#53 "Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis

You know... I was never on the Oasis bandwagon. When they blew up in the 1990's, I just never really got it. Maybe it was the UNBELIEVABLY arrogant posturing of singer Liam Gallagher. Maybe it was the obsession with The Beatles. (Is Oasis excited to be positioned right next to the Fab Four on this list?). Maybe it was the whiny British thing... the ever-battling brothers... who knows? But to this day, whenever I see two of their albums regularly appearing on "Best Albums of All Time" lists all over town, I kind of scratch my head.

I'm not saying that Oasis wasn't talented. I thought Liam had a great voice... a little nasally and smug sounding, but pretty damn good too. I thought they had some good tunes (be sure to pronounce this "choons" like a real Brit) as well. I guess just overall I thought they weren't breaking any new ground though. They were just a pretty good rock band... nothing more.

"Don't Look Back In Anger" is unique in the Oasis catalogue in that it's sung by Noel Gallagher, Liam's brother and chief songwriter for the band. Noel may not have as dynamic a voice as his little brother, but for my money he's pretty good. I actually saw an Oasis concert where Liam was sick and Noel led the whole show. He was great and made me wonder why, after all the stories of him fighting with his brother, didn't he just do Oasis by himself. His voice in "Don't Look Back..." has a solid range throughout. From the mellower parts in "So I start a revolution from my bed" to the rising finale of "Cause you ain't ever gonna burn my heart out," Noel shows a lot of vocal ability. It's really great in the end and quite a song to hear live.

"Don't Look Back in Anger" is from the album "(What's the Story) Morning Glory." To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the page.