10 Bands That Stole Another Band's Sound
1. At the Altar of John Lennon - Oasis
By the mid ‘90s, it felt like the British Invasion was coming back around again. In a weird reversal of the ‘60s Revolution, the Britpop movement started to arrive in full force, with Oasis leading the charge as one of the most accomplished bands on the scene.
They may have had the same spirit of the British Invasion, but the Gallagher Brothers also had a lot in common with some of the bands of the time as well.
It’s almost become a running joke amongst music fans as to how much Oasis has pulled their ideas from the Beatles. From the way they sing to the way Noel Gallagher composed songs, these guys clearly worship the ground and Lennon and McCartney have walked on.
Across the band’s big hits, you can hear bits and pieces from the Fab Four, from Liam Gallagher’s nasal whine to the fact that the intro of “Don’t Look Back In Anger” basically lifts the entire melody of “Imagine.”
Even the Gallaghers seem to be in on the joke by cramming their lyrics with Beatles references, but what they did went beyond just worshipping their idols. As opposed to just being the ‘90s version of the Greatest Band in the World, the Gallagher Brothers took the Beatles’ melodic foundation and combined it with punk and psychedelia to create some of the most glorious anthems of the modern age.
Though people may still contest that Oasis should be held accountable for plagiarism, what they did was not so much stealing but rather re-contextualizing the pop rock of old for a new generation.