When, last year, Oasis announced a reunion tour after 15 years apart, the internet promptly combusted. But it wasn’t just Gen X’ers and millennials—those who actually lived through the Mancunian rock-mania of the ’90s—who lost their minds. Zillennials, many of whom were either still in diapers or not-yet-born when the band’s 1994 debut album, Definitely, Maybe, came out, were also elated at the prospect of finally seeing the world’s greatest rock band live.
This occurred to me while listening to the band’s legendary Live at Knebworth album from 1996, recorded just 10 days before I was born: Somehow, even more than a decade after their infamous (and, thankfully, temporary) breakup, the band’s lore and allure have remained firmly intact—and proven irresistible to 20-somethings.
“Oasis is so authentic, distinct, and abrasive—but that’s the appeal in an era where everything is super polished and of-the-masses,” explains the LA-based music journalist and Gen Z culture critic Reanna Cruz. In an era of TikTok song snippets and bubblegum pop manufactured by labels, Gen Z has been conditioned to consume music in a blur (pun somewhat intended)—a barrage of sound hurled at their For You Page with every swipe. The Gallagher brothers, Cruz suggests, offer something different. “You have these enormously talented brothers who have no filter. They’re historically always beefing with everybody, even each other. The band’s vocals have a grating edge, the guitar tones are a little jagged, as opposed to a lot of rock music that seems like it’s trying to be more palatable in 2025.”
They continue: “Over the past few years, there’s been a distinct lack of down-to-earth, no-frills rock bands in mainstream popular culture. Oasis coming back awakens that neuron in everybody’s brains—especially young fans who are of the mindset of, ‘finally, real music.’”
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