Ooo - great call; great song.
Although I love Liam Gallagher’s vocals, and he was indisputably the lead singer, I gotta say that Don’t Look Back In Anger is the best Oasis ever did, and it’s sung by Noel. Noel supposedly insisted to Liam that he was going to sing Wonderwall so that Liam would fight to keep it and forget about DLBIA. Liam took the bait and Noel was left with what he considered to be the superior tune. In the end, both songs were big hits. Anyway, some people considered both of them to be lead singers, so it maybe doesn’t count.
No one has mentioned The Beatles Something yet?
Noel has a better emotive voice, IMO. I nominated “Talk Tonight” as an example upthread.
The Beatles all sang lead, though. John and Paul had more songs to themselves than George and Ringo did, but George and Ringo sang on every Beatles album, and John and Paul “allowed” George two tracks on both halves of the White Album and two more on Abbey Road.
Throwing Muses, Not Too Soon, sung by Tanya Donelly, is one of my favorites from them.
I know – I saw your post and was surprised you picked Talk Tonight. I like the tune, of course, but it wouldn’t be even my number two Noel-as-lead-singer song. After DLBIA, I think the best song Noel sang was The Importance of Being Idle.
Anyway, I actually do prefer Liam’s buzzsaw whine of a voice for the louder ones, such as Morning Glory, but you’re right – Noel’s voice is perfect for the ones that he chose to sing himself.
What a pity they split up.
Very late in the thread for the first mention of Night Ranger’s “Sister Christian” (drummer Kerry Keaggy on vox).
I might have to check that out. While I liked Remember a Day and Paintbox when I first heard them, they quickly became too twee to listen to a whole lot. But if his solo stuff is more like Wearing the Inside Out and Stay, then it might be good.
I like a lot of the B-sides. One that just came to mind is “Half a World Away.” I’m not as familiar with TIBI (was that on Heathen Chemistry?).
I think there’s a special mention for co-leads. My favorite is “Acquiesce.” The brother’s voices are perfectly matched in that song, and when I’m in the car I tend to belt out Noel’s “Because we neeeeeed each other!”
I suspect we will see an Oasis reunion in the next few years. Those guys fight all the time, the band was going nowhere commercially… good time for a split. Get back together in about five years for the big payday, I’d expect.
“Can You Imagine” and “The Man You Always Wanted Me to Be” by bassist Chris Squire of Yes
If you enjoy Noel’s more emotive voice, you gotta listen to TIBI again. Go to Youtube and find him doing it solo acoustic – it’s the version where he whistles one of the guitar solos, and his voice slides around from a Liam-ish whine to a Noel-ish falsetto. With a group, it’s not as impressive, as he doesn’t get to shine as much. Solo acoustic, it’s brilliant, as he’s responsible for everything – the guitar, the voice, the percussive element, the solos.
Acquiese is one of the all-time great co-leads, as you point out. How those two can do a song like that and later split up is beyond me, but there you go. If you watch live clips of Morning Glory, you’ll see that it’s also a semi-co-lead, as Noel usually handles the long Weeeeeellllllllllll bits. But that’s all he sings, as far as I can see. I think half the time they did co-leads it was just because Noel wrote the song in such a way – right at the limit of Liam’s capacity – that Liam would have no choice but to let Noel take at least a small chunk. Live Forever’s another – Noel does the falsetto line, but Liam sings the rest.
I’m not sure they’ll ever get back together. They’re a couple of pretty immature guys, with a wide imbalance of talent, and they loathe each other. And yet, you’re right – if they were both to hit rock bottom financially at about the same time, I could see them swallow their pride and do a reunion tour. Problem is, Noel still tours pretty actively, writes new stuff, and does all the hits at sold-out shows. I’m not sure he’ll ever hit rock-bottom financially.
“Swinging The Chain” by Black Sabbath, with drummer Bill Ward on vox.
And “Black Diamond”, “Mainline”, “Getaway”, “Baby Driver”, “Hooligan”, “Dirty Livin’” and “I Finally Found My Way” to complete the Peter Criss collection.
Since the Replacement’s Paul Westerberg wasn’t the lead singer of Kiss, I can say within the bounds of the OP that his vocal on “Black Diamond,” as well as the performances by rest of the band, IMO of course, make for a superior version of the song.
This thread has kind of morphed to include guest singers and such, so I’ll contribute Pink Floyd’s rock-radio classic “Have a Cigar” sung by Roy Harper.