‘The Masterplan’: The Oasis song their label thought was “too good”
Oasis was never exactly a band lacking in confidence.
Throughout every facet of their career, they knew they were one of the biggest bands on Earth, and they knew it would only take a few years before the rest of the world agreed with them. But Noel Gallagher could admit when some of the quality control started to become ridiculous when the label needed a few more songs to fill out their singles.
Because when looking at the legend of Oasis, a handful of their greatest tunes were reserved for the B-sides over everything else. There’s a reason why ‘Supersonic’ and ‘Wonderwall’ would become the biggest tracks in their catalogue, but the thought of throwing out songs like ‘Half the World Away’ or ‘Acquiesce’ as a B-side would have been completely unthinkable for any other group at the time.
Those were supposed to be odds and ends, but for Noel, they were simply the next song that the band needed to get everything going. Even if they had stuck with being a singles act throughout the majority of their career, the Be Here Now-era songs would still be the greatest material of their career, especially putting a song like ‘Going Nowhere’ on the flipside to ‘Stand By Me’.
But if the Definitely Maybe B-sides were a bit more rough around the edges, What’s the Story Morning Glory was the one era where every piece of their studio output was bigger than anything else they could have made. And for as much as people like to fawn over a song like ‘Champagne Supernova’ or even ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’, ‘The Masterplan’ holds the title of one of the finest that Noel ever wrote.
From the string section coming in during the intro to the knockout chorus, Noel remembered even getting pushback from the label when he talked about releasing it as a B-side, saying, “I said ‘You told me to write B-sides, and that’s what I’ve done’. But they’re like, ‘It’s too good’. And I said, ‘Well, I don’t write shit songs’. Fast forward a few more years, and I said, ‘Can we put ‘Masterplan’ out as a single.”
And for all the animosity the brothers had during that time, biographer Paolo Hewitt remembered Liam being absolutely gobsmacked listening to the track. He was already having it out with his brother in the hours leading up to the session, Hewitt remembered Liam turning around to producer Owen Morris, only to say, “This is as good as any Beatles song. And it’s a B-side. How fucking top is that?”
While the harmony might not be as complex as some of the Fab Four’s greatest works or anything, Noel was always a master at making the most out of the simple chords that everyone starts out learning on the guitar and while he could have easily tried to get away with making any standard rock and roll song, but every piece of the tune was about making melodies that were bound to last long after the band has disappeared.
Because while the song ‘Live Forever’ is a nice sentiment, the only way that becomes a reality is when you capture the kind of energy that everyone can relate to. And with only a few chords and a ton of heart, Noel took the basis of what every starry-eyed kid was thinking and channelled it into one of the best tunes of the 1990s.
