Morning All,

Re-watched Supersonic last night, which in my humble opinion is without doubt the best documentary on Oasis, and best music documentary of all time.

What got me thinking on this watch was the significance of Mark Coyle leaving the band. Often cited by the band, particularly Noel, as the 6th member he had been with them from early days. His departure in 1995 due to hearing issues was concidently around the same time the big O's profile started to go stratospheric.

It's mentioned in the film that the gigs were getting bigger, more corporate, less about a gang of lads and even Paul Gallagher comments that it was hard to get back stage passes.

This is of course an inevitable path for major bands but did Oasis lose a bit of their identity and gang mentality? Did Noel lose his best mate and quality control sounding board for future songs? Instead of being backstage with your mates, having it full of hanger-on's, celebrities etc must have been fun initally but shallow long term.

It was still a few more years until Bonehead and Guigs leave in 1999 but it's well documented the impact their departure had. I think Coyles and to a lesser extent Phil Smiths exit was also a significant point in the Oasis story. Coyle was technically only the live engineer but he had a far greater influence than a standard one, particularly with Noel he had worked with and been friends with for a long time, including pre-Oasis.

If Coyle was still involved would Be Here Now (which I love) have been so overblown and lengthy? Would Bone and Guigs hanged around for a few more albums if the core had remained? Or was it all inevitable?