Trust me #92
Acquiesce by Oasis
30-years ago, on Monday 24th April 1995, Oasis released Some Might Say, their 6th single in a year and first to reach number 1. The single was backed with Talk Tonight, Acquiesce and Headshrinker.
Fans were becoming accustomed to the band releasing some absolute gems as b-sides. Songs like Take Me Away, Fade Away, Listen Up and Half the World Away had been sprinkled liberally across 1994's singles, to the extent that Oasis CD/12-inch singles were effectively EP's.
Noel Gallagher was in a rich streak of writing that arguably hit it's peak around this time as through 1995 he would release the likes of The Masterplan, Rockin' Chair, Round Are Way and Underneath The Sky as b-sides to singles off Morning Glory.
Acquiesce should never have been just a B-side. In a career full of anthems, it remains one of the Oasis’ most beloved and electrifying tracks—a song that’s both euphoric and full of defiance.
Two days prior to the release of Some Might Say, my brother, best friend Reddy and I travelled down to Sheffield to see the band play their first arena headline show. This was their last with Tony McCarroll on drums. Noel played Don't Look Back In Anger, a song he had written days earlier. It was all going on!
5-day before that, on 17th April, Oasis appeared on Channel 4's The White Room for the first time, performing a short set of b-sides; Acquiesce, It's Good To Be Free and then Noel performed Talk Tonight with Paul Weller. The band were absolutely flying, something that presenter Mark Radcliffe underlined in his introduction!
This next lot have been on a meteoric rise for the last 18-months. They come from Manchester, they support city, they write great songs of their own and borrow good bits from other people. The all conquering Oasis!
Facing a huge bank of white speakers with a Marshall stack on top, Noel fires up the opening riff and the band crash in behind him. Liam stands motionless at the mic, hands clasped behind him, wearing a heavy brown leather pilot jacket with a huge fluffy collar. Portraying no emotion physically, his voice says it all as he begins to sing;
I don't know what it is that makes me feel alive
I don't know how to wake the dreams that sleep inside
I only wanna see the light that shines behind your eyes
Before Noel soars in on the chorus with that instantly iconic refrain;
Because we need each other
We believe in one another
It’s a simple, yet powerfully emotional lyric. It hits hard. It means something. It means everything. Whether Noel was actually writing about his relationship with Liam or just throwing out another universal, stadium-ready sentimental chorus, tailor-made for sending tingles down spines, it doesn’t matter. Acquiesce feels massive. It was massive. It remains massive. This summer it will be off the scale!
Part of what makes Acquiesce so special is how the vocals are shared by Liam and Noel, something that, arguably, Oasis didn’t do often enough. Although, that's also why this is so special. Let There Be Love is the only other time they did it.
On Acquiesce, Liam takes the verses, snarling and swaggering his way through them, full of punk attitude and the spirit of Lennon and Lydon. Then Noel comes in for the euphoric yet tender and heartfelt chorus.
Recorded during the Morning Glory sessions, Acquiesce begins with a clip of the title track being sung by Noel over an acoustic guitar. Then the guitars crash in immediately, the drums drive everything forward relentlessly, Liam sounds incredible and the whole thing feels unstoppable—like it could burst out of the speakers at any moment.
A phaser guitar effect, similar to the one that Squire uses on the Roses Made of Stone, drives the song to the sky scraping double chorus that may well cause tremors on the Richter scale when Oasis play Cardiff on Friday 4th July. After Noel sings what's sleeping in our soul for the second time, Liam is straight into the next verse.
There are many things that I would like to know
There are many places that I wish to go
Everything's depending on the way the wind may blow
After singing the first verse again, Noel is back for a double chorus that leads to the super positive short mini-mantra-like outro;
Cause we believe
Yeah we believe
I'll always believe in Oasis. Yes, and by Noel's own admission, they released some albums that were not up to scratch - musically, lyrically and production wise, but they also released songs like Acquiesce that made people feel incredible ... invincible. Not many songwriters can do that.
Here is an old blog I wrote in 2016 reflecting on Oasis 1994-1996. They could do no wrong in these golden years and I was there on the ride. Good, good times!
Acquiesce is added to my Trust Me playlist; search for Everything Flows - Trust Me on Spotify or CLICK HERE
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