Tracks 9 and 10 from Be Here Now (1997)

Tracks 11 and 12 from The Masterplan (1998)

Obviously, they're a classic example of a group that peaked early, but I found some good tracks in the later albums. They definitely went off a cliff on Be Here Now but recovered a little bit. By that point, though, Guigsy and Bonehead had left, and certainly Oasis doesn't quite have the same loutish charm without guys named Guigsy and Bonehead in the band. The 7/8 verses on "The Meaning Of Soul" were a nice surprise, I didn't know they had something like that in them. In America, I can appreciate Oasis as just another '90s band with some good songs, but in the UK they were the '90s band, which is kind of depressing, just imagining a monoculture with them at the center. 

I suppose the eternal debate is between Definitely Maybe and Morning Glory, and while the latter is a little more hits-and-filler, I think the change of drummers gives the edge to Morning Glory, and "Cast No Shadow" and "Hey Now!" are personal favorites. As a Mellotron superfan, I am obliged to point out that "Cast No Shadow" has some really nice Mellotron on it. I once wrote a Spin piece about albums where a new drummer had a big impact on the band's sound, and cited the great story that Alan White walked out of an early Oasis gig because the drumming sucked, and then got to replace Tony McCarroll a year or two later. And Alan White totally makes "Wonderwall," that is not the same track without him. Walmart declined to sell Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants because of the track "Fuckin' In The Bushes," which is a little different than what happened with Sheryl Crow and much more hilarious. 

I love the tradition of '80s and '90s alternative bands having b-sides compilations that are as good as some of their proper albums, and Oasis's The Masterplan is a classic of the form. My favorite Oasis single is "Don't Look Back In Anger," and while I wouldn't go so far as to say Noel should've sang lead on all the songs instead of Liam, I like the contrast between their voices, and The Masterplan has several excellent Noel vocals, including "Talk Tonight" and "Half A World Away," which also appeared on the band's biggest-selling best-of album, Stop The Clocks. The 6-minute live "I Am The Walrus" cover feels a bit unnecessary, though. Oasis covering The Beatles in general just feels like a hat on a hat.