“More than anything”: The one person Noel Gallagher called the spirit of Oasis
Whether a rock ‘n’ roll band is more than the sum of its parts is a truly complicated question. There are those who swear that the holy chemistry of the right four or five people in the right band at the right time exists. That U2 would be nothing had Adam Clayton gone walkabout, or that Ringo was the glue that held The Beatles together. One wonders what those people think of a band like Fleetwood Mac, which had several beloved eras with nearly entirely different lineups. Then, there’s the curious case of Oasis.
In a strange way, Oasis might be living proof of the chemistry argument, just not with the whole band. They may be a five-piece, but let’s be real here, Oasis are precisely two people: Noel Gallagher writing the songs, and Liam Gallagher singing them. The rest may as well be cardboard cutouts, no matter how many Gem Archer and Andy Bell songs made their latter-day albums. No disrespect to either of them by the way, love a bit of Ride.
This has been the case basically since the beginning, although there are some dyed-in-the-wool fans who swear blind Oasis have never been the same since Bonehead, AKA Paul Arthurs, left. Even when the band started, Noel, ever the careerist, was acutely aware that Tony McCarrol had all the drumming ability of a freshly baked scone and was trying to steer him out the group from the moment record labels came calling. Not for nothing does the video for ‘Live Forever‘ show the band burying the poor bastard alive.
So let’s be real, Oasis is a two-hander between the Gallagher brothers. I’m sure both of them would sacrifice the other one in a heartbeat if there was even the slightest chance they could run the ship alone, but both have tried, and it did not work. Noel fronted Oasis for a few shows that Liam was being too much of a mardy toddler to turn up for, and while the man’s got pipes, he ain’t his brother. Conversely, the less said about Beady Eye—that is, Oasis without Noel’s songwriting ability—the better.
So, which Gallagher brother is the spirit of Oasis?
So, now that we’ve settled that the Gallagher brothers are the only two members of Oasis with any real importance, what role do they play? I’m not talking about Noel equals guitarist and Liam equals singer either, I’m talking about a deeper level layer here. The kind that a 17-year-old Peter Doherty hit the nail on the head regarding when he enthused into an MTV camera that ‘Gallagher Sr’ was “a poet” and ‘Our Kid’ was “a town crier”.
However, we actually have an insight into this from Noel himself. In an interview conducted with CNN in 2002, Noel was asked about the other members of the band. This was when Oasis were leaning into the “no, seriously, Gem and Andy are as important as the Gallaghers, honest!” thing, so Noel waxes eloquent and kind of convincingly about what their hired hands bring to the table. Then, tellingly, he moves on to describing Liam in the same paragraph.
He says, “Liam can either make you feel that you are making the greatest record that was ever created in rock and roll history, or he can make you feel that you are doing something as worthless as a Sesame Street song, depending on what mood he’s in. Liam is more of a spirit, more than anything.” And that checks out; the man is nothing if not capricious. If that doesn’t make him the spirit of Oasis, a band that is capricious the way most bands are musical, I don’t know what does.
