The Britpop bands Noel Gallagher thought were better than Oasis
The Gallagher brothers are definitely better known for their hate over their love. During their days in Oasis and then into their solo efforts, both musicians have been quick to dish out the critique. But every now and then, they drop their guards and offer a moment of optimistic admiration for a lucky select few. In the case of Noel Gallagher, he came down off his high horse for a moment to admit that a few other Britpop legends were as good as, if not better than, his own group.
“Noel used to take the piss out of me constantly, and it really, really hurt at the time,” Damon Albarn once admitted. During the 1990s, there was no feud as fierce as the one between Blur and Oasis. Dubbed the Battle Of Britpop as the bands fought it out for number one. But the rivalry long outlived the chart battle. Instead, it blew up into a years-long spat, with each side throwing jabs at the other. It seemed like all fun and games, but maybe it actually hurt Albarn, who said, “Oasis were like the bullies I had to put up with at school.”
Blur haven’t been the only target of the brothers’ vitriol. Noel Gallagher alone has thrown insults in the direction of Harry Style, Radiohead, The Beach Boys, the entire heavy metal genre and more. In fact, it’s a lot easier to list off the artists Gallagher doesn’t like versus the ones he does.
But in one interview, he was surprisingly humble, even admitting that Oasis might not be the be all and end all of music. Right at the peak of their fame, in 1996, Gallagher said to Q Magazine, “There’s better bands than Oasis in England.”
He was even willing to be specific about who he considered to be better than his own band. “The Verve are a better band than we are,” he started out, picking their Greater Manchester peers. It was a year before the band released ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ and earned themselves a huge hit and a timeless anthem. Gallagher clearly saw their talent in their two earlier albums, A Storm In Heaven and A Northern Soul.
It’s surprising to hear Gallagher hyping up The Verve, considering that they feel dangerously close to stepping on his toes, both being northern, working-class groups that came up in the same scene. But the musician was clearly feeling cordial that day.
He listed some other acts as well, including “Primal Scream, Cast, Ocean Colour Scene”.
Gallagher has previously cited Primal Scream’s ‘Shoot Speed Kill Light’ as one of his favourite songs of all time, placing it in the ranks as tracks by Bob Dylan or The Beatles as one of the finest ever made. As for the other two bands, both Cast and Ocean Colour Scene were on the rise at the same time as Oasis, both broadening the scope of Britpop outside of London just like they were. From their corners in Liverpool and Birmingham, both the bands helped make that 1990s rock sound a UK-wide phenomenon and delivered songs that would forever define the decade.
But Gallagher’s kindness doesn’t last long. Before he’s even really finished his list, he backtracks. “l right, what I mean is they’re as good as we are, not better,” he said, slipping back into his signature scathing confidence. “But they’ve not got involved in media bullshit bollocks like our so-called rivals Blur. They haven’t been dragged into this “Who’s bigger? Who’s better?” thing,” he continues.
In the end, he went back on his whole point, grabbing the crowd back for himself as he said, “But if it comes down to it, we are the biggest band in the country.”
