Erupting from Burnage loaded with attitude, self-belief and huge tunes, their monster hits like Wonderwall, Some Might Say, Live Forever and Don’t Look Back In Anger were the soundtrack to millions of lives.
This re-jigged 1998 collection celebrates the B-sides of their singles which, like The Jam’s and The Sweet’s, were a treasure trove of quality.
Half The World Away from 1994 is easily as indelible as the A-side top three hit Whatever and lives on in our memories as the plaintive theme tune to earthy blue-collar BBC sitcom The Royle Family. Like The Animals’ We Gotta Get Out Of This Place a decade earlier, the lyrics were about escape.
“I would like to leave this city, this old town don’t smell too pretty,” sings Noel who dreams of leaving our blighted island and booking himself into “a soul asylum”.
Fade Away, the nearest the warring Britpop stars came to punk, was almost thrown away as one of three tracks on the B-side of their 12-bar rocker Cigarettes And Alcohol, along with a live version of The Beatles’ song I Am The Walrus, also included here.
Headshrinker is a tough reminder of their classic sound – brattish rock with strong hooks and Liam’s trademark whine.
All these tracks date from the band’s golden era – 1994 to 1998. They’re not uniformly great. The Swamp Song, B-side of 1995 smash Wonderwall, is a messy blues jam unlikely to feature in any fan’s top 20 Oasis numbers.
And Going Nowhere does precisely that. But opener Acquiesce is better than its 1995 A-side, Some Might Say, a dense, driving celebration of a brotherly bond sadly ripped apart.
Fix that and they’d make a generation happy.
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