The Noel Gallagher vocal Liam Gallagher called “the best ever”
It doesn’t take a rock and roll scholar to know that the Gallagher brothers are far from the best of friends. Although they may have gone through the trials and tribulations of any major rock band in Oasis’s prime, both have been known to take a few jabs at each other’s expense, often trying to get a rise out of one another for whatever reason. Although Liam Gallagher may have been responsible for being the voice behind the Britpop legends, he believed that no one could deliver this Oasis classic like his brother Noel.
For the first few years of the group’s development, though, Noel had no desire to be a singer. After writing his own songs at home, Noel would be convinced to give his material a shot when working alongside Liam in the group known as The Rain. Once they got a taste of what Noel could do with melody, they started to churn out one classic after another.
Despite having to record it multiple times, Definitely Maybe would become one of the biggest albums of the 1990s, driven by Liam’s signature snarl, blending the sounds of John Lydon and John Lennon into a unique hybrid. While Noel was content to hang in the background, he would have his vocal debut on the B-sides, singing songs like ‘Take Me Away’ and ‘D’You Wanna Be a Spaceman’.
When it came time to record What’s the Story Morning Glory, Noel would come into his own as a bandleader, eventually taking the lead vocal on the stadium-rock anthem ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’. While Liam was content with singing the soft-rock classic ‘Wonderwall’, the end of the decade would see the brothers splitting up their vocal duties across every subsequent album.
In the wake of the disastrous sessions for Be Here Now, Standing on the Shoulder of Giants saw Noel take the lead on more songs, delivering two of the main singles from the album, ‘Sunday Morning Call’ and ‘Where Did It All Go Wrong’. Although Liam would generally get annoyed at not being able to do his job, Noel mentioned that one of the lowlights from the band’s next album got one of the biggest compliments from his brother.
When tracking the various backing tracks for Heathen Chemistry, Noel sang the beginning of the song ‘Force of Nature’ before the rest of the band came in. Intending for it to be a guide vocal for Liam, Noel remembered his brother being ecstatic about the vocal and insisted on keeping the version they used.
Although Noel may have been proud of his work, he did think that not having Liam on the song killed the chances of it becoming a single, saying, “I only sung it once. Liam went in there and sung it (then listened to my demo) and said, ‘That’s one of the best fooking vocals I’ve ever heard.’ And I was like, ‘Cool. Well, that scuppers the plan for the first single then’”.
While Liam could have delivered his signature bite to the song, it’s interesting to hear Noel take the reins on a heavy rock song like this. Though not as heavy as some of their early songs like ‘Bring It On Down’ or ‘Headshrinker’, Noel’s searing chorus is one of the high points of the record, balancing out the more downtempo tracks on the rest of the album like ‘Songbird’ and ‘Stop Crying Your Heart Out’. Liam may have a not-so-subtle opinion of the power of his voice, but even he could acknowledge when his brother knocked it out of the park.
