The Sandlot

We the people fight for our existence
We don't claim to be perfect but we're free
We dream our dreams alone with no resistance
Fadin' like the stars we wish to be- Noel Gallagher


I love music and I love going to concerts. I own over 30GB of music (nearly 9000 songs by more than 150 artists/bands) and have been to more concerts than I can count. Great music, like all great art evokes thought, discussion and emotion on part of the beholder. Like all art though, what is perceived to be "great" is subjective and a matter of opinion, though few bands and songs are universally agreed upon as being great.

To me, one of the truly great bands of this or any generation is Oasis. I was fortunate enough to see them in concert once, at the Air Canada Center in Toronto a couple years ago. They are without a doubt one of the best bands I've ever seen live and their classic songs like Champagne Supernova some how are more awesome live than on CD. You may not remember but I once named Champagne Supernova as the best song of all time and after reviewing that top 50 list it strikes me that 2 years ago I was sort of a moron but I digress...

I have a method for determining a bands greatness. Its relatively simple and genius. Just figure out the percentage of their songs that are good. For example, Oasis has released 7 studio albums to date and several b-sides and other songs, totalling 86 songs (we won't include covers, best of compilations or live/unofficially released songs). Out of those 86 songs, a whopping 73 I consider good. Simple math tells us that 84.8% of their catalogue is comprised of good songs. I would say that any band that tops the 75% barrier qualifies as a great band (60-74% = good etc.) Also a band needs a minimum of 3 albums to qualify for a discussion on greatness.

I make this post because I've been listening to Oasis a lot lately and finally was able to rip the live performance DVD from their latest documentary onto my computer which took place in Manchester in 2005. I have posted my favorite clip below from said performance, the song 'Little by Little', which I also quoted at the top of this post. While I didn't get to see them play this song when I saw them in Toronto it has always been one of my favorites because I love Noel and he's amazing live. Also the crowd reaction to the song is absolutely spine tingling in places. Enjoy.