In a recent interview marking 30 years of MOJO magazine, Noel Gallagher revisited the whirlwind era of Oasis in 1994 and shared his perspective on the contemporaneous music scene.
Gallagher revealed that hearing contemporaries on the radio often invoked thoughts of superiority on his part. Despite acknowledging that these bands had talented individuals with a few hit tracks under their belts, Gallagher believed Oasis had the upper hand in every aspect: volume, speed, and overall quality:
“Back then, I’d hear Blur or Pulp or Suede on the radio and think – f*ck these idiots. But looking back at it now, it was an amazing time for indie music, or whatever you want to call it. But we were ready to take over. We were ready to wipe everybody out.
I thought Blur, Pulp, The Stone Roses, The La’s, whoever, they were great people, and they had one or two great tunes, but we had twelve. However loud they were, we were louder. However fast they were, we were faster. However good they were, we would trump it. They were all great bands, but we were better. It was as simple as that.”
The rockstar noted that while other bands aspired for modest achievements, like selling out Brixton Academy, Oasis was setting its sights on much grander feats, such as taking down U2:
“My ambitions were way bigger than just selling out Brixton Academy. Every band I met that was always their ambition, maybe even do two nights. I’m not arsed about Brixton Academy or John Peel. We’re going to take U2 on. That’s where my band is heading.
I don’t give a f*ck about Felt or Ned’s Atomic Dustbin. I’m aiming for bigger sh*t than that. Once you’ve written Rock And Roll Star, Live Forever, Supersonic, Slide Away, it’s like, come on, everybody gets out the way now… The confidence came from the fact that we had these songs, and we could f*cking play them.”
Although Noel confessed that he aimed to take U2 down musically with Oasis, he and Bono are actually close friends. In a previous interview, he even said he would call Bono if he’d end up with a dead body.
Despite Oasis’s known rivalry with bands like Blur — highlighted in 1995’s ‘The Battle of Britpop’ — Gallagher admitted to collaborating with Blur’s Damon Albarn in 2017, providing backing vocals for Gorillaz’s ‘We Got The Power.‘ However, reflecting on this unlikely partnership, Gallagher humorously speculated that his younger self might not have approved.
Earlier this year, Gallagher announced his fourth studio album with the High Flying Birds, titled ‘Council Skies,’ released on June 2. You can buy/stream the album here.
