The best song from every Oasis album
The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Oasis. If any music fan was asked to name three bands that defined British rock music, these would likely be the picks. After the British invasion boom of the 1960s, it wasn’t really until the Gallagher brothers burst onto the scene in the 1990s that the UK fell in love with rock and roll again. From their working-class roots in Manchester to the biggest stages around the globe, they became a sensation that the world is still obsessed with.
Their impact is insurmountable. They were a true rock band who seemed to have four chords and a dream, reminding the world that stardom was an accessible thing if they had enough spirit. They’re the band that launched a thousand bands as still today, their name is brought up time and time again as a vital influences to modern acts.
Even though the band’s history was fraught with infighting and drama, Oasis still managed to deliver more than their fair share of anthems. Whether they were busy rowing with Blur during the battle of Britpop or whether the Gallagher brothers were at each other’s throats, they still managed to put it aside and focus on giving the world hit after hit. Tracks like ‘Wonderwall’, ‘Roll With It’, and ‘Supersonic’ remain some of rock’s most beloved tracks, which are still regularly heard by music fans singing along to every word.
But are those hits their best tracks? On each album, there are winners and losers. Some of Oasis’ albums are total treasure troves where each song is golden, while others require a bit more digging to find the greatness. Considering the shiniest jewel on each LP, these are the best tracks from each release.
The best song from every Oasis album:
‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ – Definitely Maybe (1994)
For their debut album, Oasis unleashed an absolute roaring tour of their power and potential. Definitely Maybe was the birth of not only a legendary band but a whole new era, as some trace the origin of Britpop right back to the moment the record was released. Containing hits that have become timeless anthems like ‘Live Forever’, ‘Supersonic’ and ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’, it feels like an impossible task to pick the best of some of their best tracks ever.
But let’s start at the start, shall we? It feels like there is no song quite as defining of Oasis’ spirit as ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’. As the Gallagher brothers declared themselves to be precisely that, the track acts as a mission statement of an opening remark. It marked the glorious return to gritty, gobby, all-out rock and roll in the UK and established Oasis as the leaders.
‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ – (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? (1995)
There are no misses on (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? Oasis certainly didn’t stumble at the tricky second album hurdle that hurts so many bands. Instead, they leap over it, levelling up their quality for a sophomore release that didn’t just affirm their star status but shot it up into the ether.
Once again, it’s a record packed with hits, and the quality is consistent across each track. But ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ stands out as something seriously special. It provides a huge singalong moment that rock fans are still not sick of, throwing their arms in the air to wail “and soooo Sally can wait” at any chance they get. But at the same time, if you give them your attention for a second, the lyrics are packed with nuance and poetic flare. Noel Gallagher really proved his power with this one, as the track is busy with nods to his heroes, contemplations on fame and a unique vantage point on the lofty feelings of regret, moving on and growing up. “Please don’t put your life in the hands / Of a rock ‘n’ roll band / Who’ll throw it all away,” they sing as a nod to their prior album, but also a beautifully prophetic sign of things to come…
‘It’s Getting Better (Man!!)’ – Be Here Now (1997)
Be Here Now was an album that the general public absolutely loved. Its release, after the band’s two prior records and the boost in the reputation delivered by the whole Britpop era, was insanely anticipated, with even news outlets covering fans’ excited scrabble to get their hands on it. However, if the record has one hater, it’s Noel Gallagher.
“Everyone’s going: ‘It’s brilliant!'” he recalled to NME, “And right towards the end, we’re doing the mixing and I’m thinking to myself: ‘Hmmm, I don’t know about this now.'” To him, it’s a dud in their discography as he admitted, “It doesn’t fucking stand up.”
But ‘It’s Getting Better (Man!!)’ feels like a strike of genius among some forgettable tracks. At an extended seven-minute run time, it strayed way beyond the band’s typical radio-ready rock and roll hit built of four chords and a dream. For maybe the first time in their career, the group displayed real musical prowess and a future-thinking vision. It was a statement that they were ready to experiment.
‘Talk Tonight’ – The Masterplan (1998)
OK, The Masterplan isn’t an official album, but as it’s populated by solely unheard tracks, was released while the band were still working away and is largely considered an essential among their discography, it can be counted. Talk Tonight’ deserves a spot amongst the best either way to celebrate the track that feels like Noel Gallagher’s lyrical best.
‘Talk Tonight’ is something special, just like the story that inspired it. After a disastrous gig and a major blowout fight with his brother, Noel was ready to quit when he met a random girl backstage, Melissa Lim. In a moment of complete despair and confusion, he clung to her, hiding out at her house while she talked him off the ledge of breaking the band up. “I wasn’t going to let it happen on my watch. I told him, ‘You can’t leave the band — you’re on the verge of something big,” she said in an interview.
“I wanna talk tonight / Until the morning light / ‘Bout how you saved my life,” Gallagher sings on what is undeniably one of the band’s most beautiful tracks.
‘Fuckin’ In The Bushes’ – Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants (2000)
Once the fighting between Liam and Noel hit new heights, the music deeply suffered. At the turn of the millennium, the band were, let’s face it, passed it. When founding member Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs quit out of the blue, things never really recovered or were at least rocky for a good while.
However, amidst a season of uncertainty for the group, and while their lyricism was pretty weak, ‘Fuckin’ In The Bushes’ is a unique moment of greatness. If Be Here Now was the announcement that the band were ready to experiment, this was the outcome as a sprawling instrumental that seems to take note from Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band or Fleetwood Mac’s high octane ‘The Chain’. Sure, it doesn’t offer the big singalong moment that the band are known for, but it was a statement that they were still spurring on, and they wouldn’t be tripped up by their own shadow or past selves.
‘Stop Crying Your Heart Out’ – Heathen Chemistry (2003)
By the time Heathen Chemistry came out in 2003, the band seemed to have got their mojo back. They had two new members, Andy Bell and Gem Archer, who were igniting some fresh energy into the group. They’d also been busy, splitting their time between recording the album and touring the world. Whether it was one or the other, or a combination of both, who knows? But suddenly, Oasis could write anthems again.
‘Stop Crying Your Heart Out’ is one of them. It feels like one of the few big, stadium-sized hits they managed to make after their early days. Now that the ‘90s were over and Britpop was all done, this angsty take on rock ballad feels like a moment of mourning for what had passed. Now, Oasis was set on finding their feet for the future.
‘Lyla’ – Don’t Believe The Truth (2005)
They needed that period of strange transition because by 2005, their feet were back on solid ground, their sound was back and bigger than ever, and their songwriting had recovered to its former glory.
‘Lyla’ sounds like it could have been on their debut, delivered with the same energy and unabashed rock and roll spirit that made them stars. It also gave the world another huge singalong moment, with “Hey Lyla” being screamed by sprawling crowds around the world and enduring as one of their catchiest and most beloved hits.
‘Falling Down’ – Dig Out Your Soul
The problem is that Oasis, really, should’ve stopped a lot earlier. By the late 2000s, they couldn’t hold onto themselves. Members were chopping and changing at every turn; the brothers were constantly spatting, and their songs just didn’t hold up in the way they used to.
However, Noel Gallagher could still deliver moments of greatness, with ‘Falling Down’ being one of them. If anything, it sounds more like what his solo projects would take shape as, with more of a moody edge than any of their earlier rough-and-ready rock and roll. Even the best of Dig Out Your Soul can’t hold a candle to the worst from their earlier albums, but the salad days were over, and even their last hurrah couldn’t save the band.
