A Sound So Very Loud

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!

Author Biography

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.