Noel Gallagher says Oasis had ‘heavy’ Irish influence with ‘rebellious nature’ on debut album

British band fronted by brother Liam and Noel have sold out two nights at Croke Park next year as part of the group’s reunion tour

Oasis band members Noel Gallagher (left) and Liam Gallagher. Photograph: Zak Hussein/PA Wire

Noel Gallagher has said Oasis had a “heavy” Irish influence and added that there was “a rebellious nature” to their debut album Definitely Maybe.

Brothers Noel and Liam confirmed the band would be reforming last week almost 15 years after their split, which was prompted by a backstage brawl at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris in 2009.

Following the news, the band released a 30th anniversary edition of their 1994 album which features out-takes, demos and alternate versions of songs recorded at the time, as well as a remastered version of the original LP.

In a video released to Oasis’s YouTube page on Tuesday, Noel answered questions about the band’s hit album, which includes the songs Live Forever, Rock ‘n’ Roll Star, Digsy’s Dinner and Supersonic.

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Asked how the record would fare if it was released for the first time today, he said: “I think it’d probably do all right because we’re still talking about it now, 30 years later, so it’s got a timeless thing to it.

“I’m not sure we’d get past the censors these days, we did swear a lot.”

The 57-year-old also spoke about whether his Irish heritage has influenced his music.

He said: “I guess the Irish influence is heavy in what I do and what we did as a band, because we were all Irish descent.

“But I couldn’t pin it to one particular thing.

“Look there’s a rebellious nature to Definitely Maybe, and there’s a defiance to it, and there’s a defiance and a rebellious nature to the Irish.”

The new 30th anniversary deluxe versions of Definitely Maybe feature tracks from the abandoned original recording session at Monnow Valley Studio, along with out-takes from the definitive album recording session at Sawmills in Cornwall.

Noel quit the Manchester rock group on August 28th, 2009, saying he “simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer”, and the brothers have made negative comments about each other for more than a decade.

Concert promoter MCD initially advertised tickets for next August’s two sold-out Croke Park shows “from €86.50″ but as the general sale progressed last Saturday, Ticketmaster deployed what is also known as dynamic pricing which saw standing tickets for the pitch reach €415, not including a service charge of more than €10 imposed by Ticketmaster.

Ireland’s consumer watchdog has said there are now “legitimate concerns around the consumer experiences of buying concert tickets” for Oasis and it is “actively reviewing the situation” following Government intervention. – PA