Oasis Archives

From what I’ve been told the new Oasis record is done and (the people I know who heard it said) it’s less song oriented, more psychedelic, grooves more and is really fucking good. I can’t wait to hear it.

Via The Tripwire, I see that the Brothers Gallagher have placed 1 and 2 in the poll of the top 50 Best Ever British Albums put on by Q Magazine and HMV. I also took great pleasure in seeing that Blur placed no higher than 25th for Parklife, proving once again that while that fookin' poof Albarn may be the critic's darling, Liam and Noel are the men of the people. All you need to do to get an understanding why is listen to this fantastic All Back to Mine BBC program recorded with Noel back in 1997 . Noel seems like someone you could go down the the corner pub and have a pint with, while even Dan Abnormal admits his own bands hates his guts.

Some other surprises (pleasant and otherwise); Keane placing twice in the top 13, The Manics The Holy Bible, Songs of Faith and Devotion from Depeche Mode, only one album for The Who and no New Order.

Here's the Top Five, full list after the jump.

01. Definitely Maybe Oasis
02. (What's The Story) Morning Glory? Oasis
03. OK Computer Radiohead
04. Revolver The Beatles
05. The Stone Roses The Stone Roses

I am scheduled for 7.5 hours of meetings today, so here are some Oasis MP3's to gently remind you that their tour documentary DVD Lord Don't Slow Me Down was released yesterday.

[MP3] Oasis | It's Good To Be Free (Live)

[MP3] Oasis | Just Getting Older

[MP3] Oasis | Pass Me Down The Wine

Above is the new "video" for the Oasis tune "Lord Don't Slow Me Down," which, in my humble opinion, is one of the best songs they've done in ages. It's "The Swamp Song" with lyrics.

This video release coincides with the upcoming release of the DVD tour documentary and digital single, the band's first, all bearing the same name. The new song will be available by itself or as a bundle with "The Meaning Of Soul" (Live @ City of Manchester Stadium) & "Don't Look Back In Anger" (Live @ City of Manchester Stadium). The tracks are on sale on Oct. 21st and the DVD on Nov. 6th.

The DVD will include:
Disc One:
-Feature length documentary tour film 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down' in stereo and surround sound.
-Bonus audio commentary - Noel, Liam, Andy and Gem guide you through the film with their recollections of the tour.
-A Noel Gallagher Q&A session with fans runs alongside out-takes from the film.

Bonus Disc:
-Oasis live at City of Manchester Stadium on 2nd July 2005 - sixteen classic tracks shot in HD with stereo and surround sound.
-Bonus Disc also features unique footage and pictures sent in by fans who attended the concert.

Head over to the official Oasis site for ordering details.

I'm getting the DVD just so I can watch this over and over:

Our kid turns 35 today. I hope he's havin' it LARGE!

[MP3] Oasis | Up In The Sky (Acoustic) - This is without a doubt the best version of this song I have ever heard.

These pictures of Noel and The Incredible Durst (aka Greybeard McGillicudy) have absolutely nothing to do with my long rumored Oasis post below, but since they are from the year 2000, it's high time they made their way onto the intertubenets. I took these when I was stalking Noel backstage at the 2000 Reading Festival. He had just finished giving a TV interview when Durst came up and asked him for an autograph, that being the little white piece of paper Fred's clutching.

Now then, where was I? Oh yeah. I've had the Oasis "collection" Stop The Clocks for a while now, and while it's wonderful to have all those hits on a two disc set, I find myself thinking more about all the songs that were left off the album. Outside the no-brainers, Noel got a few things right - "Slide Away," "Songbird" - but there were too many misses on there - "Half The World Away," "The Importance Of Being Idle" - for it to be the definitive Oasis collection, at least as far as I'm concerned. I am one of the biggest Oasis fans ever, but many of the big hits leave me wanting more. It's the album tracks that do it for me. So I made a mix of the best songs that were left off Stop The Clocks and overall, at least for me, it's much more fun to listen to.

The Swamp Song
The Hindu Times (above)
A Bell Will Ring | Live, Summersonic Festival, Osaka 2005
Columbia | Live at Knebworth, 8/11/1996
It s Getting Better (Man!!) | Live at Air Studios, 1997
Cigarettes & Alcohol | Live , Glasgow Barrowlands 2001
Stop Crying Your Heart Out | Live 2002
Roll With It | "Live", Top of the Pops (With Noel on vocals and Liam on guitar. Classic.)
Turn Up The Sun | Live, Manchester 2005
Cast No Shadow | Noel, Live
Love Like a Bomb | Live on TV
Hello | Live at Glastonbury, 1995
D'You Know What I Mean? | Video
I Can See A Liar | Live on Letterman
Stand By Me | Noel & Liam acoustic
Lord Don't Slow Me Down

To me, this is a much better collection of Oasis songs in the way that Extras is the perfect companion album to The Jam's Greatest Hits. It fills in the blanks for anyone that doesn't want to go back and buy (or download) all their albums. I mostly stayed away from the b-sides because they've already been collected and showcased and there are so many great album tracks and leftover singles to choose from. It's a fucking travesty that "The Hindu Times" wasn't on Stop The Clocks. It's one of the best songs Noel has ever written (especially if you've ever heard the horrible original version, which was all about how he hated Meg). Watch the video footage above and tell me you don't want to be in the middle of Wembley pouring beer all over yourself while you sing along to that song. Ditto for "D'You Know What I Mean?"

"Columbia" wasn't the first Oasis song I ever heard, but the first one that really grabbed me, mostly because of the way Liam sings "There we were, noweeeehaweeeeahhhhh". You're fooling yourself if you don't think "Love Like A Bomb" is the best track off of Don't Believe The Truth. It's scary to think that five years from now Liam could be the band's chief songwriter, or at least Noel's equal. "Hello" is a criminally underlooked track from Morning Glory. Maroon 5 liked it so much they covered it live. Yes, it's as bad as you think it would be. Worse. And I'm sure anyone that's heard the full version of "Lord Don't Slow Me Down" will tell you it's quite simply the best thing they've done in ages.

Now that I think about it, it's clear why Oasis isn't on the same level as they were in their mid-to-late 90's heyday. Aside from the obvious things, marriage, money, fame, etc. that is. They haven't written a decent slow jam in 10 years. "Don't Go Away" and "Stand By Me" were their last good ones. They still write corking stadium suitable rock anthems, but it's the slower songs like "Wonderwall" and even "Champagne Supernova" that gave the band their crossover success, especially here in the States.

And while Oasis was slipping, other bands took notice and copied what the band was doing and ran with it. Travis famously asked "What's a Wonderwall anyways?" on their record The Man Who, but what is that record but stripped down Wonderwall- influenced, acoustic flavored rock? They've made a career out of copying Noel (and for the record, I'm a fan). Coldplay took the same formula, added some piano and applied it to their music for the masses. Songs like "The Hindu Times" give Liam a chance to show his stuff, but it will never be as popular as "Don't Look Back In Anger."

I'd venture a guess that the reason Noel can't write the slow hits anymore is that he's a) rich and b) divorced. He writes rich man's rock now. He has anything his heart desires. It must be hard to write songs for the common man when you reach that point. Which is why Liam will be the one to push this band forward. He's still honing his song writing craft, and after comparing "Little James" to "Love Like A Bomb" or "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel," it's hard not to be excited about Oasis album number seven.

I don't want to keep hyping my forthcoming Oasis post too much for fear that it'll just end up being a letdown, but it's coming. But not today. I got a bit sidetracked last night when, during my research for said post, I came across the following on Youtube. Behold video of the very first Oasis show on American soil last show on their first ever American tour, the October 29th, 1994 gig at the Wetlands Preserve in NYC (capacity 500). [Editor's note - As reader Ian kindly points out, my reading comprehension skills are somewhat lacking. While the band's first ever US show was at the Wetlands, it was on July 21, 1994. Me read good one day]

Holy fucking shit. Does it blow everyone else's mind that they were ready for much, much bigger venues at this point, just three years and 50+ gigs in?

WOW.

Stuff like this, quite frankly, is what video iPods were made for.

1) Rock n Roll Star
2) Columbia (above)
3) Fade Away
4) Digsy's Dinner
5) Shakermaker
6) Live Forever
7) Bring It On Down
8) Up In The Sky
9) Slide Away
10) Cigaretes & Alcohol
11) Married With Children
12) Supersonic
13) I Am The Walrus
14) Rock N Roll Star (Encore)

Two photos of Noel from the L.A. gig. And two photos of Gem.

Video from the Wadsworth gig:
Wonderwall
Don't Look Back In Anger
More Don't Look Back In Anger
Strawberry Fields Forever
Talk Tonight (not so good)

Fuelfriends has the entire Toronto show in MP3 format for you to download.

And here is some video from Noel & Gem's performance at the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto:
Wonderwall
Whatever
Listen Up (note the guy saying "What the fuck is this?" at the start of the song followed by the "Oh My God!" when he recognizes it. Well said. LOVE this slowed down version. Gem sounds wonderful.)
Married With Children
Talk Tonight
Fade Away
It's Good To Be Free
The Importance Of Being Idle

I really regret not spending the 2k it would have taken to see this show (I doubt Noel will ever do anything like this again, at least not before he enters his Paul Weller/wise-old-sage period after the band finally breaks up for good), but at the same time, if I would have gone, I think I would have peed myself in public in front of alot of people. I've only heard "Listen Up" once, at Jones Beach on the tour Oasis did with the Manic Street Preachers and Screaming Trees (Liam called them the "The Barking Branches") and when they played it, I started jumping up and down and screaming like I was at an 'Nysnc show and all my friends started inching away from me and acting like they didn't know who I was. *shrug*

Buddyhead has all sorts of clips from the forthcoming Lord Don't Slow Me Down, but this one of Liam dancing is my favorite:

Yay for the Oasis media onslaught! Thanks to everyone emailing me with all these links.

Here's the setlist from Noel and Gem's gig in L.A.:

'(It's Good) To Be Free'
'Talk Tonight'
'Fade Away'
'Cast No Shadow'
'The Importance of Being Idle'
'Listen Up'
'Half the World Away'
'Wonderwall'
'Whatever'
'Slide Away'
'Strawberry Fields Forever'
'Don't Look Back in Anger'
'Married With Children'

Again. Wow. Opening shows with three of my favorite B-Sides ever is so best. Untold riches and treats for anyone that can get me a decent copy of this show.

Here's the definitive version of "Talk Tonight," performed by Noel with some bloke named Paul Weller on keys and backing vocals. I'll have more on Noel and Weller in the very near future.

On 13th November 2006 in the UK Oasis release a brand new collectors EP of classic songs. The EP is led by "Acquiesce," for many the finest Oasis song never to be a single, and book-ended by "The Masterplan," the masterful b side to "Wonderwall" released a decade ago. Also included on the EP are never before heard recordings of "Cigarettes and Alcohol" and "Some Might Say," that were unearthed during the mastering of the forthcoming Best Of album. The EP is available only as a one-off collectors edition CD and Double gatefold 7” including an exclusive sheet of stickers:

Tracklisting:
Acquiesce
Cigarettes and Alcohol (demo version)
Some Might Say (live in 1995, venue unknown)
The Masterplan

Stickers! Ummmmm.....