Liam made Oasis what it was. Noel has even said that

Noel said that without Liam, Oasis didn’t exist. I believe that if it had happened they would have been a banal pop band that would never have reached the heights reached with Liam. I personally became a fan of Oasis thanks to Liam, without Liam I would never have become a fan of them.

A big part of Oasis was the Liam & Noel "double act". The best interviews were with both of them.

Also when you hear Oasis covers you realise how much those songs need Liam's voice.

There's still time for it to turn into a Liam vs Noel thing, but yeah this has been good so far

Nowhere near as successful obviously. Imagine Live Forever released with Noel singing for example.

I wouldn't have been a fan anyway, they just would've been like a band like Travis to me or something. A band I like-ish and think they're alright but nothing more.

Both could have had a decent following if Liam found another good band/songwriter and Noel a good singer to sing his gems. I think some fans underestimate how great they both were in their own field, back in the day. I mean when you write the melody of Live Forever or when you do that vocal performance on Wonderwall, you have nothing to prove to anyone.

Also, it depends what you call a succesful band. For me, even a band like Mazzy Star could be called succesful. Sure they didn't fill out two nights in Knebworth but they sold a few millions records. I could see both brothers reaching that level if they found the right people.

That said, thank god it turned out the way it did. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Yeah if we stay on the factual side I think Liam had definitely more of a chance of being successful, although I doubt he would've been able to do it with the actual guys in Oasis minus Noel, while Noel seemed quite happy with his life as a roadie after a couple of unsuccessful tries
With that said, if he never joined Oasis but still wrote Definitely Maybe, he might've changed his mind
Not sure about joining another band, but as someone else said I could imagine him bringing those songs to a record label and they were clearly too good to be denied even without Liam singing
The way he writes he could've definitely carved out a career as a pop songwriter, it's all about getting yourself in that position

If Liam didn’t exist, Noel would have spent less time alone in his room and never become a pop songwriter. Clearly, he would have taken up the harpsichord, heard mad melodies in his head, and become an ecstatic, eccentric composer in the manner of Franz Lizst, touring the world to adoring fans and flustered critics, whilst insulting rock and roll bands and building a 425,000 square-foot castle (with alligator filled moat) in Bavaria.



If Noel didn’t exist, Liam would have had nowhere to bounce his innate anger. Clearly, he would have taken up wing chun before the age of 10, impressed the girls with his very, very, very wide middle splits, and become “the Bruce Lee of Manchester,” starring in a series of South Korean vengeance thrillers before going into a Brando-like exile on an arctic island requiring an immense amount of outdoor wear.

I'm probably not as well read on early Oasis history as many on here, but is there anything suggesting that, had Liam left or if it just didn't work out, that Noel himself would be the lead singer?

Without Liam inviting Noel into an already established band, the drive of being in that band for over a year, having Liam to channel his voice through and then being dropped from The Inspiral Carpets (Jan 93) I highly doubt Noel would've become as great and prolific a songwriter as he did. That said, hypothetically speaking, had Noel become that great songwriter we know he did and released all the songs with himself singing would he still have been a big success? Yeah I think very likely so. Definitely not as big of a success as Oasis, sure, but if the songs were there people would've lapped them up regardless. I'd imagine he'd have written the songs to suit his voice more but the basics would be there still. Wonderwall, Champagne Supernova, etc. are big mainstream successes regardless of who sings them.

It's worth noting though that there are other factors Liam provided to Oasis beyond his voice. One of which was drama and therefore headlines and press. Another would be a 'coolness' factor. Lads (you know who) could relate to him. He was a good looking guy (sorry Noel) which always scores well with young females (and probably men too)... and so on.

It wouldn't have gone anywhere without Liam, nor Noel. The brothers TOGETHER were Oasis.