Noel Gallagher, Radiohead and the emotion of making music: “Won’t you fucking give it a rest”
Being a rock star isn’t the easiest life to lead. It seems like one of the best jobs in the world, but going out on tour for most of the year and having to go right back into the studio and make the next smash hit is a rollercoaster that not everyone realises they’re signing up for when they first sign those contracts. Noel Gallagher is proud to do what it says on the tin, and he’s also more than happy to tear into groups like Radiohead that consider everything a chore.
Granted, Radiohead aren’t necessarily the kind of group that shuns that creative spirit, either. Looking through their back catalogue, they have switched it up many times whenever the time comes for them to make a record. Outside of maybe Pablo Honey, each of their albums exists in their own musical world, making it incredibly easy to cherry-pick which songs came from OK Computer or Kid A.
Compared to Oasis used to make their projects, Radiohead were much more inventive. That’s not even a slam at the Gallagher brothers, either. They had switched things up from time to time, but hearing that uncut rock and roll may have been much more abrasive for someone who would rather listen to a band pick at their sound like Talking Heads used to do in their prime.
When the minds behind The Bends took to the road, they didn’t exactly like what they saw. Thom Yorke had always seen his music as a personal statement for him, so once everyone started singing along to his songs and turned them into a household name, that kind of adulation never suited him all that much.
There were even stories of Yorke doing everything he could to get out of various stadium gigs before the show, leading to one unfortunate train ride back to the stadium where he accidentally got stuck with Radiohead fans on a train and had to rush backstage as quickly as he could. For someone who relished the Keith Richards-style of rock stardom, though, Noel had no time to hear about Yorke going on about how he doesn’t like his job.
When talking to Spin, Gallagher mentioned how frustrated he became looking at various articles for projects like In Rainbows, saying, “I remember seeing Radiohead on the cover of a magazine in the U.K. when In Rainbows came out, and it said, ‘Radiohead: The Pain.’ And I thought, ‘Won’t you fucking give it a rest, you bunch of moaning children?’ The pain? Of making an album? I don’t buy it. If you’re not having a laugh, then don’t do it.”
Yes, it’s a bit hypocritical for a group to work so hard to make it and then not enjoy playing music, but it’s not like Noel hasn’t had his fair share of trouble in the studio, either. After Be Here Now bottomed out after their world tour, Standing on the Shoulder of Giants couldn’t have been easy to make, considering Oasis had lost half their band and saw Noel desperately trying to overcome writer’s block.
In the end, though, perhaps Radiohead and Noel could take cues from each other to make the best out of every situation. Rock and roll doesn’t have to be a pity party, but even by Noel’s standards, it doesn’t have to be a living dream that everyone has to talk up as the greatest profession in the world every day of their lives.
