SUPERSONIC: THE DEFINITIVE F***IN' DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE BEST F***IN' BAND IN'T' F***IN' WORLD. (2016)
DIRECTED BY MAT WHITECROSS.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY JOSEPH BERRY JR., JULIAN BIRD, LIAM GALLAGHER, NOEL GALLAGHER AND ASIF KAPADIA.
STARRING LIAM GALLAGHER, NOEL GALLAGHER, PEGGY GALLAGHER, PAUL ARTHURS, TONY MCCARROLL, ALAN MCGEE, PAUL MCGUIGAN AND MARCUS RUSSELL.
REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©
F***in' hell. Sorry for all the f***in' profanity, like, but I've been profoundly f***in' affected by this brilliant f***in' documentary about OASIS, like, the best f***in' band in't' f***in' universe, like. I missed it when it were in't' f***in' cinema a while back, so I were dead f***in' chuffed to be able to review it in't' comfort and privacy of me own f***in' home, like. Annoyed yet? Haha. Let's stop the madness and start this review over again...!
Long story short (I've always thought that THAT would be a great name for a band!), I loved SUPERSONIC, the story of OASIS, the band that hailed from Manchester and basically became pretty much the biggest rock group since THE BEATLES or THE ROLLING STONES.
It all kicks off with the formation of the group in 1991 and goes out in a blaze of almost mythical glory with the band's legendary record-breaking gig at Knebworth in August 1996.
Just a record of those five particular years, there's nothing in it whatsoever about what happens to the band after 1996, though Liam is heard to remark that he knows he has no relationship with his brother these days so there's a bit of a painful foreshadowing of things to come all right.
What I mean is, though, if you're hoping for all the dirt on the breakdown of the relationship between the brothers, you'll be disappointed. They don't talk about that, or even about their relationships with different women or their wives or kids or any scandals possibly pertaining to the aforementioned. (Liam, I'm looking at you...!) Nope, they just talk about the music. And just during that five-year period. Capiche, pop-pickers...?
So, what do the lads talk about, then? Drugs, mostly, haha. Ah no, seriously. Well, first off, they're not sitting in chairs smoking and chatting face-to-face to an interviewer, not that we see, anyway. Their contributions are in the form of genuinely funny, witty voice-overs, and there's also some brilliant unseen archive material and contributions from their mum Peggy, the other band members (there were other band members...? F**k me...!) and the road crew and suchlike.
It all comes together to form a funny, gritty, drug-fuelled and expletive-filled account of the lads' rapid ascent to rock'n'roll superstardom in probably the last era when it was actually possible to do that, if you know what I mean.
Music's changed so much since then. Everything's different now, with the advent of social media and reality TV talent shows like THE X FACTOR and people putting their music and videos and stuff online and on YouTube, where it could theoretically reach a few million peeps in as many hours.
And when was the last time you heard about a rock band chucking tellies out of a hotel bedroom window in a drug-'n'-booze-fuelled fit of rock 'n' roll madness and bad behaviour? Nope, I can't remember, either.
I love the story of how Alan McGee, a record company executive from CREATION records, caught sight of the band playing live in a club in Glasgow and decided to sign them up there and then. Apparently, he came backstage and said to the lads:
'D'you want a record deal?'
They replied:
'Yeah, who with?'
And the rest, as they say, is history. Would that even happen any more? Things have changed so much since then. I wonder what the lads themselves think about all the madness...? They probably think it's all a load of old bollocks, like.
Anyway, there's some great footage of the lads being interviewed back in the early days, during which they seemed to reply to every question they were asked with the same stock answer:
'Yeah, we ARE the greatest f***in' band in't' fucking world, you wanna make summat of it?'
Or words to that effect, haha. Their confidence- some might say arrogance- was staggering. Who were these cocky Mancunians, anyway, who strutted and swaggered onstage and immediately grabbed hold of the audience and held them, mesmerised, in the palm of their hands? Only 'the greatest f***in' band in't' world,' obviously...!
There are some genuinely warm, funny interactions between Liam and Noel on-screen (wasn't it so sweet when Noel walloped Liam over the head with the cricket bat?) and also some touchingly sad comments about their violent/absentee father who crawled out of the woodwork when the lads hit the big-time. Their Mammy Peggy seems to have been a rock of strength to both boys, anyway.
We also hear about their troubles with their drummer Tony McCarroll, and also about Guigsy's nervous breakdown at an inopportune time and Noel's absconding during a tour of America. Their tour of Japan is in there too, and we see how it happened that Liam's walk-outs when they were on-stage led Noel to fill in as a singer for the band more and more.
I honestly don't see how Liam had the right to be resentful about that. If he's gonna walk off the stage saying he can't do this any more, he's actually lucky his brother was able to fill in for him. That's my tuppence-worth, anyway.
I was in floods of tears at the TOP OF THE POPS footage. Even that last bastion of popular music is gone forever now, in favour of people downloading stuff to their iPods and whatnot at the click of a button. Speaking of tears, I bawled at the end when THE MASTERPLAN was played over the credits. That's mine and my son's special song.
When he was a baby, he loved seeing OASIS videos on a pop/rock music show we used to watch together on TV. His favourite was THE MASTERPLAN, a superb animated video in which the little miniature band members wander around their old stomping grounds in the beautiful city of Manchester, places like the Man. City football ground and even SIFTERS, their old music shop.
He'd be watching with his eyes as round as saucers, and by the time the little men closed the doors of their tiny terraced houses behind them, Liam leading them down the street with his trademark cocky walk, I'd be bawling my eyes out because it's still to this day the best, the saddest and the sweetest music video I've ever seen. Check it out for yourselves.
I love the lads' Manchester accents in SUPERSONIC, by the way, and the way that Liam always sang in his real accent. None of that phoney-baloney fake American-accent bollocks for Our Kid...!
There's one pretty obvious omission from this otherwise excellent music documentary, a must-have for fans of the band and of the rock music genre in general. There's no mention whatsoever of the BRITPOP phenomenon, which was surely the biggest thing to happen to British music in the mid-'Nineties.
I well remember the Christmas of 1995 when WONDERWALL (OASIS) and COUNTRY HOUSE (BLUR) slugged it out for the Number One spot while the music world watched with bated breath.
My theory is that they didn't want to give BLUR the satisfaction of appearing in the OASIS documentary, haha. Remember that brilliant episode of Irish sitcom FATHER TED which referenced the nail-biting battle for supremacy between the two bands?
Father Damo, the 'cool' priest: 'Who'd'you prefer, OASIS or Blur?'
Father Dougal, confused: 'Em, BLUR?'
Father Damo, outraged: 'Whaaaaaaaa' ?'
Father Dougal, stammering, terrified of not appearing 'cool': 'No, wait, OASIS...!'
Heh-heh-heh. Great stuff. Anyway, SUPERSONIC is available now on DVD, BLU-RAY and DIGITAL DOWNLOAD from the good people at LORTON DISTRIBUTION and ENTERTAINMENT ONE. It makes for fantastic watching, whether you're a fan of the band or the genre or not. I'd highly recommend it.
I just wish the lads would be friends again. It's a shame for brothers not to be pals too. Maybe their Mammy should bang their drug-addled bonces together, haha. By the way, I wonder if the lads ever did achieve their apparently lifelong ambition of Phil Collins's severed head on a plate? Answers on a postcard, please...
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.
Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, film blogger and movie reviewer. She has studied Creative Writing and Film-Making. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, womens' fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can browse or buy any of Sandra's books by following the link below straight to her Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B015GDE5RO
You can contact Sandra at:
http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com
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