Gallagher Turned Down Ashes Tickets

Noel Gallagher turned down the opportunity to watch the English cricket team in action in Australia last week (ends17DEC06), because he was convinced his countrymen would lose.

The Oasis star was Down Under to promote greatest hits LP Stop The Clocks and was offered tickets to watch the third Ashes test match in Perth.

But he says, "I couldn't be bothered hanging around to watch them get beaten again." England are currently trailing three-nil in the five-match series.

Source: www.contactmusic.com

Gallagher Defends Reality Check

Oasis star Noel Gallagher insists on carrying out mundane tasks everyday because doing his chores keeps him down to earth.

The Wonderwall rocker refuses to hire staff to run his life for him, and insists other celebrities should do the same, because it reminds him that most people are in a worse situation than himself.

He says, "I think doing your own shopping is pretty good therapy. "I know all the ladies who work the checkout in the supermarket on my high street and it kind of reminds you that life is pretty s**t for some people.

"It kind of brings you back down to earth a little bit, if one was ever getting ideas above your station."

Source: www.contactmusic.com

Q&A With Noel Gallagher

Always quotable, Oasis singer/guitarist Noel Gallagher played a rare solo show in Brisbane last night. Patrick Lion heard the swear jar rattle 17 times in the space of just 14 questions backstage at the Tivoli Theatre.

Q: This is a solo tour to promote Stop The Clocks, your new 'best of' album. What is it like touring by yourself, without the band and particularly your brother Liam?

A: It's a lot calmer and lot more peaceful. Oasis are a big f--king band and there's a lot more people involved with it. There's only six of us on the road here. There's usually about 50-odd so in that respect it's a lot calmer. I've never actually toured without Liam. This is the first time I'm doing it. It's different. Liam would be doing his usual whingeing his f--ken arse off. It would be a pain in the arse if he was here. He doesn't do interviews because no one wants to talk to him anyway. He doesn't like acoustic. In his words: `He's in a f--ken rock `n' roll band'.

Q: What sort of show can we expect tonight?

A: We're doing a cover of The Beatles' Strawberry Fields Forever but that won't be a surprise to anyone who has a computer because they no doubt f--ken heard it on the internet. I don't see these sort of shows as nostalgic. The reason I'm doing these gigs is they wanted me to come all the way over here and do the promotion. That's like being on tour without the good bits. My manager said, ``well, what's the good bits?''. I said, ``doing some gigs'' and he said we'd do that then. I'm really enjoying it and being here and the gigs have been great. It's just nice to get out of England. It's just freezing f--ken cold.

Q: You're a big Beatles fan. What do you think of Love, their new remix album done by Sir George Martin and his son Giles?

A: It's f--ken ridiculous. I don't like it and it annoys the shit out of me. I hate everything about it: the cover, the sleeve notes, the way the tunes are mixed and sound. Why would you do that? God forbid that ever happens with our music, although we would be powerless to stop it.

Q: Why didn't you want Stop The Clocks to be released?

A: It wouldn't have been my choice to put it out but I am powerless to stop it (due to their contract with Sony BMG). If we were to disown it, we wouldn't have been involved in the artwork and seeing as we're only going to do one best of we thought it was better to be involved. There's 11 hits not on this one. I'm sure that Sony will be putting together a singles album in the near future. I would if I was them. It would sell. I'm powerless to stop it. There's nothing I can do about that.

Q: You put the track listing together. Would it have been different had Liam done it?

A: You'd have to talk to Liam but he would probably tell you some f--ken crap about it being completely different to what I came up with. It would have been the same. If he wanted to, he would have got involved.

Q: Most of the songs are from the first three years in the mid 1990s. Has Oasis got another big album left in the can?

A: If he could tell you that, young man, I wouldn't be in the f--ken music business, I'd be in the gambling business and I'd make a f--ken fortune.

Q: Apart from them all, what was the best song you've written?

A: It's not for me to say what my best song is but I will tell you what my most important song was. Live Forever because it announced us to the world. Before that we were a very British phenomenon and then after that it kind of exploded. I dare say, that was the first song you heard by Oasis.

Q: You've spoken a lot over the years about who is the biggest band in the world. Who is right now and is that title still important?

A: I think U2 has consistently been in the biggest band in the world over the past 20 years. Red Hot Chili Peppers. Green Day this year, too. It was only important before we were the biggest band in the world (in the mid 90s) because that was something we set out to achieve. As preposterous as that sounded when we were all on the dole in Manchester, and as mad as people thought I was, we got there in the end, albeit briefly for about six months. I've got to say it was a lot of f--ken hard work to get there, to be honest. It's not something I think about now.

Q: Is it harder to hold the title, then?

A: So it would seem (smirks).

Q: Oasis and Brisbane have a bit of a history. In 1998, there was the biffo on the plane flight when Liam was arrested. Then you came back for Livid 2002 just 100 metres around the corner from here and blitzed it. Did you feel you had point to prove after the disappointment, on and off the stage, of 1998?

A: In a way, yes. That Australian tour in 1998 was an aberration. We weren't in the right place mentally. We were all high and taking a lot of f--king drugs at the time. We George Best'd it really. We kind of did have a point to prove but not that that made us play any better because we are a great f--ken band anyway. We wouldn't be going so long if we weren't. There's not been many gigs like that 1998 one.

Q: Robbie Williams is in town, staying at the same hotel as you. Any chance of a reconciliation beer after the gig to smooth over your past differences?

A: Unfortunately he is an alcoholic and doesn't drink. A mineral water? I wouldn't have thought so. There is a bit of history there. I don't like his music. No (I won't be going to the concert and) I shall be flying out tomorrow and going to Sydney.

Q: How hard has it been watching the Ashes cricket series?

A: I find it incredible England lost that last Test in Adelaide. How did they stuff that up? If Australia win the toss in Perth, then it is all over. To be honest I'm not a massive cricket fan, and I find it hard to get excited about a contest over a trophy which is that big (small gesture with fingers). That's just stupid. I'm disappointed for the team because finally we have decent cricketers in Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff. Australia are the best cricket team in the world so there is no shame in losing to them.

Q: You had a swipe at our Socceroos a while ago, suggesting they stop trying to win the World Cup because it was pointless? England didn't go to well and neither did Manchester City on the weekend.

A: Don't get me wrong. Don't forget England are f--ken dreadful, too. The Socceroos as a name is f--ken ridiculous. It's like a cartoon for kids. It's just ridiculous. And as for Manchester City, that was lame. All my sporting allegiances are shite. It's a good job I'm brilliant at music otherwise I'd be a miserable old bastard.

Q: But we see the soccer World Cup as the last frontier in world sport to conquer?

A: (Leans back into couch, belly laughing) Win the World Cup? F--king hell. You've got more f--king chance of having a champion skier. F--king hell.

Source: www.news.com.au

How Awesome Is He? Ask The Man Himself

Noel Gallagher is his own worst critic and biggest fan, he tells Bernard Zuel.

There is not a lot of Noel Gallagher under that mop of Beatles-gone-shaggy hair which, since Gallagher and his brother, Liam, arrived in the early 1990s with their band Oasis, has been the do of choice for a generation of British rockers.

Slimly built, of barely average height and no fan of the gym, he is not made for any kind of fighting, though he is famous for rucking with his brother and inciting all kinds of passion and aggression in friends and foe alike.

You could say Noel Gallagher is all mouth and trousers - faded black ones tonight in Melbourne, worn with a dark brown pinstriped jacket. You could add he's a walking opinion who shovelled too much Colombian up his nose for a few years, a mouthy git and an egomaniac whose best years were a decade ago. He'd almost certainly agree.

"All the bad things that have been written about me, I've thought worse of myself; all the great things that have been written about me, I've thought better than them," Gallagher says equably, rocking back and forth on his tilted chair with the relaxed air of the lord of the manor.
"I'm my own worst critic and my own biggest fan."

He laughs, his eyes lighting up with amusement under the shag. "I seriously am a big fan of myself."

And there you have the conundrum of Noel Gallagher. He is a man who is verging on the insufferable but simultaneously charming and amusing. A man whose band has been bombastic and dull very often but whose best moments have always been the small and personal. A man whose Australian tours with that band have been patchy at best but who later on the day of our interview plays a wholly captivating solo set, at the renovated church home to the Live at the Chapel series, backed only by a guitarist and a drummer playing snare and bells.

"On the one hand, I don't actually think as a person, if you were to take away my songwriting, I am anything special. But luckily for me, I'm a f---ing awesome songwriter. And," Gallagher smiles broadly, daring you to take offence, "that makes me more f---ing special than [other modern songwriters], all right?"

Well, you are mouthier than the rest, I can't help but add.

"I guess, I guess. I certainly don't censor myself but I know for a fact that most of my peers, before you get to interview them, you are handed a list of what you can and can't ask. Ask me anything, anything, I've got an opinion on most things.

"However ill-informed my opinion is," he chuckles, "at least I've got one."

You couldn't ask for a better example of this truth than the recent brouhaha over Gallagher's comments to a London tabloid about Iraq, which incensed all the usual suspects. Essentially he said the war was messier for the Iraqis than the soldiers who had signed up for battle and that's where his sympathies lay.

"If you've got a problem with flying bullets, here's the thing - and call me old-fashioned - don't join the f---ing army. The way I see it, if f---ing idiots didn't join the army, there would be no war because there would be no soldiers, hence the world being a better place."

He pauses and says, his thick Mancunian accent adding an extra layer of self-mockery and self-amusement: "There, my Nobel Peace Prize is on its f---ing way, I think."

Gallagher's comments echo one he made a few years ago, originally directed at Radiohead (the more intellectual, esoteric flipside of British rock in the '90s to Gallagher's Oasis) but applicable to many others who say they hate the attention their careers give them. It boiled down to this for Gallagher: if you don't want to be famous, if you don't want the attention, don't join a rock band and sell records.

He tells a story about being in the supermarket once "when I was doing the shopping with the missus" and he knocked back a request to have a photo taken but the fan persisted, sneaking shots from the next aisle. There were raised voices among the juice bottles and cleaning products and, when Gallagher left, the store's security staff insisted on accompanying him out - not to punish him but to protect the by now seriously embarrassed musician from the stalker fan and his angry mates. It's a small price to pay, he reckons.

The most salient point in that tale, though, is that he does the shopping. Recently he suggested the likes of Elton John and Robbie Williams had lost touch with reality precisely because they never did things like buying groceries.

"He [Elton John] got really upset when I said that but I'm just assuming that a man who wears Versace underpants, spends a hundred grand a year on flowers, doesn't do his own shopping," Gallagher says. "I could be wrong. But I bet he couldn't tell you how much a pint of milk is."

Can Gallagher?

"Well they don't do pints any more, they do litres, but it's 79 pence a litre."

He goes on: "I think doing your own shopping is pretty good therapy. I know all the ladies who work the checkout in the supermarket on my high street and it kind of reminds you that life is pretty shit for some people. It kind of brings you back down to earth a little bit, if one was ever getting ideas above your station."

Did he ever get ideas above his station? Get a bit carried away for a while when the money and adulation rolled in? "Yeah, but you are supposed to get ideas above your station, you are a f---ing rock star, for crying out loud. Of course I did."

Noel Gallagher, rock star, laughs and shakes his shaggy hair. We are amused.

Source: www.smh.com.au

MTV Australia To Air Melbourne Concert

Hearing an acoustic, solo Noel Gallagher perform his band's magnum opus, Wonderwall, it was hard not to wish he'd sung it in the first place. Of course, it was his brother Liam - the surly one - who belted the Cool Britannia anthem out in his usual unmeasured style on the the 1995 Oasis release (What's The Story) Morning Glory?. (It was great, of course. Liam Gallagher has never been one of England's most technically proficient vocalists, but he is one of the most compelling.)

In the hands of its writer Noel - the curmudgeonly one - the song might not have had the energetic angst of the record, but it had light, shade and nuance and it was apparent the song actually meant something to its composer.

The feeling was typical of Noel Gallagher's performance during an intimate gig in Melbourne recorded for MTV's Live At The Chapel series on Monday night. The gig was held before Gallagher's sold-out show at Enmore Theatre in Newtown on Wednesday night.

Accompanied by Oasis guitarist Gem Archer and percussionist Terry Kirkbridge, Gallagher performed a handful of Oasis hits as well as a whole lot of B sides with which only fans, or those in possession of the recently released Oasis best of, Stop The Clocks, might be familiar.

Introducing the Kinks-esque 2005 British hit The Importance Of Being Idle, Gallagher called it the "last great song I wrote" with a wistfulness that provided a deliciously voyeuristic insight into the psyche of the loudmouth as artiste.

No such intro for Talk Tonight, the gorgeous B side of the hit Some Might Say. But Gallagher's delicate (yes, delicate) performance of a song containing the lyrics "I wanna talk tonight ... 'bout how you saved my life" left a lingering sense of his vulnerability and not just a whiff of boyish charm.

Gallagher hadn't gone completely soft though. A few choice digs at his favourite sources of derision, brother Liam and Robbie Williams, kept his motormouth rep well intact. His taped performance, Noel Gallagher At Vodafone Live At The Chapel, will screen on MTV December 26.

Source: Sun Herald

A Video From The Noel And Gem Perth Gig

Dedicated Fans Ruined Gallagher's Fame

Oasis star Noel Gallagher's initial rock star success was soured by the runaways who used to congregate outside his London home.

The rocker faced gangs of kids every time he left home and it quickly stopped being fun when worried parents stared showing up, looking for missing sons and daughters.

He explains, "I used to have, without fail, 100 kids outside my house 24 hours a day. "The City came and actually put a bench outside my gate so these kids could f**king sit and stare. The neighbours got p**sed off about it.

"I'd have kids' parents turn up on my doorstep saying that their daughter had run away to London to find Oasis and had I seen her? I was like, 'Yes, go right on in, I've got her under the f**king stairs.'"

Source: www.contactmusic.com

Scans From Japanese Magazine Smart

Click into each picture to make them bigger...

Thanks To Gen

Gallagher Upset By Bandmates' Crystal Meth Use

Noel Gallagher has come clean about his reasons for walking out on Oasis during a 1990s US tour - his bandmates were all high on crystal amphetamines.

The guitarist's departure hit the headlines, prompting many to believe the band was on the verge of splitting up.

Gallagher insists he wasn't upset that his bandmates were drugged up before an important Los Angeles show; he took objection to their drug of choice.

He says, "The reason why I left is because crystal meth is like cheap speed, and I was into far more exotic drugs at that point. "I was quite upset my band members had become punks when I was busy reaching for the stars."

Source: www.contactmusic.com

Gallagher Is His Own Biggest Fan

Rocker Noel Gallagher is eternally grateful for his songwriting ability, because he's "not anything special" without the skill.

The Wonderwall rocker believes if it wasn't for his musical talents he would just be a normal guy. He explains, "On the one hand, I don't actually think as a person, if you were to take away my songwriting, I am anything special.

"But luckily for me, I'm a f**king awesome songwriter. And that makes me more f**king special than (other modern songwriters), all right?"

But Gallagher also admits criticism upsets him - but luckily he's such "a big fan of himself" it doesn't matter. He says, "All the bad things that have been written about me, I've thought worse of myself; all the great things that have been written about me, I've thought better than them. "I'm my own worst critic and my own biggest fan."

Source: www.contactmusic.com

A Video From The Noel And Gem Sydney Gig

Thanks To aReminder

Gallagher: 'Better To Speak Out Than Stay Silent'

British rocker Noel Gallagher has defended his outspoken views on life - and believes its better for celebrities to speak out than stay silent.

The Wonderwall rocker is notorious for his opinionated rants, and his recent targets have included Sir Elton John, The Beatles, Scissor Sisters and Green Day.

But Gallagher insists not censoring yourself is much better than being a "no comment" run-of-the-mill celebrity. He says, "I certainly don't censor myself but I know for a fact that most of my peers, before you get to interview them, you are handed a list of what you can and can't ask.

Ask me anything, anything, I've got an opinion on most things. "However ill-informed my opinion is, at least I've got one."

Source: www.contactmusic.com

Gallagher Attacks Green Day For Ripping Off Wonderwall:

Oasis star Noel Gallagher has accused punk trio Green Day of "ripping off" his Wonderwall anthem for their hit Boulevard Of Broken Dreams.

The British guitarist has been a longtime outspoken critic of the American Idiot hitmakers, but admits he was fuming the first time he heard their 2005 hit.

Gallagher explains, "If you listen, you'll find it is exactly the same arrangement as Wonderwall. "They should have the decency to wait until I am dead (before stealing my songs).

I, at least, pay the people I steal from that courtesy." And the rocker's rant continues: "They consider themselves to be - and I quote - 'a kick-ass rock 'n' roll band'. They could not be less kick-ass if they tried."

Source: www.contactmusic.com

Gallagher Celebrates Nine Drug Free Years

Oasis rocker Noel Gallagher is planning to celebrate his ninth anniversary as a drug-free man in the new year (07).

The Lyla hitmaker quit hard drugs in 1998, but refuses to disclose what aids he has used to keep him clean. He says of his aids, "I am sticking to... I won't tell you what I stick to."

Source: www.contactmusic.com

Noel On Playing In A Fan's House For Jo Whiley's Live Lounge Tour

NME: So you're playing a gig at a fan's house.
Noel: "I'm in Stockport at his house with all his mates and all their mams and dads and various neighbours. Plus a film crew and all that."

What's it like?
"On a scale of one-to-10 in weirdness, it's approaching 11."

Apparently he's got new furniture in to impress you.
"I've got to say it does look like it's just been f***ing bought yesterday. Looks like changing rooms have been in (laughs)."

So no-one's fainted yet?
"No, but they've got about 10 grands worth of food in! More cakes and biscuits than I've ever seen in my entire life."

What is the fan, Ben Hayes, like?
"The kid's a massive Oasis fan. He knows more about it than I do, you know?"

What's he been saying to you?
"We've just been talking about gigs and stuff. But listen, man, I've gotta go there's a man pointing at us..."

Source: NME Magazine

Oasis Ready To Start New Album

The band admit they're ready to record, as Noel Gallagher plays the strangest gig yet on his acoustic tour

Noel Gallagher has declared that Oasis are ready to start on a new album, but says he'll take his time. The guitarist - who contributed new song 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down' to the band's road movie of the same name - admitted he has lots of material ready for a follow-up.

"We had 11 songs left after the last album ['Don't Believe The Truth']. We've got seven that are good and four that are great, so we could crack on tomorrow, but the tour finished in March, which doesn't seem that long ago. It's not long enough away from Liam!"

Despite his break from the band, Noel has kept busy with acoustic sessions, including an impromptu performance last week (December 1) in a fan's house in Stockport for Jo Whiley's Radio 1 show.

Along with his smallest ever gig - which saw him play 'Half The World Away', 'The Importance Of Being Idle' and Don't Look Back In Anger' in Ben Hayes' front room - he also played an acoustic show for Mencap at London's Union Chapel (November 26) and dates in Manchester, Europe, America and Australia.

"It's been great," declared Noel. "The Mencap gig was mega. I really, really enjoyed it. It's good to play the songs we never normally play, like 'Half The World Away' and 'Cast No Shadow', because it's difficult with Liam - you can't cover Liam.

He's like Johnny Rotten. He's one of those singers you fail miserably trying to cover, so I've just stripped some of the songs down and re-arranged them. It's been great, I've really enjoyed it, man. It might give Liam a kind of nudge next time we do a gig, to say like, 'Look, come on, man - let's forget 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' for a bit. Let's do some of these B-sides'."

Noel also said that Oasis' only commitment for 2007, so far, was to pick up a Brit Award recognising Oasis' career so far. "We're doing this thing for the Brits in February," he said. "That's the only thing that's decided. What award are we winning? It's the greatest, outstanding achievement to road safety, as neither Liam and I can drive!"

Meanwhile, his brother Liam, speaking at a fan Q&A, insisted the band have yet to make their perfect album. "I don't believe we have made the perfect record yet," he said. "'Stop The Clocks' is alright, but we haven't got our heads down yet."

Noel however put a limit on Oasis' career, "At 60-odd it might look daft [to be touring]," he said. "It might look a bit silly." Liam though was having none of it, telling his brother: "What else are you going to do? I dare you to split this band up."

The brothers than laid into their contemporaries. "Kasabian are great, they have it," declared Liam. "The rest are just indie bands."

Noel also backed his friends, along with Arctic Monkeys and The Coral, but he was less impressed with 2006's newcomers. "I haven't heard a good album in a while apart from Kasabian's. There's lots od good songs but not albums. But maybe it's good for music - apart from The Horrors who are f***ing s**t!"

His brother admitted Oasis could also be improved if Noel swapped personalities with SpongeBob Squarepants! "I'd ask him for his autograph and a kiss and cuddle," said the singer. "I'd die a happy man!"

Source: NME Magazine

Liam's New Wedding Gest

Prodigy star Keith Flint is marrying Mayumi Kai on Saturday — and I hear he’s invited some unlikely people.

I’m A Celeb weirdo David Gest is due to show up with jungle king Matt Willis.

It was always set to be an odd day with a wildman like Keith getting hitched. But now David’s coming, it will be a freakfest.

The music mogul tells me he met Keith through his bandmate Lism Howlett. And Liam is a good pal of David’s new bosom buddy Liam Gallagher.

I can just see Gestie and Gallagher dancing like twisted Firestarters . . .

Source: www.thesun.co.uk

The Selector Competition

It's the biggest year yet for 6 MUSIC SELECTOR as Courtney Love, Oasis and Moby takeover the station.All this week we are giving you the chance to win some very exclusive merchandise including signed Christmas cards from all the Selectors.

Today you could win signed artwork, a Xmas card signed by Oasis, a copy of Stop the Clocks, an Oasis dartboardand darts, Oasis watch and an Oasis t-shirt.

Enter the Competion Here.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Kasabian Frontman Attacks Elton

Kasabian frontman Sergio Pizzarno is baffled by Sir Elton John's musical success, branding the star "a fat man in a tracksuit". Pizzorno admits he dislikes John after the flamboyant rocker called Oasis songwriter Noel Galllagher "an absolute t**t".

Now he's warning the star to be on his guard because Gallagher is sure to seek revenge for the comments. He says, "Elton's just a fat man in a tracksuit. "Whereas anything that comes out of Noel's mouth is absolute genius.

"Noel is the last man you want to start with. He's so quick he can destroy anyone. Elton John should watch out."

Source: www.contactmusic.com

When Noel Gallagher Was Growing Up, Rock Stars Didn't Come From Manchester.

When Noel Gallagher was growing up, rock stars didn't come from Manchester. At least not until a band called the Stone Roses emerged in the 1980s.

"I'd always been interested in music, but the idea of what Oasis eventually became came from seeing the Stone Roses live," Gallagher says. "Rock stars then looked different to us. We were normal lads who went to the football, took drugs and hung out on the street. When the Stone Roses came along, they looked like us and made the goal seem nearer."

Oasis, with Noel and brother Liam out front, would become the biggest-selling band in Britain. Twelve years on from their debut, Definitely Maybe, the band are in hiatus. A two-disc best-of, Stop the Clocks, is released this week and Noel Gallagher holds court in his Buckinghamshire home.

After several patchy releases, the band was reinvigorated last year by strong sales and reviews of their sixth studio album, Don't Believe the Truth. A well-received world tour followed.

Sadly, neither success has served to mend fragile relations between band members. Noel says that with the exception of rhythm guitarist Gem Archer, he has not spoken to any of his bandmates, including brother Liam, since March.

"The minute of the last gig of the tour ends that's me f---ing gone," he says, cheerfully. "I don't speak to any of those geezers. It keeps it interesting for me. I wouldn't want to come back off the road and then go straight back into the studio."

From the band's infancy, the tension between Noel and frontman Liam saw them develop into something of a caricature. There were fearful public shouting matches, fist fights, bust-ups and walk-outs. Noel, 39, who was raised with Liam and elder brother Paul by his mother after their father walked out, is philosophical about their relationship.

"A lot of the negative stuff in this band has been very unnecessary and a lot of it caused by Liam," he says, matter of factly. "He's a very antagonistic young chap."

It was during his mid-1990s songwriting purple patch that he conceived Definitely Maybe and (What's the Story) Morning Glory - 27 million copies sold worldwide - and some of the best B-sides recorded in the past 15 years such as Talk Tonight, Acquiesce and The Masterplan.
Gallagher places Talk Tonight among his favorite vocal performances. It was written on Oasis' first American tour in 1994 after a "massive row" with Liam in LA.

"I took all the tour money and a big bag of drugs and went to stay with a young lady friend of mine," he recalls. "I wrote it about brief experiences of running around America for a week. At least something positive came out of it: a great f---ing song."

In spite of the band's inner turmoil, Gallagher still fondly recalls Oasis' early days, so vividly captured in the artwork for Definitely Maybe. The cover was shot in former guitarist Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs' front room and captures the band as they were, drinking wine, smoking cigarettes and playing guitar.

"The only thing manufactured about that was the drummer was there," Gallagher says. "I'd always be around at Bonehead's house playing guitar. They were f---ing great days. I'd love to relive them, but they really can't be relived."

The mid-1990s saw an embarrassment of musical riches concluded by the release of 1998's cocaine-plastered Be Here Now.

Mercilessly panned on its release, Gallagher considers the album's main flaw was that it wasn't Morning Glory. "But I'd ran out of gas. In hindsight it could have been better, but it's an expression of its time."

Live Forever, a recent documentary featuring the Gallagher brothers at their amusing best, focused on the rise of Oasis and Britpop in general. Gallagher says that those involved (including his former nemesis, Blur leader Damon Albarn) are portrayed "as we are".

"Damon come across how I know him, as a confused individual," he says. "He always wanted to be the man, the voice of that generation, but what he failed to understand is that that's a mantle you can't take yourself, it's given to you."

On Oasis' last Australian tour just under 12 months ago, Noel noted the band had arrived at the end of their contract with Sony, and were not going to re-sign with them. He also suggested his own life had taken a re-signing.

These days Noel uses the services of a personal trainer and the hedonistic lifestyle of the 1990s is a distant memory. So, we have to ask, what's the better high, drugs or stepping out on a stage?

"I'd say being on stage, that's just incredible. Drugs are a very personal and selfish thing; stepping out on stage is a very communal thing that involves you and thousands of people. I'm more about others now," he says, with a knowing chuckle. "I'm not that selfish any more."

"I took all the tour money and a big bag of drugs and went to stay with a young lady friend of mine," he recalls. "I wrote it about brief experiences of running around America for a week. At least something positive came out of it: a great f---ing song."

In spite of the band's inner turmoil, Gallagher still fondly recalls Oasis' early days, so vividly captured in the artwork for Definitely Maybe. The cover was shot in former guitarist Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs' front room and captures the band as they were, drinking wine, smoking cigarettes and playing guitar.

"The only thing manufactured about that was the drummer was there," Gallagher says. "I'd always be around at Bonehead's house playing guitar. They were f---ing great days. I'd love to relive them, but they really can't be relived."

The mid-1990s saw an embarrassment of musical riches concluded by the release of 1998's cocaine-plastered Be Here Now.

Mercilessly panned on its release, Gallagher considers the album's main flaw was that it wasn't Morning Glory. "But I'd ran out of gas. In hindsight it could have been better, but it's an expression of its time."

Live Forever, a recent documentary featuring the Gallagher brothers at their amusing best, focused on the rise of Oasis and Britpop in general. Gallagher says that those involved (including his former nemesis, Blur leader Damon Albarn) are portrayed "as we are".

"Damon come across how I know him, as a confused individual," he says. "He always wanted to be the man, the voice of that generation, but what he failed to understand is that that's a mantle you can't take yourself, it's given to you."

On Oasis' last Australian tour just under 12 months ago, Noel noted the band had arrived at the end of their contract with Sony, and were not going to re-sign with them. He also suggested his own life had taken a re-signing.

These days Noel uses the services of a personal trainer and the hedonistic lifestyle of the 1990s is a distant memory. So, we have to ask, what's the better high, drugs or stepping out on a stage?

"I'd say being on stage, that's just incredible. Drugs are a very personal and selfish thing; stepping out on stage is a very communal thing that involves you and thousands of people. I'm more about others now," he says, with a knowing chuckle. "I'm not that selfish any more."

Source: www.smh.com.au