(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
Sat 14 March 2026 16:00, UK
Nothing about Oasis was about being the most technically gifted musician in the world.
Noel Gallagher didn’t sign up to be the greatest prog-rock band that the world had ever seen by any stretch, and when listening to all of their albums, you can hear them slowly trying to make the kind of anthems that made them love music when they first started playing their old Beatles records. They were students of music every time they made new records, but Noel felt that not everyone was cut out to be one of the most technical masters whenever the band walked into the studio.
When ‘The Chief’ first joined, though, he really needed to settle for what he had. He was the last person to join the original lineup of Oasis, but when he started writing the songs on every record, he had a firm message for the rest of the band: either they were going to do things his way and make millions of dollars, or they were going to be heading home if they started disagreeing with what he said.
It took him a long time to get that kind of respect, but there’s a good chance no one else would have been arguing with him once he wrote ‘Live Forever’. That was the kind of song that someone gets once every lifetime, and even though Noel was ready to make the best record of his life, Tony McCarroll was always the fly in the ointment when they began working on Definitely Maybe. The songs were there, but the punky energy that McCarroll had behind the kit wasn’t going to suit the band for the rest of their career.
Admittedly, his playing on songs like ‘Supersonic’ and ‘Bring It On Down’ are absolutely perfect for the song, but when you look at the job Alan White did on the next record, McCarroll was never going to be able to keep up with ‘Champagne Supernova’ or ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ once they started. But even after he was sacked, Noel had no problem calling the other members of the band out on their bullshit.
They were on a musical rollercoaster, and when bassist Guigsy wasn’t up to the challenge, Noel wasn’t about to appear sympathetic when he asked to have a break from the band. Nervous exhaustion is a real problem that anyone could have faced, but Noel did have some more harsh words than his brother could have ever said when the band regrouped with a new lineup for Standing on the Shoulder of Giants.
Their fourth album was a firm reset for them, but even with Bonehead leaving the group, Noel could admit that having Gem Archer and Andy Bell in the band was a breath of fresh air after Guigsy spent time messing about, saying, “Gem has taken a lot of weight off my shoulders, so I don’t have to concentrate on lead guitar. Guigs, by his own admission, bless him, could never play bass anyway, so Andy’s a far better bass player. [Bonehead and Guigs] were right for the band at the time, but it wouldn’t feel right [on this record.]”
And there’s a lot more truth to that statement than most people realise. Even though he shows up in most of the photography that goes along with the albums, it’s a well-known secret in the Oasis camp that Noel did play a lot of the bass on What’s the Story Morning Glory and almost all of it on Definitely Maybe, while having Guigs mirror what he was playing a lot of the time once they performed live.
That might have been a case of Noel trying to maintain as much control as he could over some of the mixes, but that sense of being too domineering wasn’t only about getting the songs right. It’s about getting the best-sounding recording, and if one of the band members isn’t doing their job as well as they could be, it’s time for you to start looking for someone who could fill out that role a lot better.
