Live Forever? Oasis changed Lars Ulrich's life.

Chronologically, Felix White makes perfect sense, but Lars Ulrich?

As for me, my favorite rock bands have tended to be from the British Isles. When Oasis came along, the various British cultural markers were only vaguely clear to me. Rather, I loved the swagger and the music. One song, "Live Forever," summarizes an entire mid-1990s period for me.

I'm looking forward to the reunion tour, because at some point, the cash will outweigh the rancor. Just look at how much the Libertines were paid to do a couple of one-offs.

Oasis: the band that changed our lives – by Lars Ulrich and Felix White

The Metallica drummer and Maccabees guitarist remember coming across Oasis 20 years ago – and how it altered their perceptions of music

Lars Ulrich of Metallica

In 1994 I was browsing through an issue of a magazine called Select, and there was a story about a band from England, with some unusual looking fellows, that I’d never heard of. I skimmed across the article, and was quite amused by the fact that every other word was either “fuck” or “cunt”. There was a pretty detailed description of a conversation between one of the guys in the band, Noel Gallagher, and Paul Weller, that was particularly off-colour and very, very funny. It reeked of attitude and not giving a fuck, which at the time – at the height of the shoegazing-I-can’t-handle-being-a-rockstar attitudes that were becoming mainstream – was very refreshing ...

Felix White of the Maccabees

The conviction of delivery in everything Oasis did was very convincing for a 10-year-old. They had such an effect on me that before I’d even heard one, I could tell anybody for 100% fact, with my hand on my heart, that synthesisers were rubbish. Synthesisers were rubbish and guitars were the best. And Oasis were the best at playing them.

It provoked me to religiously watch Top of the Pops, clapping guitar bands and booing anyone that wasn’t. I asked my parents if we could get chairs like the ones in the Wonderwall video. I put my hand up in class, with over exaggerated sense of urgency, to ask Ms Morris what a Champagne Supernova was. I don’t think she really knew.

Let's not forget who played guitar with Ronnie James Dio, whippersnapper.

Let's get a few things straight.

The late Ronnie James Dio was a singular, iconic singer whose metal legacy is purely stunning. The new tribute album of covers dedicated to Dio's music is richly deserved. Just yesterday morning, I listened to the albums Rainbow Rising (with Rainbow; 1976), Heaven and Hell (with Black Sabbath; 1980) and Holy Diver (Dio's own band, with future Def Leppard member Vivian Campbell on guitar and the estimable Vinny Appice on drums; 1983).

Here's the point: Reading (the link) below as Lars Ulrich of Metallica lists the Rainbow songs that comprise his group's new Dio memorial medley, it's fairly consequential to remember that Rainbow was (a) former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's band, and (b) without Blackmore at the peak of his powers contributing one memorable riff after another, we'd probably not even recall Dio's vocals. Much the same can be said of Tony Iommi's guitar work on Heaven and Hell, and while Campbell is less well known than both, there's nothing shabby at all about his contribution to Holy Diver, his feud with the singer notwithstanding.

Go to YouTube and listen to Rainbow Rising, the full album. It was the group's second release, and as with its predecessor (Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, the group's debut), I was the first kid in my peer group to have it. Pay close attention to the second side of the original vinyl: "Stargazer" and "A Light in the Black." Dio is fabulous, but Blackmore is better -- and drummer Cozy Powell may well top them both.

I understand that Dio's lyrical contribution at this stage is immense and worthy of note. At the same time, both Lars Ulrich and Kory Grow might consider doing some homework.

Metallica Talk 'Effortless' Dio Tribute: Hear It Here First ... "[Dio's] music is so much a part of what's in Metallica's DNA, Lars Ulrich says,", by Kory Grow (Rolling Stone)

Metallica couldn't pick just one Ronnie James Dio song to record for the tribute compilation This Is Your Life, so they picked four. Rolling Stone is premiering the thrash metal group's contribution today: a nine-minute mélange of four riffy, fantastical tracks, titled "Ronnie Rising Medley," that the group culled from the iconic metal singer's mid-Seventies band Rainbow ...

 ... "[Dio's] music is so much a part of what's in Metallica's DNA, the harder, edgier, blues-based hard rock from the Seventies," he says. "It was fairly effortless to put this together, because it's something that we were all reared on. I don't recall sitting there in a band meeting or anything deciding what to play. Somebody starts playing 'Stargazer' – which is sort of just like something that's in our arsenal to jam – and then that whole period there, 'Tarot Woman,' 'Kill the King,' 'A Light in the Black ' – that's just really effortless to jump into."