Mr Viral
Aside from bringing people together, greatest hits also obscure the full extent of artists’ creative brilliance. It’s no secret that Robert Plant felt exhausted by the never-ending expectation from Led Zeppelin to perform ‘Stairway To Heaven’. Likewise, Thom Yorke has stated multiple times that he isn’t too pleased about ‘Creep’ being one of the first song titles attached to Radiohead’s identity given all that he’s accomplished as a songwriter.
Whereas bittersweethearts Oasis have always embraced their stardom as well as the blockbusters that vitalized it, there remains a large cohort outside Britain that still views them as a one-hit-wonder band. In addition to ‘Wonderwall’, the Manchester-bred outfit has a second tier of chart-toppers such as ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’, ‘All Around The World’ and ‘The Importance Of Being Idle’, that helped stretch their commercial success far past the visibility of the naked American eye.
Across seven albums, countless singles and non-stop bickering between the Brothers Gallagher, Oasis churned out one hit after another over their first eighteen years together. In light of their recently announced reunion tour scheduled to commence next summer, CLASH writer Karan Singh probes the band’s artistic ambit, selecting some of the group’s most compelling tracks that have never received their due shine.
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‘Bag It Up’ (‘Dig Out Your Soul’, 2008)
A straight-to-the-point, zero-nonsense rock cut that got overshadowed by the band’s messy split the year after its release, ‘Bag It Up’ epitomises Noel Gallagher’s rough-edged songwriting and Liam Gallagher’s vocal prowess. The song escalates with a vigour unlike the average Oasis tune, which is why Zak Starkey’s heavy handed drumming mustn’t be overlooked either.
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‘(Get Off Your) High Horse Lady’ (‘Dig Out Your Soul’, 2008)
‘Dig Out Your Soul‘ marked the last time Noel sang only a small fraction of the songs from an album written almost entirely by him, and ‘(Get Off Your) High Horse Lady’ demonstrates why he transitioned to full-time lead vocals soon after with such ease. By then, he had grown increasingly comfortable with the role, and his execution on said joint shows just how ready he was to start calling all the shots.
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‘Let There Be Love’ (‘Don’t Believe The Truth’, 2005)
Whereas ‘Acquiesce‘ is undoubtedly the most popular vocal back-and-forth between the Brothers Gallagher, ‘Let There Be Love’ is its gentle counterpart. Slower and softer, it showcases a more tender side to the lads that the public rarely got to witness amid the media’s fixation with their endearing loutishness.
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‘Love Like A Bomb’ (‘Don’t Believe The Truth’, 2005)
While Noel was inching closer and closer to the microphone with each passing year, Liam was simultaneously honing his pen game. Written in partnership with guitarist Gem Archer, ‘Love Like A Bomb’ saw Gallagher Jr. distinguishing himself as a composer, since he too was starting to imagine a career wherein he didn’t always have to rely on his sibling.
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‘Guess God Thinks I’m Abel’ (‘Don’t Believe The Truth’, 2005)
Liam has a total of three songwriting credits on ‘Don’t Believe The Truth‘ – arguably his most successful set as a creator during his run with Oasis. In a manner similar to ‘Love Like A Bomb’, straightforward and uncomplicated songs like ‘Guess God Thinks I’m Abel’ have a special place in the thick of track lists with a lot going on.
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‘I Can See A Liar’ (‘Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants’, 2000)
Brisk, noisy and mucky, ‘I Can See A Liar’ is a specimen of what is perhaps the most underrepresented side of Oasis. Though the group has always been known best for easy, melodic rock songs that are irresistible to sing along with, they also have a handful of purposefully untidy ones that deserve more time.
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‘Little James’ (‘Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants’, 2000)
After voicing three highly-successful LPs over the ’90s, Liam kickstarted the ongoing millennium by writing his first-ever number. Even though his marriage to British actress and singer Patsy Kensit was nearing its end around that time, he placed her son James at the centre of what has in hindsight become a pivotal moment of his career.
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‘I Hope, I Think, I Know’ (‘Be Here Now’, 1997)
Oasis were mass producing pop-rock songs left, right and centre during Britpop’s heyday, but some didn’t quite make it past the periphery of the spotlight. For example, ‘I Hope, I Think, I Know’ is the perfect radio song that never received enough airplay or media recognition to position it beside other songs of its calibre.
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‘Fade In-Out’ (‘Be Here Now’, 1997)
In addition to featuring some of the catchiest guitar work and vocals by the Brothers Gallagher, ‘Fade In-Out’ also displays how NG had mastered the art of writing nonsense lyrics but still making it all sound exceptionally cool: “Get on the helter skelter, bowl into the fray / You gotta be bad enough to beat the brave.” How this one isn’t talked about more remains a mystery.
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‘Magic Pie’ (‘Be Here Now’, 1997)
The average Oasis fan has a greater appreciation for ‘Be Here Now‘ than Noel, who wrote every one of its songs. He has gone on record countless times to trash the album’s disorderly, overindulgent sessions, even though that is precisely what makes it such an absorbing riot. ‘Magic Pie’, for instance, does indeed go on forever, which would’ve been a problem had it not sounded as phenomenal as it did unregulated.
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