The punk album Noel Gallagher would have killed to write
Noel Gallagher never claimed to be ashamed of his rock and roll record collection. Throughout his time working with Oasis, Noel was known for taking ideas from whatever artist he was listening to, whether cribbing notes from Neil Young or attempting a Rolling Stones tune. While the aura of The Beatles looms large over every single album Oasis ever made, Noel maintained that he’s still trying to outdo one classic album heard as a kid.
When first becoming interested in music, Noel was always drawn to the guitar, often fiddling with it when he wasn’t trying to slag off school. Once he started to make his name in the music industry, though, Noel was far more interested in fading into the background, often working as a roadie for the band Inspiral Carpets alongside future Oasis soundman Mark Coyle.
By the time he had been around the world a few times, Noel’s fate began to change when he heard that his brother Liam was forming a band back in Manchester. Needing to see what this new act was doing, Liam’s pre-Oasis outfit, The Rain, shocked Noel when he first saw them. Thinking that he could add his unique stamp to the music, Noel thought he should join the band, eventually becoming the head songwriter.
When looking at the construction of the group’s tunes, though, it’s easy to spot The Beatles comparisons within the first few seconds. Outside of Liam being an open John Lennon fan, Noel’s way with melodies often followed the same construction as the Fab Four, featuring notes that fell just like the band’s ethereal harmonies.
For all the musical sophistication going on, though, Noel maintained that his true inspirations were Sex Pistols. Formed when Noel was still in his teens, John Lydon led one of the first punk bands through some of the most chaotic performances that the world had ever seen, with songs being used as weapons on tracks like ‘Anarchy in the UK’.
Although the band only survived long enough to put together a single album, Noel confessed that the album Nevermind the Bollocks was one of the crowned jewels of his record collection. Featuring equally harsh sonic assaults like ‘Holidays in the Sun’ and ‘God Save the Queen’, Lydon spills his venom all over the final track, significantly impacting Noel.
When discussing his career, Noel would confess that he was still trying to make something equal to what Sex Pistols could do, saying, “Everything that had come before that was irrelevant once he started anti-singing. Sex Pistols came along saying the established order was about to change [Nevermind the Bollocks] is their one statement to the world. I’ve made ten albums, and in my own mind, they don’t measure up to that. I’d give them all up to have written that”.
Looking through Oasis’ back catalogue, though, songs like ‘Headshrinker’ and ‘Bring It On Down’ are an excellent example of Noel working in Sex Pistols’s fashion, creating songs more about the feeling and the sound rather than the technical ability. Sex Pistols may have flamed out much faster than most fans were prepared for, but their mark on the music industry is still being felt today.
