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You get a lot of Definitely Maybe. In fact, you get most of it.
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You get a lot of Definitely Maybe. In fact, you get most of it.
Oasis used to be big you know. They used to mean something. I can’t remember what that was exactly, but they used to be a good band. They used to make good records. Well, they made a couple of them. Then they snorted too much coke, made a ridiculous third album, sacked half the band and made a bunch of mediocre albums after that. So mediocre in fact that Noel even let Liam write a couple of tunes.
The Oasis story has been a long one and a very loud one. You all know it, they’re never out of the papers. The brothers Gallagher still make for great interview copy but they’ve fallen into that horrendous Rolling Stones bracket far too quickly for my liking. You know what I mean, their albums don’t count any more on any artistic level but they’re still considered to be a “Great live band.” That may be true, but the Rolling Stones had a good fifteen years before they started to turn out the trash. This is a Greatest Hits album and it should serve as a quick snapshot of the Oasis story, a quick summary of all their highs, lows and all the trials and tribulations in between and it does that quite well.
You get a lot of Definitely Maybe. In fact, you get most of it. You get a good helping of What’s The Story Morning Glory, although I think Noel left Cast No Shadow off just to be an arse. That wouldn’t bee too bad but the bastard left Lyla in. That may stop Liam having a hissy fit but come on! GREATEST HITS lads. Think about it! You do get Masterplan, which is still the greatest thing they’ve ever done and the marvellous Acquiesce, but you also get Songbird.
As a compilation album it’s pretty fucking cool to be honest. They’re a band that still sound great down the pub and this would be a good soundtrack to one hell of a Bank Holiday booze up, but in the end what we have here is the story of a band that put their heart and soul into their first album. They got everything they ever wanted and more with their second. They shoved their heads up their own arses for the third and then sat around wondering what the fucking hell to do with themselves after that. That’s not euphoric, that’s sad and depressing. It’s like that story about the heavyweight boxer. He spent his whole life wanting to be world champion. Every day, that’s all he aimed for. Then he got it, he won the title. He woke up the next day and thought, “Oh shit, what do I do now.” As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for. But hey, let’s not get too down about things, they’re still a great live band. Apparently.
Words: Damian Leslie