‘A Bell Will Ring’: The Oasis song Noel Gallagher thought almost matched The Beatles
It may come as a surprise to some, but Oasis has a bit of a fixation on The Beatles. In reality, Noel Gallagher’s admiration for the Fab Four was apparent from day one. It’s hard to imagine Britpop legends like Oasis existing without the groundwork laid by albums such as Please Please Me or Rubber Soul. When it comes to The Beatles’ psychedelic era, Noel even claimed that Oasis’ track ‘A Bell Will Ring’, from Don’t Believe the Truth, could stand up to their musical heroes.
For all of the Beatles worship that Noel has sprinkled throughout the group’s classic period in the 1990s, though, there was always a sweet spot of their discography that ran through their entire discography. Starting with Revolver, the Beatles had already begun experimenting with as many layers of feedback and studio enhancements as possible, which led to the entire music world following their lead once they landed on Sgt Peppers.
Looking through Noel’s musical library, many of his classic licks could have easily passed for B-sides from those early Revolver sessions. The fanciful side of ‘She’s Electric’ already has its roots firmly planted in the Sgt Pepper era, but listening back to songs like ‘Supersonic’ and ‘Up in the Sky’, both seem to be descendants of singles like ‘Paperback Writer’ and ‘Rain’ circa 1966.
Even when the group went through their radical change at the turn of the millennium, tunes like ‘Go Let It Out’ just seemed to approach that flavour of 1960s rock from a different angle. It was still as tuneful as ever, but there was a more modern sheen running through many of the tunes.
As much as Noel was playing fire, letting other members of the group write songs, Don’t Believe the Truth is the closest that they came to capturing their old selves. Tracks like Andy Bell’s ‘Turn Up the Sun’ have the same kind of whimsy found on early albums like What’s the Story Morning Glory, but with modern production, and Noel’s knack for rockers on ‘Lyla’ still show that few can write a guitar hook better than him.
While Gem Archer is far from the best writer in the group, though, ‘A Bell Will Ring’ is a fantastic slice of rock, complete with ringing guitar chords and a philosophical lyric that sounds closer to what John Lennon would have written during his solo career. The Lennon distinction wasn’t lost on Noel, either, calling the track “the closest that anybody’s gotten to sounding like Revolver, I think.”
It’s not like Archer couldn’t wear that on his sleeve, either. Listening to the guitar tone throughout the verses, this is as if the signature lick in the interlude of ‘Got To Get You Into My Life’ was carried out for an entire song, except McCartney was talking about expanding his mind with weed, Archer wanted to expand his consciousness.
It’s easy for most people to just leave the 2000s era of Oasis by the wayside, but not diving into their back catalogue means missing out on gems like this. Not exactly on the same level as their heroes, but with the same craftsmanship behind it.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Beatles Newsletter
All the latest stories about The Beatles from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.