Was Oasis the biggest band in the world?

Hahaha the gift that keeps on giving.

"Were Oasis the biggest band in the world? Impossible! I listened to 5 minutes and that was it!"
"Actually, I was not around then."
"Maybe they were."
"Who knows?"



One thing is for sure. Just like Oasis music, this topic will LIVE FOREVER.

 

On that LIVE FOREVER note, I was on an Oasis mood tonight, so I started gathering a few of my favourite live versions on youtube and after a while, I ended up with a Full On (pun intended) concert through time and space. All the tours are represented here, although two albums are not (HC and DOYS).



Oasis — LIVE FOREVER: A Concert Through Time And Space 1993-2009
1. Swamp Song / Acquiesce — Maine Road, Manchester, 1996
2. Columbia — Knebworth Park, Stevenage, 1996
3. Hello — Earls Court, London, 1995
4. Cigarrettes And Alcohol — Earls Court, London, 1995
5. Slide Away — Glastonbury Festival, 1995
6. Live Forever — Glastonbury Festival, 1994
7. (It's Good) To Be Free — Roskilde Festival, 1995
8. Listen Up — Jones Beach, New York, 1996
9. Supersonic — Rosemont Horizon, Chicago, 1998
10. D'yer Wanna Be A Spaceman / Talk Tonight — Cliffs Pavillion, Southend, 1995
11. Morning Glory (acoustic) — Earls Court, London, 1995
12. The Masterplan — Knebworth Park, Stevenage, 1996
13. My Big Mouth — Knebworth Park, Stevenage, 1996
14. Stay Young — GMEX, Manchester, 1997
15. Don't Go Away — GMEX, Manchester, 1997
16. Go Let It Out — Wembley Stadium, London, 2000
17. Some Might Say — Finsbury Park, London, 2002
18. Turn Up The Sun — Etihad Stadium, Manchester, 2005
19. Half The World Away — Barrowlands, Glasgow, 2001
20. Don't Look Back In Anger —River Plate Stadium, Buenos Aires, 2009
21. Champagne Supernova — Budokan, Tokyo, 1998
22. Rock 'n' Roll Star — BBC Radio 5, London, 1993

Enjoy.

 

If you ever hang around online sites aimed at today's teenagers, the only three rock bands from the 90s I ever see mentioned on them are Nirvana, Radiohead and Oasis.

 

Well I'm glad we've finally settled the debate, it's hard to argue against this.

 

So you were either in prison in the 90s or you are that young person that gives them a bad name.

 

Hilarious. I'm at the point of just laughing at this.

 

NunoBento, the thread had not been active for a few days and you yourself revived it with a post that really could have gone on any Oasis thread on the forum. There is only a handful of posters here who think Oasis were at some point the biggest. There are Oasis fans who think they were and Oasis fans who think they weren't. Of non-Oasis fans or indifferent fans, none of these posters have said they were the biggest.

Until the proper sales figures are posted for 1996 alone in 1996 only, the claim is difficult to get a head around. We agree sales aren't everything but I think it was you or someone else here posted that Oasis' fashion lived on but the problem is Britpop had an overall fashion and it was Britpop's influence, not Oasis' that kept the fashion around.

I understand there are a lot of Beatles fans who like Oasis cause Oasis was infatuated with them. On the other hand, a lot of Beatle fans come here and troll or hate Oasis cause they think they sound like 'dumbed down Beatles'. I know that is frustrating as an Oasis fan but a number of us Oasis fans have already posted we don't agree. I also add that there's a snobbery about continuing to want to feel #1 through a band that may have been the biggest.

This is why on the first page of this thread, the initial posts disagreeing got tons of likes from people that go against the whole concept of trying to suggest your band was the biggest. Trust me. It's not just anti-Oasis bias but anti-'I have to be a fan of the biggest band' bias. Take almost any band and put "biggest" or "greatest" and you will get immediate backlash. Check around the web- there aren't any articles about it.

Do you see why the premise of this thread can be considered a vanity exercise?

 

I'm not an Oasis fan, I think they are pretty poor. I've actually mentioned that in more than one post in this topic.

Oasis are from being the best band of the mid 90's, they were however the biggest for a short period of time.

 

I had to check back to see that we have exchanged posts on here before and you were citing the same for PJ and Oasis. Thank you for reminding me, I apologize and take back my comment that only major Oasis fans were claiming this.

I am open to accepting Oasis being the biggest at some point but I'm just not convinced yet. I am closed to accepting Oasis as the biggest in '95 - it takes more time to be the most popular in the world -Pearl Jam had that time being around for a 5th year with an enormous fanbase at that point and extracurricular activities that were known worldwide. Nobody thinks Oasis took the torch from Nirvana. I have never heard or seen that. Pearl Jam - yes, I think many would agree. But yeah, if you can come up with some more for 1996, you could be right that some of that year they were. That's the year we're covering on the Billboard Alternative thread I'm doing and Oasis is dominating so far in the singles category.

 

lets simplify it. If they ever were, then its that little period between Knebworth (late summer 96) and the Be Here Now tour winding down. That was the come down when that album was full of hot air. Ok computer came out and we all had to stop having fun

 

Yes, it would be that period we should focus on to prove they were the biggest or weren't. Radiohead came along, became the most popular in the world and one of the most critically acclaimed all-time pretty quickly. By mid- 1997 through at least the anticipation for Kid A, it was all Radiohead. Still it's funny how Liam doesn't think they were ever the biggest.

 

No DECENT comment!

 

William, I agree that my post could have been to another Oasis thread, but this is the current thread on SHF about Oasis, so it went here. There was also the Silverchair = Oasis comparison, which is delicious and I just had to flag it.

Now, to put things in perspective.

I've already repeated the same post over and over on this very thread:

So, what me and the big Oasis fans are saying here is that they were the best in the world except America. Nobody is saying that the were the biggest there. It's arguable to discuss how big they were there (still laughing at the Silverchair reference), but they were never the biggest. If not being the biggest in America and being the biggest almost everywhere else still qualifies you for the biggest band in the world, that's a different discussion. It's up for an indefinite discussion, really.

But to deny how big they were (again, bar America) and their influence is ridiculous to the point of (sometimes) being funny.

 

See @WilliamWes ? @clarkydaz hit the nail on the head too.

 

Yes, that's a given as no one even on this thread ever thought they were the biggest in the U.S.

Well we have Oasis haters so they will deny everything. As an Oasis fan, there has been criticism from the get-go with the band being considered Beatle copycats and that hasn't changed 25 years later as evidenced in the post I posted on the Nirvana/Oasis thread about the 'Yesterday' movie claiming if the Beatles didn't exist then Oasis didn't. I never really cared but obviously many do - look how trashed Greta Van Fleet is or Led Zeppelin. People don't want to let a band who supposedly "rips people off" (especially the Beatles on this forum) sit on the highest horse.

Getting past that, your typical music fan won't deny their skill or influence. But continuing to claim "I'm a fan of a band who was the biggest" sounds like an ego trip along the lines of the brothers claiming all they've claimed. Like I said, there is some kind of credibility Oasis fans want or need due to some kind of void. Maybe Oasis fans don't want the band to be forgotten since they won't reunite. Who knows. So you say you've repeated this over and over and I agree you are, and I'm wondering why do you want or need such a claim to be true?

Of course repeating it over and over would be better if you brought new evidence to the table each time. I'm totally willing to accept it but as an Oasis fan, I don't feel the need to make sure everyone knows they were the biggest. I love the Beatles, I guess they were the biggest too but I didn't need them to or need to claim they were to enjoy my fandom. You seem like a good person- you don't seem egotistical or anything so I wonder why continue to claim? Maybe you have a competitive nature, maybe you miss Oasis, maybe you want to feel like you have something special with this band. I don't know and I don't want to assume so I'm asking.

 

Needs more Verve

 

I think The Verve need a break after that other thread...they've been bashed enough...

Richards and Jagger have given up rights to "Bittersweet Symphony"

 

Oh man I haven’t looked at that thread since page one! Should I be scared to? Haha! The Verve is a top class band, I don’t care what anyone says. Long Live RPA

 

So that’s sorted then: Oasis were definitely the biggest band in the world for a period in the 1990s.

I’m glad we got that one cleared up. And only 76 pages. Not bad.

 

I think you're overthinking this. The topic was not about bragging rights. It was an almost idle thought about whether Oasis, for a fleeting moment in time, might have been the biggest rock band in the world. There's been plenty of evidence proferred.

The problem is that terms such as "rock band", "world", "biggest", "mid-90s" etc are ignored or have to be defined over and over...and over.

 

I don't need this claim to be true.
I'm repeating the post over and over again, because we have reached this conclusion many pages ago and after a few pages we get to the same conclusion again and still, the thread seems to go around in circles, because every few weeks someone will make another "Oasis are ****" post.

See above.

I am indeed a fan and I do miss Oasis, though. Can't deny that.


P.S.: Oh and believe me, there is absolutely no void to fill from being an Oasis fan. I love the boys to a point that's hard to grasp in a few words. Let's just say that the boys saved me many times over my life, especially when I was 15 and felt lost in the world. Then I heard Definetely Maybe and everything made sense. There was a purpose. A Masterplan, if you will

 

lol. I was overseas.

 

By the way, it cracks me up how, in VH1, MTV or whatever "Behind The Music" type documentaries, there's always "they were arguably the biggest band in the world" at some point. On so many of these documentaries. Everyone from Red Hot Chili Peppers to U2, to Fleetwood Mac, Oasis, Guns n' Roses, etc have been called that. I always wait for that moment and I'm hardly ever disappointed . I never get tired of it.

 

It's amazing how quickly Liam's voice detoriorated. Not caring for it, not singing in his range maybe? (I have no idea which key is most comfortable for him), alcohol, sleepless nights, and the much dreaded, for singers, cocaine took their toll pretty fast. It's weird, because I heard him sound, alternatively, very raspy and NOT raspy but thinner and more nasal or something. Wasn't his voice already starting to detoriate around the Knebworth shows in 96? Was it still in good shape then?

 

such a shame about liam's voice. i can't think of any other singer who deteriorated so quickly.