Noel Gallagher doesn’t understand why Brian Wilson is “revered as a great songwriter”
Amid fending off rumours about Oasis getting back together, Noel Gallagher is riding high off the success of his latest album, Council Skies. Outside of his numerous classic rock influences, Gallagher did have some unkind words for one of the foundational rock acts of the 1960s.
When talking about his songwriting technique, Gallagher mentioned never understanding the reverence of The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, telling Rolling Stone: “I never loved the Beach Boys. Why is he revered as a great songwriter?”
In the mid-60s, Wilson’s style of songwriting was thought to be the American rival to acts like The Beatles. While serving as an inspiration to the Fab Four, Wilson’s brainchild Pet Sounds would become revered in music circles as one of his masterpieces and a game-changer in music for pioneering stereo sound.
This isn’t the first time that Gallagher has taken aim at The Beach Boys either, given that he once claimed that they were one of the most overrated groups of all time during a conversation with Mark Hoppus. When talking about their popularity, Noel suspected that “the only reason they are important is because they’re next to The Beatles in alphabetical order”.
When discussing songwriting, Gallagher took issue with the fact that Wilson didn’t write that many lyrics. He said: “I was watching a documentary once and I was like, hang on a minute. Who the fuck’s this Van Dyke Parks? Oh, he’s the lyricist? It’s like, what? Brian Wilson didn’t even write the lyrics? Well, what the fuck?”
Given that pop artists like Harry Styles and Ed Sheeran employ outside songwriters, Gallagher doesn’t believe that credit should be shared with the artist, remarking: “Once you employ outside people … they’re solo artists. How can he be a solo artist if there’s someone else co-writing the fucking songs for you? If you are writing songs with a guy, be in a band with that fucking guy!”
Elsewhere, Gallagher discussed the sorry state of rock music in England, where he took aim at The 1975 for winning a Brit Award, telling NME: “It’s just a pity guitar music has become marginalised. You’ve either got to be rock, or that fucking The 1975. At the BRITs, The 1975 won Best Rock or some fucking shit”.
Council Skies, Gallagher’s most recent record, was released June 2nd, 2023, coming in at number two in the charts behind Foo Fighters’ latest album, But Here We Are.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.