Do you agree with this Noel Gallagher comment?

[The Curmudgeon]

Even though I was never an Oasis fan, back in my NME buying days (when you could, y'know, actually buy it) if there was a Noel Gallagher interview it was the first thing I would turn to. Still do now. He's funny, savage, insightful and talks about the bands and music he likes with such love it's hard not to get into it as well.

But anyway, this comment stood out for me as I read it today. He was talking about the state of current chart music and the fact guitar bands are nowhere to be seen.

Couple of notes: this was from a few years ago when "American Idiot" was everywhere, and also that this is an American interview. Here we go;

Music has changed quite a bit since Oasis. What do you think of the more popular trends of today?

Well, I think that technology—for all the great things that internet and all those clever people in your country did with computers and all that—it kind of really rang the bell on death in the music industry.

When was the last great band to appear from either of our countries? A truly great band? Don't mention Oasis—that's a given. I'm struggling to think of one great band that will come out of the digital age. It's all about personality and celebrity now. The biggest stars in the world are all singular people like Rihanna and Lady Gaga, fucking all that mob.

I wouldn't say its necessarily an American thing—the dubstep thing came from your country. Now, it's been said before, and you've said this yourself a few years ago, that guitar music would never die. Is that still true?

I don't think it will ever die. I base all my thoughts on record sales and charts. There are great bands playing in pubs—they're playing somewhere—but who gives a fuck about those? Guitar music as a force for being the biggest shit in the world is fucking over for now, you know what I mean? In the mid '90s there was Oasis, Nirvana, fucking you name it. Radiohead are still going, but you know what I mean. My battleground is the charts, and guitar music at the top of the charts is virtually nonexistent unless you fucking count Green Day, which nobody should.

Why put so much stake in the charts?

Because that's what counts. Popular culture is what counts. Anything else is just—who wants to be a cult band? Fuck that. You know what I mean? There are a thousand great records written a day that nobody owns. I still think bands should aim to be the Beatles, not fucking, I don't know, Pavement.


So do you agree with that? That all bands should try and be like U2 (who Noel adores). I'm a fan of loads of bands that don't even register on the chart side of things, but that doesn't make them sound any less vital to me. If a band can make a living, make the music they want and get a devoted fan base, isn't that what music should be? Yeah, it'd be nice to have the 90's back, when bands like Blur and Oasis and Supergrass were riding high in the charts, but just because the New Pornographers aren't beating Rihanna to number one any time soon doesn't make me love them any less.

Look at Kings of Leon. Now that's a band who I truly believe altered their sound to appeal to a bigger fan base. You listen to their earlier songs and their newer songs and it's like two different bands (both of which I never cared for). And what happened? Yeah, they hit number one in both singles and albums (a rare accomplishment for a rock band these days), but the music is garbage and they almost split up after walking off stage, in-fights etc.

So SHOULD bands try and be as big as they possibly can? Is the goal to be a stadium monster?

[trashcanman]

One word response Noel: Muse.
I'll let Frank Turner elaborate further.

"Somebody told me that music with guitars
Was going out of fashion, and I had to laugh.
This shit wasn't fashionable back when I fell in love,
So if the hipsters move on why should I give a fuck?"

[The Curmudgeon]

Well, in his defence he also says that there have been no big guitar bands coming from the UK in the last 10 years.

"Well you only have to look at the charts, what happened at the end of the '90s, all those bands used to be in the Top Ten, like us, Manic Street Preachers, Pulp, The Verve, Suede and Blur, and I think bands like that have been marginalised and side-lined," he replied. "There's X Factor and all that kind of thing, can you name me the last great band that came out of this country? There's not really been any great bands in the last 10 years. Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian, that's ten years ago now and shame on those two bands for a start because they didn't inspire anybody else."

And in a way, Muse could be bundled in with Monkeys and Kasabian. Big selling stadium band for sure, but their debut "Showbiz" record came out 17 years ago.

This actually wasn't the question I was asking in the original thread, by the way, but regardless I do actually agree with Noel that there's been no cross-over mainstream guitar bands in the last 10 or so years. When you think of songs like, say, "Mr Brightside" by the Killers, "Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand or "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" by the Arctic Monkeys, songs that EVERYONE knows, songs you could play at a rock club or a fucking wedding and would still get a reaction.. there's just nothing. Oasis are one of those bands that everyone knows, and their back catalogue is pretty much ingrained on the consciousness of most of the UK. And I think that's what he means; there's no bands like that anymore. The charts are just wastelands of dance, hip-hop and pop, whereas before it genuinely was Oasis etc that were the stars, now guitar bands barely make a dent. There are no new "anthems" that everyone knows.

[trashcanman]

From an American standpoint, Muse is just becoming a thing. Before the last year or so half of their fans here (me included) discovered them from playing Guitar Hero so the fact that they're just getting airplay now is an encouraging sign. The Manics have never been a thing here. But anyways, I just don't care what is on the charts and I never did. Gallagher doesn't want to be an artist, he wants to be a celebrity. I just care about music and it all sounds the same whether or not it's on somebody's fucking chart or legions of drooling idiots are buying it because corporate record labels are paying record stations to play it around the clock and it's all they hear or if it's just some kids rocking out in a garage. Just shut the fuck up and make some good tunes and somebody will always want to her them.