Oasis - What's the Story?

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Britain's music press has christened brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher, founders of U.K. sensation Oasis, this generation's Lennon and McCartney. But as with so many behind-the-scenes rock and roll tell-alls, there isn't much here to tell. Robertson, Oasis's former road manager, begins with his years of British military service and work with now faded musical celebs such as Duran Duran as he details how he got "in" with the band. While depicting himself as an upright eyewitness to all the varieties of bad-boy exploits that British editors believe sell the music weeklies, Robertson does nothing to dispel the tabloid reputation of a band regarded by many as no more than another product of British hype. More tour diary than analysis, Oasis: What's the Story? offers no real insight into the band's overwhelming popularity (not nearly so overwhelming on these shores) or artistic process: "Oasis is not in any sense a group. There is no common purpose, philosophy, or aim artistically: they're out there, a band of individuals flying solo." One chapter even offers a stream-of-consciousness recreation of the experience provided by the band ("Lion galahad reached for the naked microphone that shivered unprotected") which may require chemical enhancement to work properly. As a babysitter and chaperone for the incoherent and the famous, a road manager requires a certain fatuous admiration for his charges, and Robertson clearly has the requisite temperament. Publication is scheduled to coincide with the release of Oasis's latest album. (July)