A Sound So Very Loud

The Inside Story of Every Song Oasis Recorded

Ted Kessler Hamish MacBain

The first definitive history of the iconic band Oasis, as told through their music and using their songs as the starting point.

A Sound So Very Loud is the first book to offer a definitive history of Oasis as narrated through their music, using their songs as the foundation, but breaking out more widely to include sections of background and cultural context. It's written by leading music journalists Ted Kessler and Hamish MacBain, who have very close ties to the band and their management, and have interviewed the Gallaghers dozens of times.

There has never been a definitive, forensically detailed history of Oasis and their music; a book that takes readers to the heart of the band’s work and what lay behind it in the kind of deeply researched, knowledgeable detail that has been afforded The Beatles, perhaps most notably with Ian MacDonald’s Revolution In the Head, which examined every Beatles song in chronological detail. MacBain and Kessler’s intention is to write the book that satisfies the many millions of fans globally similarly obsessed with Oasis’s music, but who currently only have scattered social media pages to turn to add depth to the story. These authors deliver the definitive, chronological history of the songs of Oasis that will appeal to fans old and new, in doing so, bringing the wider Oasis story into play in glorious color.

The pair have interviewed both Gallaghers dozens of times between 1994 and 2024, and no other journalists can claim more—or more lively—encounters with Liam and Noel. The book will also revisit each interview in the first-person, chronologically throughout, to add unique perspective and texture to the wider story. MacBain and Kessle will also dissect sleeve-art with the designers and photographers, delving into each detail surrounding the band. This is a veritable Oasis treasure trove!

Ted Kessler was on the staff at NME before joining Q magazine’s staff, working there for sixteen years. He first interviewed Oasis around their debut single "Supersonic" in 1994, for NME; his final Oasis interview was on the road in Amsterdam with them in 2009 for Q, a few months before the band spilt. In between, he interviewed them more than a dozen times. Since then, he has written five Liam Gallagher cover interviews. He also is the author of several British music books, but A Sound So Very Loud will be his first book published in America. Ted lives in Britain.

Hamish MacBain also worked at NME, where he had a front row seat to the breakup of Oasis. He wrote the words in the band's last ever official tour program and was set to review what would have been their final UK show before it was cancelled last minute. With Noel Gallagher, he co-authored the 2018 book Any Road Will Get Us There (If We Don't Know Where We're Going). His sleevenotes for the reissue of Be Here Now were blown up to 8" x 8" size to form part of Chasing The Sun 1993-1997 Oasis exhibition. A Sound So Very Loud will be his first book published in America. Hamish lives in Britain.

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Endorsements & Reviews

“The best new Oasis book of all is A Sound So Very Loud. Kessler and MacBain use the Gallaghers’ songs as jumping-off points for head-spinning anecdotes, interspersed with accounts of the writers’ dozens of personal dealings with Oasis. Crucially, the authors’ own clear love of the music comes with enough journalistic objectivity to balance the zing of rollicking storytelling with the ballast of serious scrutiny. The pair have written something special: a book of wit and verve about why Oasis matters.” The Telegraph

“Music journalists Kessler and MacBain celebrate rock group Oasis with this enthusiastic analysis.” Publishers Weekly

“Lots will be written about Oasis this summer, but little with the flair, insight and adventure of A Sound So Very Loud. Using a mix of archive interviews and their own experiences in the Gallaghers’ orbit, the pair tell the Oasis story through lovingly and painstakingly detailed and contextualized analysis of every song. Essential accompaniment to the rock’n’roll reunion of the century.” Record Collector magazine

“With both wild-eyed fan devotion and a NASA-style attention to detail, Kessler and MacBain perfectly capture the lightning-in-a-bottle joy of Oasis.” Alex Needham, Arts Editor, The Guardian

“If you want to know why Oasis are such an enduring phenomenon –– and learn why, say, 1998’s ‘Gas Panic!’ is something of an underrated gem –– this song-by-song portrait of the great British band is the definitive account. Ted Kessler and Hamish MacBain combine the enthusiasm of fandom with the rigor of journalism, and having both interviewed Liam and Noel Gallagher countless times they capture them brilliantly: the humor, the chaos, the surprising perceptiveness.” Will Hodgkinson, Chief Rock & Pop Critic, The Times (London)

“Whether you’re a super fan or Oasis novice, this book is essential reading. Hamish and Ted have had front-row tickets to the Oasis story from the very beginning. There’s no one who knows more about the band, the music and its impact than these two.” Mat Whitecross, director of Oasis: Supersonic

“Will make hearts still smitten by Oasis’s music beat faster. If you happened to have a ticket for one of the reunion shows and were looking to get in the mood, this is the one to reach for.” Mojo magazine

"Ted Kessler and Hamish McBain are fantastic chaps.” Liam Gallagher, lead singer of Oasis

“This, unquestionably, will become the Oasis book against which all others will be judged. To read it from start to finish is to fall in love with Oasis all over again.” Simon Goddard, author of the Bowie Odyssey series, in The A-Z of Oasis magazine

“Astute, intimate, hilarious and candid, Kessler and McBain have produced the definitive Oasis book. Every page is jam-packed with insight, analysis, access and anecdotes.” Terri White, author of Coming Undone