Feeling Supersonic: From Madchester to Britpop by Simon Spence (Limited edition Jill Furmanovsky cover, signed by the author)

“I LOVE IT, VERY ENTERTAINING” JILL FURMANOVSKY

“BRILLIANT” ROGER SARGENT

“INCLUDING NEVER SEEN BEFORE COVERAGE OF LIAM AND NOEL” ROUGH TRADE

“JUST BY READING THIS YOU CAN POSSIBLY LIVE FOREVER” HMV

“PRETTY COOL THIS. SIMON SPENCE’S LOVE LETTER TO OASIS, THE BANDS, PARTIES AND CLOTHES THAT MADE THEM ‘AVE IT!” – ROCK N ROLL BOOK CLUB

BOOK REVIEW BY AARON BADGLEY, SPILL MAGAZINE

Feeling Supersonic: From Madchester To Britpop is a different look at the band. In many ways it is a love letter to Manchester and the scene that helped create Oasis. But at the same time, the book is by and for fans, it just so happens a lot of fans writing in the book are somewhat famous.

The book is divided into two halves, the first half sets the scene and looks at Manchester from the 1990s and the impact the city, culture, and music had on Oasis. The second half is directly looking at the band, by other artists, critics and fans. Taken together, the book becomes a document of the band and goes a great distance to set the context of the times in which the band found themselves.

By using articles from the 1990s, Spence sets the stage well and Oasis becomes part of that ongoing history of music.

 Spence spends a great deal of time with Happy Mondays but one can see how they played their part in setting the stage for Oasis. In reading the book, one sees how The Stone Roses reunion was received much the same way as Oasis is today, only Oasis seems much bigger. But Spence lays it out for the reader. Even the timeline of The Stone Roses comeback album could be a mirror of what may happen should Oasis decide to write and record new material.

Feeling Supersonic: From Madchester To Britpop takes a fascinating look at a time period where music and the way in which music was heard was changing at an alarming rate. Yet, nothing occurs in a vacuum, and Spence very carefully documents the era and the band extremely well. Fans will no doubt enjoy the book, but others will be just as interested in the story Spence tells.