Oasis: Supersonic

"Oasis: Supersonic" (2016 release from the UK; 122 min.) is a documentary about the early years of Britain's biggest band of the 90s. As the movie opens, the voice-over mentions that the band went in less than 3 years from signing to a label to headlining Knebworth 1996 in front of 250,000 fans, and the footage shows us the mega-madness that event was. We then go back in time, to the childhood of Noel and Liam (5 years younger) and oldest brother Paul, and how Noel and Liam end up in music. At this point we're 10 min. into the movie.

Couple of comments: this documentary is directed by Mat Whitecross, a Brit who's directed other music-related documentaries. More tellingly, the movie is executive produced by Asif Kagadu, who last year directed the brilliant and Oscar-winning Amy Winehouse documentary "Amy". This documentary made a number of very smart choices, including: (1) it focuses ONLY on the early years (nothing beyond 1996 is covered or mentioned), and the bulk of the film is about 1994-95, when the band reached it critical and commercial peak with the first 2 albums and the many related singles and B-sides from that era; (2) the sibling rivalry between Noel and Liam is not neglected but neither is it overplayed. I loved Noel's observation "I am like a cat, while Noel's like a dog. I am independent, while he craves attention and begs 'play with me! throw me the ball!", ha! (3) the documentary contains some amazing footage, including of Oasis' very first gig (8/18/91, when Noel hadn't even joined yet) and the infamous gig in Glasgow (5/31/93) where they were spotted by Creation Records co-owner Alan McGee, who promptly signed them. (And Noel comments about that gig: "There were 7 people there, and he (McGee) was 2 of them. So yea, we were an overnight sensation, 2 1/2 years in the making." The rest, as they say, is history. There are a lot of funny moments sprinkled throughout the film as well, which really keeps the overall mood quite light, and that is a good thing. Bottom line: if you are a fan of Oasis, as I was from the beginning, you absolutely do not want to miss this.

I saw "Oasis: Supersonic" at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati last night, when the movie was shown in theaters across the country for a one-night-only showing. The theater here was PACKED, somewhat to my surprise. I guess there is a pent-up demand (nostalgia?) for the good ol' days of the 90s Britpop. Much of the crowd roared with delight at the funny bits, and seemed completely into the movie (as was I). "Oasis: Supersonic" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Biblical, well I ain't no God fearing person but Whatever, the film captures, for most part, the simplicity we brought to being a modern day Rock n Roll star.There are two sides to it for the fan and the icon. The buzz of being recognized,quoted, followed and rich are fantastic and trying.To wake up and think "yeah I am really famous" as a first thought of the day is a buzz, a high better than any drug. But then after a while it grinds you down and you kinda want it to go away at times but it doesn't want too.I think the film shows signs of that and the demise was fame fatigue amongst other things.For the fans this is showing that we are just lucky guys who wrote and performed some great songs that caught the mood around at the time for a certain generation. Don't forget the Blur's and Suede and Elastica's but it's our tunes and our story that mirrors the times. Politics were dirty and confusing. The media were trying to create a Britpop scene and worse thing potato head did was sip champagne with Tory Blair, sorry Tony Blair. Stupidity aside come and rock n roll with me and the boys, I am all the things they say I am and then again I am nothing that has been written. One thing guaranteed. Love me and I will love you back. What makes the world go around? We did for sometime anyway. Love LGx

Popular musicians can pass from obscurity to worldwide fame in a very short period of time; and that's the focus of 'Oasis: Supersonic', a documentary which charts the rapid rise of the Gallagher brothers' band. It's a not uninteresting story: the group sprung from humble origins, its two leading figures were both combative in nature (especially with each other), but the basic narrative here is the story of sudden, overwhelming fame. There's a merciful absence of outside talking heads, which means we are spared solemn pontification abot their musical significance, but also there's no discussion of the general 'Britpop' phenomenon of which Oasis were just one part. But Noel and Liam are sufficiently frank that it doesn't feel like an airbrushed history either; we do get a sense of what it was actually like to be part of Oasis at this time. As with any music documentary, the music itself is part of it: personally I liked Oasis's their retro rock-and-roll sound even if it wasn't outstandingly innovative, so I enjoyed the soundtrack. The film ends with musing that, in the modern digital age, a similar story couldn't happen now. In general, I'm sceptical about theories about the end of history; even so, twenty-plus years since Oasis played Knebworth, it's hard to think of a band since that has, however briefly, seemed so totally to capture the national mood.

Regardless of the subject matter or the music, this is a brilliant documentary, never anything other than subjective. Obviously I'm a fan-boy, loving the first album despite phasing out after the release of the SOME MIGHT SAY single and disliking the 2nd album with growing apathy with each release and the growing super-stardom that followed. The summer of '94 brings great memories, with friends, whirlwind romances, chemical discoveries, and what not, fun coming out me ear-holes, with Definitely Maybe sound tracking it. I'd managed to stave off the tracksuit image....just.....but it all felt real still. I'd grown sceptical of what the band later achieved and audiences that followed them. I guess it was inevitable, and call me a snob, but it was satisfying that last night this doc identified exactly what happened to Oasis, what they became, beyond any media promotion or shallow hipster idolisation. They simply haven't got the creative nous to produce further albums of greatness beyond that exhilarating debut (think the Pistols here also, like). And its for all to see up there on screen, the original bands awareness of themselves beyond the cocaine fuelled hedonism and, of course, the wealth. Of course it carried on as we know and the rest is history, a disappointing history for me, alas. Because Definitely Maybe is a f*cking mega album, end of. And this doc is too. Its not DiG! that the f*cking hipsters all think is great (Its not guys - its a shocking doc, but has great music). Its the real deal whether you like the band or not, an expose of EXACTLY what it must be like for a bunch of scallies from Burnage, with a love for hedonism and rock 'n' roll, who got marketed and became massive beyond their control. Mega! x.

Some young men, very sincere, strongly talented and even winsome, in the end. The film is nice, easy to watch and not boring (a bit repetitive sometimes). I would recommend it to anyone loving or simply interested in music.

The songs are good, some of them outstanding. Nothing to do with the Beatles, not that kind of history and any comparison would end to be heavy and unmotivated. They were a good band, nevertheless (and an incredibly successful one), one of those having the gift of making music simple: good ear, good voices, good sound…

Near the end Noel Gallagher states that '… people will never, ever, ever forget the way that you made them feel…'' and I wish with him this to be true.