Is Oasis the last 'Big' rock 'n roll band?

[Jaxcat]

Love 'em or hate 'em, you have to give them credit for universally putting on a helluva show and thrilling audiences and critics alike. When you see the live clips in any stadium they've played so far, the audience encompasses 2-3 generations, the crowds are having a great time, singing their asses off, etc. Even in the US where they never really broke big, they've seen a ridiculous demand for tickets and packed 60k+ stadiums.

As splintered and siloed the music industry has become, is Oasis the last rock band to really appeal across a much wider swath of the listening public? I have to say that I've been pleased and amazed at how good they've sounded and how the public has gone way overboard in showing their love for the band. You just don't see many bands, certainly not in the past 20+ years, that have a huge, wide appeal to male, female, teens to 50s, all races. It sort of restores bit of faith that good bands and music can still be important parts of individual's life. I know when I hear certain songs, I'm immediately transported back to a time many years ago when I first heard that song.

[blueheretic]

I dig Oasis.

I consider them more Pop than Rock, though.

[blueheretic]

One of my most fave songs.

In every bar across the world that I've got rockin' drunk in...lol...when this song came on every last bubba in the bar started singing.

And so, Sally can wait
She knows it's too late as we're walkin' on by
Her soul slides away
"But don't look back in anger," I heard you say

[Jaxcat]

I dig Oasis.

I consider them more Pop than Rock, though.

Now THAT'S interesting: 'more pop than rock'. Sure, they're not grunge or metal but 'pop'? Surely not like Taylor Swift pop. Huge, huge electric guitar sound on many of their records, especially the first two. Live, they are definitely not pop, imo, as there aren't 50 dancers on the stage and costume changes and prerecorded soundtracks to lip sync to, etc.

Interesting.

[blueheretic]

I reckon.

To me, though, Motley Crue is barely Rock and Bon Jovi is definitely Pop.

Most of KISS sounds like Pop to me. lol

May as well be Bread.

[Jaxcat]

Wow. So, which bands would you consider rock? I'm guessing a whole lot of metal bands and not much else.

Not that I've ever attended either, but I'm guessing one's ears would certainly know the difference between a concert by Kiss and one by Bread. You know, once your ears stopped ringing.

[blueheretic]

It's gotta be the fast guitars with a very minimal slow ballad type songs.

Metallica
Megadeath
Avenged Sevenfold
Volbeat
Sevendust
Anthrax
AC/DC
Ozzy
Black Sabbath
Dio
Disturbed
Rage Against the Machine
Led Zeppelin
GNR
Judas Priest
Iron Maiden
Seether
Alice in Chains
Soundgarden
Clash (Punk)
Dead Kennedys (Punk)
Sex Pistols (Punk)
NIN (Industrial)
Anything harder than these is metal.


Pop Rock:

Shinedown
KISS
Staind
Three Doors Down
Ratt
Motley Fool
Bon Jovi
Poison
Linkin Park
Evanescence
Skid Row
Pearl Jam
Nirvana
Ramones
Green Day
Foo Fighers
Collective Soul


I see Oasis as a little softer than Nickelback. I def consider Nickelback Pop. Oasis kinda reminds of me The Verve. I get them mixed up sometimes.


Not a huge fan of Slayer. They're too screamy.

I like Pop music. Hell, I used to be a huge Madonna fan and I've seen Lady Gaga in concert. haha

[blueheretic]

The Verve - Lucky Man

[blueheretic]

I was joking about the Bread thing.

However, I could see Bread singing Beth.

[CrimsonCats]

Forgive me if this is an overly pedantic answer to your question. It’s probably going to come down to definitions to a certain extent. If by “last”, you mean the last band still active, then that hasn’t been settled yet. A few of the titans from earlier eras like The Rolling Stones, Springsteen and the E Street Band, and U2 are still currently playing (as well as Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest if you count metal). Oasis are younger and should theoretically have a chance to continue on longer than those bands if they don’t split again, but haven’t actually done it yet.

If you mean they formed the most recently, the list gets shorter, but there’s at least a couple of others to consider. Foo Fighters formed 3 years later, and this one may be contentious given what’s been discussed in the rest of the thread, but Coldplay didn’t form until 6 years later, and they both have similar appeal.

Given that, it’s hard for me to say that Oasis is literally the last big rock band, but that’s not meant as a slight. That kind of thing is definitely rarer than it once was, so enjoy them while they’re having a moment.

[Jaxcat]

Forgive me if this is an overly pedantic answer to your question. It’s probably going to come down to definitions to a certain extent. If by “last”, you mean the last band still active, then that hasn’t been settled yet. A few of the titans from earlier eras like The Rolling Stones, Springsteen and the E Street Band, and U2 are still currently playing (as well as Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest if you count metal). Oasis are younger and should theoretically have a chance to continue on longer than those bands if they don’t split again, but haven’t actually done it yet.

If you mean they formed the most recently, the list gets shorter, but there’s at least a couple of others to consider. Foo Fighters formed 3 years later, and this one may be contentious given what’s been discussed in the rest of the thread, but Coldplay didn’t form until 6 years later, and they both have similar appeal.

Given that, it’s hard for me to say that Oasis is literally the last big rock band, but that’s not meant as a slight. That kind of thing is definitely rarer than it once was, so enjoy them while they’re having a moment.

I didn't define it very well. By 'last', I did mean the most recent. Yes, the Stones, U2, Springsteen, et al are all still around but they formed many years before Oasis. Not sure that the Foo Fighters or Coldplay have had as much widespread, cross-generational and cross-cultural appeal as Oasis but that's completely my opinion.

The industry, imo, does not want another Oasis, U2, Beatles, etc. They lose control. Once an artist gets so big (Taylor Swift, for instance), the record industry can't tell them what to play, how much to tour, who gets songwriting credit, etc. Its business model is most lucrative when artists get big really fast and then fade to allow the NEXT 'big thing' to come along and repeat the process. Sort of like the NFL if every truly great player flamed out after about 4 years so the team wouldn't have to sign them to a huge, guaranteed contract.

It just seems that this reunion tour happened at a very opportune time and the audiences I've seen on YT are pretty widely diverse, which is more like the Super Groups of the 60s and 70s who seemed to bridge the gap and appeal to a lot of very different people.

As much as I like Oasis, I wouldn't put them in the same realm as Zep, the Beatles, Stones, Who, Kinks, etc. But, certainly in the UK in their heyday, they inspired a Beatlemania-like obsession. Now, they're just a really good rock 'n roll band who seem to be having a blast playing in front of thousands every night who sing their songs at the top of their lungs and have a great time. Long live rock!