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Why America Needs Oasis

Following their mega-successful debut double shot of 1994’s Definitely Maybe and 1995’s (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, Oasis were poised to rule the rock game. But 1997’s underwhelming Be Here Now put an end to that.

Ever since, the band has been stuck in rock’n’roll Triple-A. Not quite major leaguers on par with Coldplay, the Chili Peppers, or Radiohead, but able to fill arenas nonetheless. And even though the new Dig Out Your Soul is a welcome return to the supersonic guitars and straightforward songwriting of those early albums, Oasis’s cultural moment has passed. The brothers Gallagher won’t be getting called back to the bigs anytime soon.

But for sheer entertainment value, they deserve better. It doesn’t matter that Noel has no longer got a multiplatinum platform, he still talks like everyone’s listening, whether that means beefing with Jay-Z or ragging on Radiohead.

I love it.

And Liam is no quote slouch either. Take, for example, the following Wildean zinger, leveled at the fool who tackled Noel in Toronto: “If it were up to me, I’d have cut his dick off and made him eat it.” Not exactly something Chris Martin would say. Come to think of it, what is something Chris Martin would say? Only Gwyneth knows for sure.

And that’s why we need Oasis. Slagging people in the press, public intra-band squabbling, releasing albums of tunefully kickass guitar rock, speaking in a British accent — this is what rock stars are supposed to do! Now, it just so happens that rock stars are a little like dinosaurs these days, but guess what? Dinosaurs are awesome.