Oh, Brothers

When Oasis ended its nine-month concert hiatus with an appearance at KROQ-FM’s recent Weenie Roast show at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, the audience was primed for any sign of tension between the frequently battling Gallagher brothers, Liam and Noel.

Given the pair’s history of public and private sparring, there seemed to be a chance for a classic rock ‘n’ roll moment: the breakup of a band at its reunion show.

Oasis never really called it quits, but much of the pop world assumed as much last September when songwriter-leader Noel Gallagher walked away from a U.S. tour amid reports of problems in the band.

Gallagher simply believed that the British band was burned out from almost four years of nonstop touring and that everything could fall apart without some time off. As far as the rest of the rock world knew, Noel and younger brother Liam might not have even been speaking to each other outside of the recording studio, where they made their third album, titled “Be Here Now” and due Aug. 26 (see review, Page 89).

So it was disarming at the KROQ benefit concert when Noel gently placed his arm around Liam’s shoulders as they walked off stage together at the end of the set.

“We were all a bit nervous the night before the show, especially Liam, because he thought that he might not remember the words after all the time off,” Noel says, looking back on the moment.

“But all that [anxiety] went away after the first few chords. It felt great being back on stage. When we were walking off, I just said, ‘Good going’ to Liam. I didn’t mean it to be any big deal. I didn’t even know the audience could see us.”

It was, however, precisely the kind of gesture that Oasis ought to put into its next video, a demonstration of the stability and warmth in a band that many American rock fans find hard to embrace.

Even though U.S. rock fans have taken to specific Oasis songs, including the uplifting “Wonderwall” and “Champagne Supernova,” enough to buy an estimated 4 million Oasis albums over the last two years, many say they still have reservations about the group.

Fans complain about everything from what they see as arrogance (boasts by Oasis members that they’re the best band in the world) to limited originality (the band’s melodies are very Beatle-esque).

Even some radio programmers have a problem with Oasis’ image.

“All the strutting around, ‘aren’t-we-great’ syndrome may work for the band in England, but it doesn’t get you airplay here,” says Jeff Pollack, owner of the nation’s largest radio programming consulting company.

“I don’t think you have a lot of people [in radio] rooting for them. The attitude is [more like], ‘Give us a great record, like “Wonderwall,” and we’ll play it, but we’re not going out of our way to play just anything you come up with.’ ”

David Massey, the Epic Records executive who works most closely with Oasis at the label, says he understands some of the confusion over the band’s image.

“I think there have been enough controversial things going on with Oasis in this country, including canceled tours and the reports of the brothers always fighting, to perplex some people,” he says.

“The band is volatile. They come from a very working-class background, and they represent the street in the truest sense, but they are very dedicated to their music. This is a big country, and the band hasn’t been able to devote as much time to playing here as I’d like. Once they do, I think audiences will see Oasis the same way their fans in England do . . . and realize this band is really about great music and not image.”

For his part, Noel Gallagher is tired of all the questions about the brothers’ battling image and the group’s volatile status.

“I’ve given up trying to sum up our relationship in one nifty phrase,” he says. “He’s my brother. What can I say? We are either the best of friends or worst of enemies. There’s no [middle] ground.

“So, that carries with it a certain degree of tension. It’s something we live with. On some days, I can see us being around when we’re 50, like the Stones. And then there are days when I wonder whether we’ll last out the week. But that’s life, isn’t it? The reason we stick together is the music . . . the love of playing together. There is no better sight in the world than seeing thousands and thousands of people singing back your lyrics and dancing to songs you wrote.”

Noel Gallagher, 30, sits in a British pub in Santa Monica a few days after the KROQ show. The pub’s staff has closed off a back room for him, to make sure the leader of the most popular band in Britain since the Beatles isn’t disturbed during a lunch interview.

It proves unnecessary, however, because the lunch crowd looks too old to be Oasis fans. No one even seems to notice as Gallagher strolls through the heart of the club on his way to the back room.

By contrast, every head in the room turns when brother Liam, 24, walks through the pub later. Even if you didn’t notice the pinup good looks behind the dark glasses, the strut tells you that he’s a star.

Asked if he likes all the attention, a deadpan Liam replies, “What’s not to like?”

Noel, however, prefers the anonymity. Things have become so hectic back home that he recently bought a house in the country so that he can have some privacy. He describes it as a typical rock star estate. “It’s got a big long driveway and all that,” he says, smiling. “But it’s really calm . . . in the middle of a forest.”

The new address isn’t the only change in the older Gallagher’s life. During the nine months off the road, Noel married Meg Matthews, his longtime companion and a member of the staff at Creation Records in England. Liam, too, was recently married, to actress Patsy Kensit.

The brothers agree that they’re trying to tone down the wild lifestyle that has provided British tabloids with almost constant fodder over the last three years.

“That’s another reason we had to slow down the touring,” Noel says. “The more we tour, the more we party. It got to the point we were getting drunk every day. Not before we got on stage, but after the show . . . and we’d wake up every day with a hangover. That puts you in a bad mood and it just keeps snowballing.”

It’s not surprising to hear Noel talk this way. In past interviews, he has proved to be far more thoughtful than the way he is often painted in British pop papers.

But Liam has rarely shown a softer side. He always seems to be making outrageous quotes to journalists or living out rock’s live-fast, love-hard fantasy.

Even now, Liam likes to wisecrack and talk about the rock ‘n’ roll high life. Eventually, however, he opens up a bit during the interview.

“Back when I was on the dole in Manchester, I used to dream of some day having a house and kids, and here I am 24 and I’ve been a millionaire for two years,” he says, between quick puffs on a cigarette.

“I’ve got everything, and I don’t want to lose it. Patsy has been [lecturing me] about taking care of myself. And she’s right. I’ve got a lot to live for. I’m in the best band in the world. I’ve got the best wife in the world. Who would want to blow that?”

Given Oasis’ extraordinary success--especially in England, where the group’s 1995 collection “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” ranks No. 1 on the all-time best-seller list--it’s no wonder Noel felt a lot of pressure during the writing and recording of “Be Here Now.” Although the band’s other albums were recorded in a matter of days, this one took months.

“As a band gets more successful, people expect more and critics tend to be a bit more demanding, which is fair enough,” Noel says. “But it does cause you to second guess yourself a little in the studio. You wonder if you shouldn’t do a song a different way and then realize it was right in the first place. The result is the whole recording process gets slowed down.”

And anticipation builds. The first single from the album, “D’You Know What I Mean,” sold a record 170,000 copies in its first day in the stores last month in England. But reviews have been mixed. Some critics in England argue that the band has sacrificed its melodic flair by going for harder musical textures on the record.

Noel explains that he wanted to break away somewhat from the melodic pop-rock sound whose success has led to scores of bands “trying to sound like Oasis trying to sound like the Beatles.”

The melody is still strong, but it has to compete for attention with generally harder textures. The group has also tended to stretch the songs out on the album, with seven of the tracks on the 72-minute collection running six minutes or longer. The centerpiece, the lushly orchestrated, anthem-like “All Around the World,” is nearly 10 minutes.

“With ‘Morning Glory,’ I wrote the songs on acoustic guitar . . . and a lot of them were quiet, slower, mid-paced tunes . . . ‘Wonderwall,’ ‘Cast No Shadow,’ ‘Champagne Supernova,’ ” Noel says. “There was a conscious decision this time to write the songs on an electric guitar, so it created a different energy.”

Of the harder edge, he adds, “It’s absolutely true that the Beatles were my biggest influence. I loved Lennon’s hardness and Paul’s melodic touch. But there are a lot of other influences in our music . . . the Stones, the Sex Pistols, the Kinks, the Stooges, the Jam.”

What Oasis’ music has in common with a lot of those bands is self-affirmation, a youthful optimism and faith that dreams can be fulfilled. As with his heroes, from Lennon and McCartney on, Gallagher is primarily telling his own story in the songs.

“I suppose [the thematic direction] is just something from my background,” he says. “I had a rough childhood, and music always gave me hope. It’s why I loved a band like the Beatles. To me, their songs were always optimistic. They always made it seem like there was a reason to get up in the morning. That’s what I think you find in Oasis songs. We might change our sound from album to album, but I don’t think we’ll change our spirit.”

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Robert Hilburn is The Times’ pop music critic. He can be reached by e-mail at robert.hilburn@latimes.com