Noel Gallagher Rambles On

Noel Gallagher hints in the upcoming issue of Britain's MOJO magazine that the next Oasis album might betray heavy traces of his new enthusiasm for Led Zeppelin. Noel has recently completed his remix of "The Knock (Drums of Death, Pt. 2)," Beastie Boy Mike D's track on the UNKLE album, basing it around a sample from "Bonzo's Montreaux," the drum-heavy track from Led Zeppelin's Coda album. (The remix will be issued as a single early in the New Year.)

"I'm totally into Led Zep now," admits Noel. "Actually, I bought a double-necked SG [guitar] the other day. Jimmy Page looked really cool with it. I took it home and looked like a complete fucking arse. I had to send it back to the shop."

Noel says that work on the next Oasis album -- not due until the end of 1999 -- has so far amounted to selecting eight of his own songs and one of Liam's "which is actually really nice." He intends to employ a new producer. "Hopefully [they] will make it sound like it was recorded in 1999, and not 1969. Again, it could all go arse over tit and end up sounding like Exile On Main Street."

Noel reckons recording will start once the March-scheduled court case involving former Oasis drummer Tony McCarroll has been settled. McCarroll was fired in '95, prior to the release of Oasis' breakthrough second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?; the skinsman claims he had a five-album contract and is seeking twenty percent of the band's earnings.

JIM IRVIN
(December 3, 1998)