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Tuesday, 29 August 2006 20:49 |
 | John North
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I was astounded recently when I read that an album by the band Oasis beat out The Beatles for first place as the greatest album of all time in a recent poll of the British public.
Specifically, the album "Definitely Maybe" topped "Sgt. Pepperës Lonely Hearts Club Band" for the No. 1 spot.
However, the Fab Four managed to capture third place
with "Revolver ÇƒÓ and three of its other albums made it into the top
100, including "The Beatles (The White Album)," "Abbey Road" and
"Rubber Soul."
The survey, conducted by the magazine British Hit Singles & Albums,
polled 40,000 voters, with about 95 percent of the responses coming
from Britain.
With all due respect to Oasis, you only hear their one big hit,
"Champagne Supernova" these days ÇƒÓ and the band is better known for its
drunken interpersonal conflicts than for musical innovation.
One could say that everything Oasis has done as a group stemmed from
the inspiration of The Beatlesë psychedelic musical style, from albums
such as "Sgt. Pepperës" ÇƒÓ and Oasis band members would probably be the
first to admit that (if you could awaken them from their collective
drunken stupor).
As for The Beatles, the band could release an entire album of No. 1
hits ÇƒÓ and, indeed, did ÇƒÓ and still not cover its repertoire of beloved
classics that are destined to remain popular for generations.
Furthermore, The Beatles led and redefined every era of music in which
they participated, as no other musical entity in modern history.
When I am in a particularly mischievous mood, I sometimes toss out to
my comrades the bold assertion that nothing of significance has
happened musically since The Beatles broke up.
That verbal hand grenade always seems to generate lively discussion, even though Iëm only half serious.
However, I have yet to hear someone make the same claim about the
revolutionary musical impact of Oasis ÇƒÓ and I donët think I ever will.
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