Alright here is an article I copied from an Oasis Fan Site (so it's a lil biased). Maybe the next time you guys make the "Beatles/Oasis" claim, you have some backup for the argument.
OASIS AND THE BEATLES: THE NEVERENDING DISCUSSION
Who is better: Oasis or The Beatles? The question keeps cropping up. Why does the question crop up? Why do people compare Oasis to The Beatles? Because they are comparable! And, because the ?Beatles Diehards? want to deal with the question quickly before Oasis realise their potential. They are afraid of the potential of Oasis. They are afraid of what will happen when they reach their peak.
However, no fair comparison of Oasis and The Beatles can be made at this stage. Oasis are nowhere near the end of their career. They are only a three-album band. The Beatles have made LP?s going well over double figures. They had at least eight years of recording. Oasis have only had four years of recording. One must also take into consideration the factor that Oasis do so much touring. But, time is on their side, and they have potential. They are relatively young and could come up with lots of brilliant ideas.
Many of the early Beatles LP?s were littered with cover versions, while their debut was full of covers. Oasis have never released a cover as an A-side. If you do, you can?t write songs or the songs you write aren?t good enough. Oasis do the occasional cover for a B-side but they don?t have to. They just do it to outshine the original artist as on Slade?s ?Cum On Feel The Noize? or to give their interpretation of a classic as on The Beatle?s ?I Am The Walrus?. By this, they?re also opening up younger fans to great music that they mighn?t have been aware of before. Oasis release three B-sides with every A-side. The B-sides are nearly always original songs and they?re always top quality. They do not have to rely on covers or re-mixes. The Beatles generally only released one B-side with every A-side. I think it?s fair to say that Oasis have a greater output there, and some of Oasis? B-sides are better than some of their A-sides: ?The Masterplan?, ?Stay Young?, ?Acquiesce? and ?(It?s Good) To Be Free? being just the tip of the iceberg.
Oasis had a better debut album than The Beatles: far superior, much more quality ranging from the psychedelic heavy rocker ?Columbia? to the gentle weeping acoustic ?Sad Song?. In fact, ?Definitely Maybe? is the best debut album ever. Oasis? first three albums are better than The Beatles? first three albums. Some will argue that Oasis had 25 years of pop to fall back on, but The Beatles had their influences too: Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and numerous Fifties bands.
People say that Oasis nick riffs and chord sequences from The Beatles, and this can be seen. One of the most obvious is John Lennon?s solo piece ?Imagine? and the introduction to ?Don?t Look Back In Anger?. However, Oasis often play ?Don?t Look Back In Anger? without the introduction and it is a totally different song to ?Imagine?. The intro is put in to wind people up. That?s what rock ?n? roll is about. Oasis are not ?The Beatles of the Nineties? and anyone who says that does not have a good knowledge of either band?s music. Oasis take riffs and chords from other bands as well. Take the riff from T-Rex?s ?Get It On?. That?s in ?Cigarettes & Alcohol?. However, Marc Bolan nicked it from a blues artist. Things get around. A little nicking does no harm (but we do want originality as well). ?Imagine? inspired ?Don?t Look Back In Anger?. ?A Whiter Shade Of Pale? inspired ?I Am The Walrus?. Noel just stuck in the intro on ?Don?t Look Back In Anger? to show the inspiration. Inspiration is very important in music.
People say that Oasis copy a lot of The Beatle?s lyrics. They don?t know anything. Oasis use Beatles? titles in their lyrics and make references to The Beatles. I can find many myself:
BEATLES REFERENCES IN OASIS LYRICS:
Supersonic: "You can sail with me in my YELLOW SUBMARINE" - ?Yellow Submarine?.
Take Me Away: "I?D LIKE TO BE UNDER THE SEA, but I?d probably need a line" - ?Octopus? Garden?.
Up In The Sky: "HEY YOU, UP IN THE SKY, LEARNING TO FLY" - ?Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds?.
Sad Song: "Sing a SAD SONG" - ?Hey Jude?.
Whatever(some live versions): "I?D LIKE TO BE UNDER THE SEA, IN AN OCTOPUS?S GARDEN IN THE SHADE" - ?Octopus? Garden?.
(It?s Good) To Be Free: "IT?S GOOD, YES IT?S GOOD, IT?S GOOD TO BE FREE" - ?Come Together?.
Wonderwall: "BACKBEAT, the word was on the street" - ?Backbeat?: the film.
Wonderwall: "AND ALL THE ROADS WE HAVE TO WALK ARE WINDING" - ?The Long and Winding Road?.
Wonderwall: "And after all, you?re my WONDERWALL" - ?Wonderwall Music?: George Harrison solo album.
Don?t Look Back In Anger: "SO I START A REVOLUTION FROM MY HEAD, BECAUSE YOU SAID THE BRAINS I HAD WENT TO MY HEAD" - Old John Lennon bootleg interview.
Morning Glory: "Walking to the sound of my favourite tune, TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS what it doesn?t know too soon" - ?Tomorrow Never Knows?.
The Masterplan: "Please brother, LET IT BE" - ?Let It Be?.
D?You Know What I Mean?: "THE FOOL ON THE HILL and I FEEL FINE" - ?The Fool On The Hill?/ ?I Feel Fine?.
My Big Mouth: "It?s keeping me from walking down THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD back home to you" - ?The Long And Winding Road?.
Fade In/Out: "So get on the HELTER SKELTER, bowl into the fray" - ?Helterskelter?.
Be Here Now: the title: BE HERE NOW - John Lennon phrase: ?the message of rock ?n? roll?.
Be Here Now: "Sing a song for me, one from LET IT BE" - ?Let It Be?.
The Beatles were copyists. They were taken to court many times with plagiarism suits. George Harrison lost the case about ?My Sweet Lord? resembling ?He?s So Fine?. John Lennon lost the case about ?Come Together? using two lines from ?You Can?t Catch Me?. The first lines of ?Something? are exactly the same as a James Taylor song. This was at the end of The Beatles? career! The riff to the classic Beatles song ?I Feel Fine? was admittedly nicked from ?Watch Your Step?. Everybody takes lines from other artists, as a tribute more than anything else. Oasis are pikers at this game compared to The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. All this Oasis versus Beatles crap is sour grapes by Beatles? fans. Why not give Oasis some space to develop? The Beatles? fans are just jealous of Oasis? potential. I get really tired of this sanctimonious carry-on by Beatles? fans when they conveniently have short-term memories. People should just lay off and enjoy the music.
Oasis have to be innovative. They have to change their style. They can say that they have made the ultimate rock ?n? roll album in ?Be Here Now? though: memories of concerts to a quarter of a million people, very loud rockers, emotional ballads, arrogance, incredible solos, bluesy jamming, an epic of gargantuan proportions and a glorious reprise. It is time to move on though, time for a re-think. Oasis fans must be patient. But, for those Oasis fans who are in their bubble and they want to believe that Oasis are the greatest band ever, then inside their bubble Oasis are the greatest band ever. Meanwhile, the discussion goes on as always.
by: George Ryan