, and the drug-addled anecdotes of Be Here Now.
But DOYS is sort of remarkable in how it holds up as such a solid piece of work despite the growing turbulence going on behind the scenes.
Fittingly, the very last words to appear on an Oasis album are “soldier on” – an apt description of the brothers’ fruitless attempts to persevere through an upcoming tour fraught with tension; which would ultimately bring about the band’s demise.
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You could frown at the Oasis timeline and spend hours trying to decide which dates to circle as being the most definitive moments in the band’s history.
But no single week is more fascinating than this one.
This was when we got the best and last of Oasis.
In ‘95, the leap to glory. In ‘08, the unknowing goodbye.
Audio
Review | Villanelle debut: Liam Gallagher’s son’s band release their first track – here’s our review
Danny Jones
Liam Gallagher’s son, Gene, and his band Villanelle, have officially released their debut single to the masses, and since we’re still very much immersing ourselves in everything even remotely to do with Oasis, we thought we’d give this first track a review.
Now, if you’re expecting a familiar Britpop vibe like his dad and uncle used to bash out back in the day, you’d be very wrong…
It’s one thing to settle into something similar to what you’ve grown up around and try to continue a lineage if you’re from a successful family – especially with a legacy as important and influential as the one left by Liam and Noel – but we’re glad to report they’ve done something pretty different.
24-year-old Gene Gallagher and his bandmates Ben Taylor (guitar), Jack Schiavo (bass), and Andrew Richmond (drums) haven’t just tried to do an impression of Oasis; instead, they’ve found their own sound, and while it does give somewhat of an old-school flavour, it’s not what we expected.
It takes literally milliseconds for you to click into realising the vibe they’re going for.
‘Hinge’ is a simplistic but hard-hitting, grungey and dark debut from Villanelle, who, despite having played a number of in-progress songs live over the last year or so, have only just dropped their first studio single.
In fact, they’ve actually taken the admittedly bizarre and unorthodox first steps of having already played live with Liam Gallagher on the Definitely Maybe 30th anniversary tour before they actually released anything people can easily listen to outside of their live performances.
Nevertheless, the young four-piece introduces Villanelle as the latest post-punk outfit amidst the ongoing revival of the classic rock genre.
That is to say that punk is a tried and true classic style of music, not that these lads are trying to sound like The Rolling Stones…
Anyway, we’re getting sidetracked: Villanelle draw plenty of influences from both original and contemporary examples of this sonic subculture, and while it isn’t explosive per se, ‘Hinge’ is short, direct and hits the same formulaic notes.
It’s also fair to say you can hear a bit of the recognisable LG whine in Gene’s vocals at times, too. Listen to it in full down below and see if you agree.
Even the basic found-footage style video fits into the same category.
To call it straightforward isn’t intended as any kind of a diss, by the way – some of our favourite tunes and best artists spearheading the renaissance of the punk scene write like this.
What we will say is that it looks like bloody good fun to both play and listen to in a small, sweaty room, with plenty of pits and people bouncing off the walls.
Gallagher Sr. might be surprised to see his son going for a slightly heavier, more hardcore route with his sound, but he can’t accuse him of forgetting his roots as the child of a ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Star.’
The boys are actually hitting the road this winter, including a date at The Castle Hotel in the Northern Quarter, if you fancy grabbing a ticket.
You can grab your tickets to see Villanelle on tour HERE, and in the meantime, let us know what you think of their debut track down in the comments.
Johnny Marr teases his work on upcoming Gorillaz album
Danny Jones
Legendary Manchester musician Johnny Marr has revealed he features on the new Gorillaz album, adding even more interest in the highly anticipated release.
The Mountain is the ninth studio LP from the musical collective led by Damon Albarn, which is set to drop in early 2026, more than three years on from their last album, Cracker Island.
Although the virtual band made up of several real-life creatives (though the ex-Blur frontman and artist, Jamie Hewlett, technically remain the only two consistent core members) hasn’t been away for too long, each new project brings a wave of excitement.
With that in mind, we have no shame in admitting we have even more interest in Gorillaz’s latest album now that we know Johnny Marr is attached to it.
I’m pleased to share that I appear on four tracks on the upcoming Gorillaz album The Mountain. It’s a privilege to be a part of this record along with so many great artists. #Gorillaz#JohnnyMarrpic.twitter.com/KXVZxgyGg9
In the new rundown of tunes already posted earlier this month, the former Smiths songwriter and lead guitarist features on four different songs on the new record. You can see it in full down below:
Gorrilaz – The Mountain tracklist
1. The Mountain (feat. Dennis Hopper, Ajay Prasanna, Anoushka Shankar, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash) 2. The Moon Cave (feat. Asha Puthli, Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Jalen Ngonda and Black Thought) 3. The Happy Dictator (feat. Sparks) 4. The Hardest Thing (feat. Tony Allen) 5. Orange County (feat. Bizarrap, Kara Jackson and Anoushka Shankar) 6. The God of Lying (feat. IDLES) 7. The Empty Dream Machine (feat. Black Thought, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar) 8. The Manifesto (feat. Trueno and Proof) 9. The Plastic Guru (feat. Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar) 10. Delirium (feat. Mark E. Smith) 11. Damascus (feat. Omar Souleyman and Yasiin Bey) 12. The Shadowy Light (feat. Asha Bhosle, Gruff Rhys, Ajay Prasanna, Amaan Ali Bangash, and Ayaan Ali Bangash) 13. Casablanca (feat. Paul Simonon and Johnny Marr) 14. The Sweet Prince (feat. Ajay Prasanna, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shankar) 15. The Sad God (feat. Black Thought, Ajay Prasanna and Anoushka Shankar)
As you can see, the 61-year-old appears for the first time on song seven, ‘The Empty Dream Machine’, as well as ‘The Plastic Guru’, ‘Casablanca’, and the penultimate track on the album, ‘The Sweet Prince’.
It’ll be interesting to see how he fits into the captivating soundscape already teased by the group, with Gorillaz having now shared ‘The Happy Dictator’ featuring art pop duo Sparks.
A strong and politically loaded start.
Marr – who only released his fourth batch of solo material, Fever Dream Pts 1-4, back in 2022 – has continued to craft and produce with countless other artists over the past few decades, sharing the studio with fellow icons such as Noel Gallagher, Billy Bragg, Talking Heads and many more.
He even helped create the score for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 soundtrack with legendary composer Hans Zimmer.
That being said, we can only hope to hear some of his famous guitar tones sprinkled throughout this album, though it’s still unclear as to exactly how much input he had on The Mountain overall.
What we do know about the album is that it’s the first to be released via Albarn’s new record label KONG; it’s 15 tracks, and was largely made following extended recording sessions across India, with the likes of Ajay Prasanna, Omar Souleyman and Anoushka Shankar, joining IDLES, Jalen Ngonda and other collabs.
Perhaps most excitingly, the announcement of ‘Gorillaz no.9’ came alongside a series of tour dates, including one right here in Manchester. We can’t wait to see 2D, Murdoc Niccals, Russel Hobbs and Noodle ‘live’ in 0161.
The Manc -
6th October 2020 
