Ah, the nineties! The last decade when everything seemed, in the words of that sage David Wooderson, “Alright, alright, alright.”
It seems that, as we live, eat and breathe in 2024, everything from that golden era has immense cachet, and the fact that one of the biggest news stories in recent weeks is the long-awaited reunion of Manchester trainwreck Oasis, is solid proof.
As I write this, I wonder if there are any studies with resultant data points showing what segment of the U.S. population has been exposed to drunken, off-key renditions of “Wonderwall” at some point, be it from some open mic greenhand performer or some karaoke superstar. Nonetheless, while I have never been a fan of the band, there’s no denying that “Wonderwall,” “Champagne Supernova” and “Live Forever” are great, I’d even say, timeless melodies and the first two albums, Definitely Maybe and (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? are full of good songs.
In the mid-‘90s when the Brit-poppers hit their commercial peak, stateside, I had no interest in the sound. It wasn’t “heavy” enough for me. At that time, I equated all things “heavy” with guitar volume and distortion, and if it wasn’t something akin to Slayer, Megadeth, Alice in Chains or some sludgy doom-metal band, I wasn’t really interested.
Flash forward 30 years – I still, on occasion, listen to loud music, but have come to realize “heaviness” is far more about attitude than volume, and I also appreciate good, solid songcraft. Oddly enough, one of my go-to records these days to listen to when I’m in a mood for that halcyon decade is Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill, which sold seven or eight gazillion copies.
In ’95-’96, I booed and hissed every time one of her songs came on the radio, or was played on MTV*, and believe you me, it was impossible to escape her, so I became known for my booing and hissing.
As a highly cultured adult these days, I took a gamble on a used copy of that record for a whole two bits at a Goodwill and was floored by the quality of the songwriting. Funny, though, for music I once lambasted as “not heavy enough,” I now bemoan the presence of heavy metal guitars on some of the songs as taking away from their greatness. Oh, isn’t it ironic, don’tcha think?
For some reason, though, I’ve not been able to revisit Oasis with similar results. It could be because my mindset is not geared toward chaotic situations.
To me, the continuing circus in the ‘90s, and throughout the early 2000s, that was Liam and Noel Gallagher, was akin to a trainwreck hauling several cars loaded with Dumpsters on fire and screened on an episode of Jerry Springer. For every strong melody penned by Noel Gallagher, with singalong lyrics rendered through Liam’s sneering vocals, the dust ups and rows constantly overshadowed them.
Aside from the incessant feuding among the two brothers, there were also feuds played out in the press between the Gallaghers and several other bands.
Oasis’s recorded legacy rests squarely on those first two albums. After that, they rode the bloated, excessive, cocaine-fueled rock n’ roll cliché into mediocrity. Still, millions of folks made it out to their shows through the years, and consistently placed them among the top-drawing live acts on the planet.
Methinks a great deal of the appeal was from that ever-present trainwreck effect; the chaos that so many are seemingly drawn to.
To many Gen Z’ers, Oasis represents something unfathomably hip and cool. It’s their parents music and calls to mind an era they are too young to know about, but they will, no doubt be sinking money they don’t have/shouldn’t be spending into tickets to the shows on the books next year, that is, if this tour actually happens.
Bookmakers are already taking bets on whether the Gallaghers will implode prior to the first gig, and call the whole thing off, or if it will be a success with a slew of epic gigs and a hefty payday. If it does go down, I think Oasis will be more popular than they were even in the ‘90s. Even without the benefit of the record industry working the way it did then, the general populace seems so attracted to chaos that the Brothers Gallagher will be one trainwreck that can’t be missed. Call me a cynic, but I doubt older age has mellowed those two all that much.
With politics becoming a trashy reality show that dominates much of the mass-market news real estate, it’ll actually be nice to see another type of trashy reality show dominating headlines that has nothing to do with chaos and turmoil colored red or blue.
Although I’m not a fan by any means, the whole thing is still intriguing, if just from a sociological view.
*Launched in 1981, MTV, or Music Television actually was a real thing, kids. A television station devoted to playing music videos. Yes, this is true; this actually was a thing.
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