For the Love of Music--3

         First of all, I know that I am dating myself severely by the albums I am choosing, but what can I do? The 80's and 90's were my time. I had no choice in the matter. And I also know this may seem an odd post to come after my last post, but if you know me, it may not be. All I can say is that I am forgiven, but not perfect or holy.

        The album that is pictured is, "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?", by the British band Oasis. This album came out in 1996 and in the moments when I was pretending to be in the Jars of Clay, I pretended I was in Oasis. I thought and still think this record is one of the best ever made. I thought and still think that Noel Gallagher, the main guitarist of Oasis, is one of the coolest guys in music:

   Much of the music that came out in the 90's was not so good, or at least I thought so. I wasn't a big fan of the Grunge movement, I was never that angry and the Spice Girls were exactly what I wanted to be ever caught listening to. Oasis was not any of that. They were supposed to be the, "saving sound of Rock and Roll"--Rolling Stone 95'. I was naive and believed they would. They didn't. But they were the biggest rock band for most of the 90's and the early 2000's. Their song, Wonderwall, is still a mega-hit.

  I got this tape and listened to it till it broke. I then bought another until it broke and then I bought the cd. I still listen to this album courtesy of my iPod (circa 2004). The songs are still great. The sound is big. The lyrics are nonsensical. The guitar solos are loud, long, and tight. They took the music of the Beatles and The Rolling Stones and turned up the volume and got better guitarists (Sorry, Paul, John, George, and Keith). It is an incredible album. I have listened to it probably a thousand times and will continue to do so. (I should probably apologize to my mom, sisters, and wife for the amount of times you have had to listen to this! I'm deeply sorry.)

  I learned to play most of the songs. I bought a hollow-body guitar because of Noel. I hated that the Gallagher brothers fought so much that they ended the band. I downloaded every possible song of the band off of Napster (I miss you so badly)! I took my youngest sister to see them play at the Hard Rock Cafe in Orlando and was mesmerized for several weeks afterwards. (If Sarah is warped in some bad way, I am probably to blame. Sorry!)

  Give this album a listen. You will either hate it or love it. And you can listen to it knowing that if the year were 1996, you would be oh' so cool for listening to it. And you can also know that Noel is one of only a few guitarists that can use the feedback generated by an amplifier to his advantage!

Don't Look Back With Anger,

  David