Was Oasis the biggest band in the world?

Kind of the same for me and my best friend, though not so much with Oasis but many other Britpop bands who all cited the Beatles as a major influence. Between us we bought every single Beatle album though for some strange reason it would take me another decade to actually properly listen to their solo records.

Britpop was great as it introduced a lot of teenagers into great 60's bands.

 

they played Madison Square Garden on their last tour, hardly the toilet circuit is it

 

It seems the question of the "Biggest band in the world" is hard to solve because we tend to use very different indicators of what makes a band "Big".

That being said, I don't think tour gross and tour attendance are that great of an indicator for that.

Take the list on wikipedia for instance:

List of highest-grossing concert tours - Wikipedia

Would anyone actually pretend that Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones were the biggest rock acts in the 90? Would anyone suggest that they were VASTLY more important than Nirvana because Nirvana doesn't even crack the top 12? Or that Roger Waters has been the biggest solo act in the world since 2010?

The list makes it obvious that high-grossing tours are from artists riding on past success, and probably more importantly, selling tickets to a demographic that is older, richer, and maybe doesn't consume that much music, BUT are willing to pay a couple hundred dollars to "experience" a band they liked when they were young and see them live now that they can.

Also, beyond album sales, it's hard to quantify media exposure, but that is an indicator that should count too. For instance, for something purely anectodal, I clearly remember in the mid 90's, on national french-speaking TV, advertisment for both Morning Glory and Be Here Now. I don't recall many international acts getting this kind of exposure back then.

Anyway, even though it's debattable, I don't think we can dismiss out of hand the idea that Oasis was the biggest ROCK band, or at least top 3 or 5, for a while in the 90s.

 

I never heard any of those, so I'll take your word for it and stick with Oasis .

 

He said Spice Girls, huh huh, huh huh.

 

I never got Oasis. I only ever bought one album and i think i only played it once. So many people tell how great they were but they left me cold

 

I don't hear their music being played here in the UK much at all these days.

 

I understand that they're huge in the Netherlands.

 

Maybe they will live forever in the Netherlands.

 

I haven't heard them since high school 20 years ago... I don't remember them being all that popular over here to begin with.

 

They played The Venue (a nightclub in New Cross, southeast London), in 1994. I was there and didn't pay much attention too them. There wasn't a big fuss over them either.

I just looked it up, and their first album came out in August, but they were at the Venue in New Cross in May. Here, you'll see >> Venue New Cross on Twitter

You only had to pay £5 to get in (just looked that up on the inflation calculator. That would be £9.13 in todays money - still not too bad to get into a nightclub for the night). Anyway, it was just like any other regular night at that club. It wasn't a big deal. That was before all the hype from the press and what not.

 

As Liam once said, 'just because you sell lots of records dosn't mean their any good, just listen to Phil Collins'! At least he's honest not modest!
I think their popularity started to fade after the mediocre fourth album after peaking with Be Here Now!

 

Butthurt from calling out your ignorance much, mate?

Was Oasis the biggest band in the world?

 

I went to Lollapalooza to see Liam today. He played three or four songs, which were really superb, then walked off the stage.

Hard to tell what set him off - he just left. The band played on, expecting him to rejoin them. Then they wrapped the song, walked off as well, and after a few minutes the crew started breaking the stage down.

There was no explanation, and no one seemed to know what happened.

He and the band were incredible - it was a real loss.

 

From Twitter:

Liam Gallagher‏Verified account @liamgallagher 4h4 hours ago
Sorry to the people who turned up for the gig in Chicago lollapalooza had a difficult gig last night which f***ed my voice. I'm gutted LG x

 

not in my corner!

 

Thanks. I do think there's some truth to it - I checked a video I took on my iPhone. His voice was clearer on the video for some reason, and he did sound a bit hoarse during the last song.

But overall he was the most exciting act I saw that day, even if it was only a few songs. The younger crowd really sat up as well, and had that "Wow - who's that?" look on their faces. He has a new audience awaiting him.

 

he revealed recently in a radio interview he has hashimotos, so its his voice

 

I haven't seen anyone get such a kicking since Lady Gaga dared to defile the memory of Saint Bowie by singing some of his songs.

 

Wow, that's a real shame if he's still playing those games.

He didn't look very happy when his solo songs weren't as well received as Oasis numbers, at Glastonbury.

At the very least, he's got to be professional.

 

It se

It does seem there was a real medical reason. But it would have gone better if he or his management had explained it onstage, or if someone in the band had done so. It was a pretty nice crowd there, despite media reports. Only a few were vocal about it.

Personally, I was grateful to have seen those first few songs. The band was on fire.

 

I had never heard of them until I went to the UK in (I think) 1994. I remember I was super excited about the new Nick Cave 'Loverman' single and kept watching MTV Europe in hopes of catching the video again. The video in heaviest rotation was something called 'Shakermaker', which I liked and I did pick up the first few albums. I don't remember them having much presence in the US or anywhere else, as I recall. I always thought that Oasis was one of those very British bands like Blur or SFA or The Jam that never really registered with the rest of the world like they did at home. Just my impression though.

 

I'm still not understanding this debate.

Was Oasis the biggest band in the world?

At one point, yes, they were. They were a ****ing phenomenon for a short time whether we like it or not.

"Shakermaker" wasn't a single in the States, but "Supersonic" got significant play and "Live Forever" was a breakout hit, all over MTV.

Their biggest hits in the U.S. were "Live Forever," "Wonderwall," "Champagne Supernova," "D'You Know What I Mean?" and "Don't Go Away." At that point, the backlash hit really really hard. Few people have mentioned that above, but the backlash right around the time they released "All Around the World" pretty much erased them from U.S. mainstream support. And yet I also remember XRT in Chicago playing the **** out of "Go Let It Out" when it was first released. And then they pretty much dropped out of the American consciousness.

I saw them at the Chicago Theatre in 2000 with Travis opening up. That theatre has a capacity of 3600, so I'd think that's a pretty good indication of their popularity being on the wane. It was mostly British ex-pats at the show, from what I can recall. I went by myself since none of my friends wanted to go.

 

I don't think anyone is saying they didn't do well or didn't have a big moment in the mid 90s. They were almost as much of a phenomenon as The Spice Girls. That was good going.

 

Actually, there's been all sorts of people saying they didn't do well or have a big moment! But thank God that's resolved.