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The Return of Oasis

The British Rockers Confirm the Release Date of Their Seventh Album

Jun 28, 2008

Oasis in concert, rock-your-ears.blogspot.com

It has now been fourteen years since Oasis helped to change the face of rock n' roll. Within that span of time, the band has undergone tremendous alterations.

1994 was an interesting year for music. Grunge was dead (symbolized by the passing of Kurt Cobain) and the industry was in dire need of a new, invigorated identity. As time marched on, the North American stranglehold on the industry began to relinquish its constrictive grip. The reason being was that North America no longer had anything valid to offer (which could take the world by storm). As a result of the newly defunct American musical establishment, British music sneaked its way back into the hearts of millions and reasserted itself as the cornerstone of all things important to music. Bands such as Blur, Elastica, Pulp, Radiohead, Suede and, of course, Oasis became the dominant mode of musicality.

Oasis Fuels the Britpop Movement

In September 1994, Oasis released their first record entitled ‘Definitely Maybe’ to the general public and within a few months the album (at the time) became the highest selling debut album in the U.K. (even surpassing The Beatles).

Overnight, the British music industry skyrocketed to unimaginable heights and accomplished something that may have been one of the most difficult things to achieve; it broke into the American music market.

It would soon come to be known as the ‘second invasion’ by British rock n’ roll. But rather then it being the likes of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, it was now Oasis and Blur. The industry was back on its feet thanks to what is now commonly referred to as ‘The Britpop’ movement.

Oasis Continues on After Britpop

It has now been fourteen years since Britpop emerged, conquered and eventually fizzled out (as most fads/movements do). Since then, many important bands from the era have disbursed or have become parodies of their very own success.

Though perhaps not as popular anymore outside of the U.K., Oasis continues to live on and, to this day, remain well respected and admired within their native country of England. As well, the band still has a relatively strong and solid cult following here in North America.

Oasis New Album ‘Not For Girls’

With that being said, Oasis continues to release new material on a regular basis (but perhaps not to the fanfare and media coverage that once existed during the mid 90s). Just recently it was announced that on October 6, 2008, Oasis will release their seventh studio album entitled ‘Dig Out Your Soul’ and that the record’s first single ‘The Shock of Lightning’ will be unveiled a week prior on September 29, 2008.

For most people only accustomed to the radio friendly songs of Oasis like ‘Supersonic’, ‘Live Forever’, ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’, the record will be a serious departure away from the mainstream accessibility that fuelled those hits. According to Noel Gallagher (lead guitarist, writer and occasional vocalist of the Brit Rockers) in an interview with talkSPORT: “Some of the music will be psychedelic and trancy.” Noel has also noted that the band has been incorporating many new sounds into the recording process and as a result the album is going to be ‘colossal’, ‘rockin’ and ‘not for girls’.

Oasis and Songwriting

As for the writing process, many things have changed as well. In the early days of Oasis, Noel would be the sole contributor to the song writing practice. As time has moved on, the rest of the band (leader singer Liam Gallagher, bassist Andy Bell and rhythm guitarist Gem Archer) have all begun to contribute material which has added a very diverse element to the band’s sound but yet still continues to remain true to the band’s heart and soul. In an interview with NME.com, Noel states (in reference to the new album): “We all write separately, but for some reason all the songs sound like they’ve got a common thread. We’ve been focusing more around the grooves this time”.

As a result of this practice, the band willingly refrains themselves from being classified into any one particular sound or category and thus are free to explore different elements of their creativity (if one were to listen to numerous Oasis albums, it is clear that they have gone through many transitional periods-some better then others).

According to Noel: “Don’t Believe the Truth (Oasis’ sixth studio album) was a very British, retro, 60s sounding album…(for this album) I wanted to write music that had a groove; not songs that followed the traditional pattern of verse, chorus and middle eight. I wanted a sound that was more hypnotic: more driving. Songs that would draw you in, in a different way. Songs that you would maybe have to connect to-to feel” (Oasisinet.com).

Oasis may not be as recognizable anymore to music listeners around the world but the band still knows how to produce quality music no matter how different it may sound. With that in mind, the new Oasis album should deliver on all of its expectations.

The copyright of the article The Return of Oasis in Rock Music is owned by Michael Peters. Permission to republish The Return of Oasis in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.