It’s been a week since Noel Gallagher announced he was leaving Oasis.
A week. And I’m not just depressed about it. I’m downright gutted.
Oasis has personal meaning for me. They did. “Don’t Look Back in Anger” was part of a time and a place. “D’You Know What I Mean?” was part of a time and a place. “Let’s All Make Believe,” that hidden B-side gem from Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, is one of those songs that, the moment you discover it, you know your life has changed.
Where comics fans are wondering what Disney’s purchase of Marvel means for the future of Spider-Man and Squirrel Girl, I’m more worried about what the Oasis split means. Noel Gallaher’s long-expected solo album, certainly. A Liam-led Oasis releasing an album by the end of 2010, undoubtedly. (Of course Liam will do that, just to spite Noel.)
It’s easy enough to mock Oasis. “Weren’t they big, way back when? What have they done lately?” And yes, there’s a certain amount of that. After (What’s the Story) Morning Glory, what was there, for most people? But that’s just it — their story doesn’t end there.
I loved Be Here Now. For all of its coke-fueled excess, for all of its bloated length, for all of its raw noise, I love that album. I loved Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, even though it sounded different. I absolutely adored Heathen Chemistry, because it sounded like Revolver, and I absolutely love Revolver. Don’t Believe the Truth had to grow on me, but grow on me it did, and now I wonder why I didn’t give it the proper chance. And Dig Out Your Soul, oh yes, it’s magnificent.
I’m a fan. I’m not ashamed to say it.
And now they’ve split, and I’m gutted about it.
I won’t remember years from now where I was when I found out that Noel Gallagher had split from Oasis. (Okay, I was at my computer desk, at about 10 o’clock on Saturday morning the 29th of August.)
I’m not going to say that this is like the break-up of the Beatles, because it’s not. This isn’t an epochal event. But, damn, if Elbow ever called it a day… 😥
I’ve spent the week listening to Oasis, including some nifty rarities like “I Wanna Live In a Dream (In My Record Machine),” thinking of other times, and feeling a bit sad. Listening heavily.
Damn. :drunk:
and now that they say Noel hasn’t worked on his solo project yet, make me more devastated… :'(
I got excited last week when I read, in the new MOJO (which takes a month to make it over here), that Noel was working quietly on his debut solo album. Then, Liam took a swipe at Noel, saying that Noel wasn’t writing new songs, just taking stuff he demoed with Oasis as the basis of his new album.
We’ll see. Maybe not this year, if he’s not started work yet, but it’ll happen.