“We weren’t as great as the greats but we were the best of the rest.”

November 14, 2015 5:01 PM

Oasis songwriter/guitarist/vocalist Noel Gallagher, interviewed by Alex Bilmes for Esquire: “I have an opinion on everything and if I don’t have an opinion, I’ll fucking make one up on the spot.”
posted by We had a deal, Kyle (52 comments total)

I'm glad Blur won.
posted by Artw at 5:03 PM on November 14, 2015 [5 favorites]

i wish this was a video interview so i could re-post it with "PARKLIFE!" edited in after each answer
posted by murphy slaw at 5:26 PM on November 14, 2015 [17 favorites]

I've got precisely zero time for his turgid pub rock, but I do quite like how much of a grumpy curmudgeonly old sod Noel is turning into. His Oasis videos DVD commentary is (somewhat unintentionally) hilarious - getting increasingly exasperated, and mostly complaining about how much everything cost and having to get up early for filming.

"Fookin bag of shite, that. Waste of an afternoon. Look at all those helicopters - cost a fookin fortune."
posted by sobarel at 5:31 PM on November 14, 2015 [13 favorites]

I really like some of their songs.

I bought tickets to see Oasis with my brother in Cincinnati in 2005 for $50 each, which is a lot of money for a college kid. As I bought the tickets I thought, "I hope the Gallagher brothers don't get in a fight."

Five measures into Wonderwall, Liam started yelling off mike at Noel. Then walked offstage. Five minutes of awkward scrambling and fidgeting followed, then Noel walked up and restarted the song.

Liam eventually rejoined. They played ten songs total. Not worth $50.
posted by glaucon at 5:37 PM on November 14, 2015

Assholes gotta ass.
posted by eriko at 5:39 PM on November 14, 2015 [4 favorites]

There is nothing more cringe-inducing than reading an interview between a narcissist and a star-struck reporter.

But it's still nothing compared to Q magazine's unending adoration of Oasis. I am fairly certain the Gallagher brothers have some kind of contract with that magazine to appear on the cover every third issue.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 5:43 PM on November 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

I love Noel. He has no filter of any kind. Love it. I'll happily read whatever grumpy nonsense he has to say about anything, except what he's really best at is those Year in Review deals where they ask him about a bunch of different shit and he shares his jaundiced views.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:44 PM on November 14, 2015 [8 favorites]

I adore Noel as well. He is hilarious and I think he deserves his own chat show, which I would devotedly watch. Oasis has a permanent place in my heart for showing up in the 90s when I was surrounded by what felt like the most tortuous, vapid radio pop ever and angsty kids walking around with "I hate myself and I want to die" t-shirts. A loud bunch of partying fighters who played catchy rock anthems and didn't give a fuck what anyone thought of them was like...well, an oasis.
posted by ghost dance beat at 5:57 PM on November 14, 2015 [8 favorites]

Still less insufferable than Liam.


Plus, the "Noel Gallagher discusses the production of each Oasis video" thing on Youtube is absolutely worth it.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 5:59 PM on November 14, 2015 [3 favorites]

I fucking love this guy. There's always a point on paper where his schtick goes from insufferable to utterly charming. In this piece I think it was when he shat on Jimmy Page and Lindsey Buckingham.

He's gonna be the life of the assisted living facility someday.
posted by echocollate at 6:00 PM on November 14, 2015 [9 favorites]

Not a single Noel comment would survive were it to appear on Metafilter, and for this alone, he's priceless. Plus the music, which is undeniable.
posted by oluckyman at 6:02 PM on November 14, 2015 [6 favorites]

"Fookin bag of shite, that. Waste of an afternoon. Look at all those helicopters - cost a fookin fortune."

To be fair those videos get charged back to Oasis's royalty account by the label. That's probably why he's less than pleased with having to do something he really doesn't want to have to do and pay out the asshole from his pocket for it.
posted by Talez at 6:02 PM on November 14, 2015

Yeah. I recall they had that really good song.

"... if you listen to the songs, the second verse of every song is just a repeat of the first verse."

Yup. There it is. I'm, as they say, taking the piss, but at their highest point I remember thinking "is this the other song or the same song? I can't tell." It got old, quickly.
posted by clvrmnky at 6:05 PM on November 14, 2015

There's always a point on paper where his schtick goes from insufferable to utterly charming. In this piece I think it was when he shat on Jimmy Page and Lindsey Buckingham.

Oh yeah, the minute he gets rolling with the "Fame's wasted on these people" rant, he becomes my personal hero. Again.
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:08 PM on November 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

me: let's have a conversation about Oasis that's more than "your favorite band sucks" and a rundown of the personal shortcomings of the Gallaghers, because it would be more interesting
mefi: no
posted by thetortoise at 6:16 PM on November 14, 2015 [5 favorites]

"Fame’s wasted on them, with their fucking in-ear monitors and their electronic cigarettes. And their fragrances that they’re bringing out for Christmas. You fucking dicks. "

Sidebar: Black wool jacket, £2,100; white cotton shirt, £370, both by Dior Homme. Belt by Comme des Garçons. Sunglasses by Garrett Leight California Optical
posted by clvrmnky at 6:18 PM on November 14, 2015 [12 favorites]

thetortoise, though:

My brother Paul? I guess it must be weird for him but you can only surmise. He does all right. He’s a DJ. When I’m on tour or when Liam’s on tour he’ll play in each town and we allow him to put the band’s logos on his flyers. He follows me all over Europe. One thing is, though, he’s not mastered the art of taking a breath in between sentences, so sentences can go on for fucking hours, to where I don’t even know what he’s saying, he’s just talking fucking nonsense.

yikes
posted by cotton dress sock at 6:23 PM on November 14, 2015 [5 favorites]

I don't think I ever realized how entertaining Noel is. Oasis are pretty okay, and he's right: Radiohead are completely fucking insufferable and fame is wasted on most modern acts. Rock Stars are supposed to be larger than life. Good on him.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:23 PM on November 14, 2015 [3 favorites]

I distinctly remember going to a Blur concert in Cincinnati (Smashmouth, of all bands, opened for them) and being flipped off by a manically grinning Damon Albarn as someone in our group held up an Oasis sign. I'm not sure we would have gotten the same amused reaction had we done the reverse at an Oasis concert...
posted by combinatorial explosion at 6:25 PM on November 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

Yeah, his ability to just shit on people much better than him in all kinds of ways is endearing in a 6-year old, maybe.

I mean, no accounting for taste and all that, but Buckingham is one of the best subtle guitar players out there, and has written some pretty important and lasting songs. Reducing "better" to a metric that pretty much includes only the number of fans who can shout the easy words of your (repeated) chorus to one of your bog-standard progressions is not necessarily better.

We don't have to like all the same things, but why can't we just look at all this stuff as a rich tapestry. I get that Oasis made a deep impression on a lot of people (mostly English people -- they were never as huge anywhere else) but there was, and is, a lot of stuff happening while he was snorting supermodels up his nose in the 90s.

There's room for pub shouters like the better part of the Oasis catalogue, and the best part of the Fleetwood Mac catalogue, and (heaven forfend) the anti-pop of Radiohead then and now.

Trying to rank these things is a fools errand, and just goes to show you can't take the dole out of the boy.
posted by clvrmnky at 6:26 PM on November 14, 2015 [4 favorites]

But I wasn’t upset about being on the dole. That was just the way it was. I wouldn’t say dole culture in the Eighties was cool, but all my mates were on it and all my mates’ dads were, too. And out of that dole-culture in the Eighties came what became known as Britpop.

I think Stewart Lee's said something similar about the alternative comedy scene of the 80s, about dole culture and (paid) internships at the BBC being necessary conditions for anyone having time to think about anything.
posted by cotton dress sock at 6:28 PM on November 14, 2015 [4 favorites]

“Don’t Look Back in Anger.” I remember writing it in Paris on a rainy night. We had just played a strip club: our set finished, the strippers came on. We were nothing, an insignificant little band. And I remember going back to my hotel room and writing it, and thinking, “That’ll be pretty good when we record it.” If I’d have known that night what I know now about people playing it at fucking funerals and weddings, I’d never have finished the song. Too much pressure.

Forget the funerals and weddings, it is THE BEST for karaoke, which is all that really matters in the end.
posted by betweenthebars at 6:32 PM on November 14, 2015 [6 favorites]

I mean, no accounting for taste and all that, but Buckingham is one of the best subtle guitar players out there, and has written some pretty important and lasting songs.

I don't think Lindsey Buckingham's legacy is at risk of being tarnished by Noel Gallagher. The latter is more entertaining if you imagine him as a little Irish kid popping off at a much larger, conspicuously unimpressed target.
posted by echocollate at 6:48 PM on November 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Thom Yorke is stuck in his craw. He keeps circling back to Radiohead. What's going on there?
posted by clawsoon at 6:49 PM on November 14, 2015 [3 favorites]

"I have to say with all of these videos, if you need four guys to walk around in slow motion, we were the best at that."
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:54 PM on November 14, 2015 [8 favorites]

I do like Oasis, I like them a lot. But Noel's no Lindsey or Jimmy. Not even close. You want my respect Noel, release a compilation of all the b-sides you lazy prick.
posted by Ber at 7:02 PM on November 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

> Champagne Supernova is the worst song in the history of songs so hopefully you didn't mean Champagne Supernova

The first time I ever flirted with the woman who would one day become my wife, that song was playing. She shot me down (gently).
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:10 PM on November 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Obligatory Achewood.
posted by postcommunism at 7:19 PM on November 14, 2015 [3 favorites]

He's not angry he just needs a little time to wake up!
posted by mannequito at 7:48 PM on November 14, 2015

He's a working class kid who grew up in a shitty crime-ridden housing estate... he took a knack for pilfering melodies, catchy but senseless lyrics, a sharp mind, and a sense of purpose and is now living the dream.

My hat is off to him. His songs aren't everyones cup of tea but if I could travel the world playing music to millions of people who sing my "anthems" back at me, I'd be pretty satisfied with my accomplishments too. He won't go down as a one of the world's great musical innovators, but he will go down as someone who made an awful lot of people happy.

His interviews do also make me laugh, because he genuinely has reached that "I don't give a shit what you think" level of personal interaction that every MeFite seems to revel in as something they discovered upon turning 30.
posted by modernnomad at 7:49 PM on November 14, 2015 [3 favorites]

"... if you listen to the songs, the second verse of every song is just a repeat of the first verse."

The program director at the radio station where I worked as the talk show host was a young English guy who loved Oasis, so they got played all the time. Eventually I got to where I could almost stand them, but still it seemed like even the better songs went on two (or three) times too long. (Can't remember specific titles; it was way back in the last century, and now kind of a Blur.)
posted by LeLiLo at 7:49 PM on November 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

@LeLiLo, I see what you did there. You have a real Head for Radio.
posted by clvrmnky at 8:00 PM on November 14, 2015

He wrote this song that I've never stopped loving. I don't think even he believes half the shit he spews, but that song (and about ten others) shows he's plugged into something special.
posted by Joey Michaels at 9:36 PM on November 14, 2015 [3 favorites]

I'm far from being an Oasis fan, but Noel Gallagher is the best soundbite factory of the Britpop era. Liam rarely said anything that wasn't an insult, Blur are dullards (as Noel would put it, one of them makes cheese), Brett Anderson kin of retracted into his own things after Britpop became a thing and Jarvis is more of that guy you go for a beer with and spend all night drinking and listening to his stories.
posted by lmfsilva at 11:47 PM on November 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

Jarvis is more of that guy you go for a beer with and spend all night drinking and listening to his stories.

Maybe but also a pop genius
posted by cotton dress sock at 11:48 PM on November 14, 2015 [3 favorites]

Well, it should go without saying Jarvis is the best lyricist of the era. But even that reflects in his songs. Pulp were great at telling full stories in the songs, while loads of bands had a solid chorus an some garbage verses to fill in.

(I feel this comment needs a PARKLIFE! here)
posted by lmfsilva at 12:07 AM on November 15, 2015 [3 favorites]

Liam is just an arsehole, Noel is a funny arsehole and that makes it easier to like him. I still like a lot of Oasis songs.
posted by h00py at 12:44 AM on November 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

Anyway, here's Wonderwall.
posted by maxwelton at 2:05 AM on November 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

I like reading interviews with Noel Gallagher as his goal is to make the interview fun, wind up music fans, and consistently rate his band as excellent. He's gobby and acutely aware that he can just make up opinions on the spot. He brings happiness to many people and enjoys it. And he really has got "fuck you" money and has no problem reminding you of it.
And in the Britpop era, he consistently kept his band in the press and written about. Oasis are absolutely working class v Blur/Radiohead's/the music press middle-class. He kept a entertaining narrative going that balanced his lack of shame in where he came from with the fact it was unbelievably hard, and being a rock star is much much better.
posted by eyeofthetiger at 2:28 AM on November 15, 2015 [9 favorites]

You want my respect Noel, release a compilation of all the b-sides you lazy prick.
posted by like_neon at 2:30 AM on November 15, 2015 [3 favorites]

Being far better at interviews than writing songs during his solo career is just another thing he's aped from his hero Lennon. He's right about the poetry in a middle-aged man leaning out of a car to call someone a 'Sierra face'. In one of Lennon's interviews he starts talking about the day his step-mum's husband died, and she was 'crying into the carrots' while trying to make dinner. None of this tender but razor-sharp observation ever made it into his lyrics, which is also the case with Gallagher.

The reason he can't stand Radiohead is because they stand in for a certain level of totally assured middle-classness. They all went to the colleges that would not accept Gallagher, even though there would have been times he secretly wished he could be educated, and they had parents who in between CND demoes probably encouraged their music rather than swore at them. If you are British this kind of feeling runs so deep in your psyche that you don't even realise it's controlling you for decades.
posted by colie at 2:47 AM on November 15, 2015 [12 favorites]

If you are British this kind of feeling runs so deep in your psyche that you don't even realise it's controlling you for decades.

There is a reason Paul Abbot's Working Class masterpiece was called Shameless.
Although not a fan of Gallagher's music, I am a huge fan of his shamelessness.
posted by fullerine at 5:49 AM on November 15, 2015 [3 favorites]

Yeah. I recall they had that really good song.

This one?

12 hours ago, russm & I were having brunch, and he related to me a funny anecdote about Daryl Somers. I told him if ever Somers is brought up on Mefi, he must share it here. Lo & behold. Oasis thread, one song, Tripod, Hey Hey, Daryl Somers. *mind blown*
posted by goshling at 5:51 AM on November 15, 2015

Trying to rank these things is a fools errand

true, but: radiohead in 2000 vs. oasis in 2000. "insufferable" > shameless in that little head to head hands down imo
posted by cotton dress sock at 8:26 AM on November 15, 2015

@like_neon, that's just the tip of the iceberg. In the early 00s when nefarious torrent sites abounded I picked up a dozen or so that weren't on Masterplan but I know there's other supposedly great tracks out there. Liam is still a lazy prick in my eyes.
posted by Ber at 9:10 AM on November 15, 2015

Anyway, here's Wonderwall.

That should be their HHGTTG entry. Revised edition.
posted by Artw at 9:17 AM on November 15, 2015

Well that went in to narcissistic douchebag heaven right about the time he declared himself a better guitarist that Lindsey Buckingham or Jimmy Page
posted by cmdnc0 at 11:36 AM on November 15, 2015

Still not as hateable as Bono.
posted by Artw at 11:41 AM on November 15, 2015

Obligatory.
posted by billiebee at 12:02 PM on November 15, 2015 [6 favorites]

Eh, I still like the first two albums. So sue me.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:56 PM on November 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

Up until the mid 2000s and Wikipedia I had Noel and Liam confused. I knew that Noel was the talented one and that Liam was his brother who joined the band because he was his brother but I always figured that it was the frontman who was Noel and the guy playing the guitar slowly who was Liam.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 3:05 PM on November 16, 2015

Liam's the arrogant one and Noel's--- wait, no, I'll come in again.

The bit about giving his wife "the fear", "mentally breaking her down" creeped me out somewhat; although hey, maybe they're both into it.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 3:48 PM on November 16, 2015