Oasis: Supersonic

It's that iconic image of Liam Gallagher singing to the camera, black-and-white close-up that at times seems to be filmed in an super stylized slow motion is the defining power image of this music video. It's just something you don't forget. Oasis in its glorious "Definitely Maybe" moments, great rock n'roll sound of the 1990's and they always had some of their greatest clips of the period and of all time. The idea of it doesn't fly with imagination or creativity but it manages to sell the music and the band. It's simply a band performing "Supersonic", one of their most hardest potent sounds, on top of a building rooftop with some intercut between an airplane constantly flying by (never on the same shot though), or a subway train, or a puddle of water, quite random.

The big deal obviously is the song, Oasis at the top of their game. But the images stay with me. Most of it shot in black-and-white with some colored images, but the use of such colors is so controlled and somber that they almost feel invisible - it reminded me of those clips by The Smiths, we never see the band and the colors were always limited, foggy. Great editing on both cases. And we all know most groups hate doing videos, specially appearing on them but Oasis act was strong, Noel and the bad boy vibes while detonating sound structures with his guitar while Liam manages to be a little playful in between sequences.

Outside of the realm of magnificent super-budget videos, "Supersonic" achieves greatness with its simplicity. Here's a video that always deserves some revisit now and then. Truly supersonic. 9/10 Beatles reference: Band performing on a rooftop and lyrics mentioning Yellow Submarine.

It was the beginning of the musical revolution called 'Britpop', Oasis was one of the pioneers to venture after the ERA known as 'Grunge' that was marked after the death of Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain, after that the British industry started exporting music Massively. Within that globe, a band existed that would become one of the most important in the 90's, Oasis's debut album 'Definitely Maybe' featured as the first single, the song 'Supersonic' in 1994, was written by Noel Gallagher and recorded in a single day in December 1993 at The Pink Museum studio in Liverpool with Chris and Tony Griffiths from The Real People. The Recording Engineer was Phil Antigua, because Dave Scott, who was scheduled to record the session, went home to feed his dog. (Say that it was called 'ELZA', a dog that has reference in the letter). The band was there to record "Bring It On Down" but first, like warming up, they started playing riffs. Soon, Noel Gallagher was humming a tune over the beat of McCarroll and Bonehead until he stopped to jam when it was time to start recording "Bring It On Down." Tony Griffiths, of Real People, entered the room, informing them that his "jam" was the result of a successful album. A few minutes later, during which Gallagher wrote the lyrics in one corner, "Supersonic" was born. Noel mentioned, "Someone had Chinese or fish eaten with chips or something. I went to the back room and, oddly enough, I wrote 'Supersonic' for how long it takes to eat a Chinese meal." Tony Griffiths guided Liam through the music and provided the backing vocals. The recording was completed in 11 hours and has never been remixed. In an interview, Noel Gallagher said it's his favorite Oasis single, and he continued to play live music after the band split in 2009. Oasis recorded two music videos for release in the UK and USA. The UK version features the band playing on a roof, similar to the concert on the roof of the Beatles. Coverage is on the south side of Euston Road in London, with King's Cross station and Great Northern Hotel clearly visible across the street. The American version features views of outer space, the band in a car, large toy dinosaurs and the band playing the song in a dark room. Scenes from this video were used in the music video for "Some Might Say", the debut single from the second album (What's the Story) Morning Glory? - though in black and white. The cover shows the band and their instruments at Monnow Valley Studios in Wales. Photographer Michael Spencer discussed the cover art in an interview: "They started recording Definitely Maybe, the idea was to have a messy studio environment with amplifiers and cables scattered everywhere. Liam was only 21 years old and already seemed totally determined to have it in front of the photo, I thought it would be a good turnaround if I had my tungsten lights in sight, the idea was to put Oasis firmly in the spotlight for his first single I did cross-processing the film, which gives the photograph its blue hue. "