They wanted to be bigger than The Beatles and louder than the Sex Pistols. Whether they succeeded is for you to decide, but the fact remains that Noel and Liam Gallagher defined Britpop with a mix of arrogance, parkas, and melodies so simple they seemed as if they had always existed. Their music was the sound of the working class winning the lottery and deciding to spend it all that same night.
10. Some Might Say
The Oasis craze began with Some Might Say. This was their first number 1 hit in England and marks the point where they transformed from indie promise to national phenomenon. The production is a chaos of overdriven guitars; it sounds as if the whole band is trying to storm through the same narrow doorway at once. Liam sings the cryptic lyrics (“Standing at the station, in need of education”) with a disdain only he can sell.
9. Rock ‘n’ Roll Star
Most bands wait until they are famous to sing about fame. Oasis opened their debut album with it. It is a bold mission statement from a group of unemployed lads from Manchester who decided they were gods long before the world agreed. The message is simple: it doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, in your head, you are the king.
8. Cigarettes & Alcohol
Noel Gallagher stole the riff from T. Rex’s Get It On, turned the amps up to eleven, and wrote an anthem for everyone stuck in a dead-end job. It is raw, coarse, and unapologetic. While grunge in America focused on self-loathing, this track was about escape through hedonism. “Is it worth the aggravation to find yourself a job when there’s nothing worth working for?” It is social criticism wrapped in one of the dirtiest grooves the 90s produced.
7. The Masterplan
It is incomprehensible that this song was tucked away as a B-side. Noel later admitted he was too young and arrogant to realize you should save such good songs for an album. It is a grand, orchestral piece that reveals a brilliant songwriter behind the bravado. The melancholic brass and lyrics about fate make this one of the most mature and timeless compositions in their catalog.
6. Supersonic
Written and recorded in a single session while the rest of the band went to get Chinese food. The debut from Oasis doesn’t sound like a starting band searching for direction, but like a group that knows exactly who they are. The lyrics make no sense (“I know a girl called Elsa, she’s into Alka Seltzer”), but through Liam’s lazy, dragging vocals, it sounds like the ultimate truth. The guitar solo at the end is as simple as it is effective: pure attitude in audio form.
5. Slide Away
Ask a die-hard Oasis fan for their favorite, and chances are they’ll name this one. It is a rare moment where the bravado drops and pure desperation remains. Liam delivers perhaps the best vocal performance of his life here; you can hear his voice almost tearing with longing as he screams “I don’t know, I don’t care, all I know is you can take me there.”
4. Champagne Supernova
The closer of (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? is a seven-minute psychedelic trip. Featuring Paul Weller (The Jam) on guitar, the song builds slowly from lapping waves to a massive climax. The lyrics are pure nonsense poetry (“Slowly walking down the hall, faster than a cannonball”), but in the context of the music, they feel profound. It is the sound of a band standing on top of the world looking at the stars, just before the hangover begins.
3. Wonderwall
There is no getting around it. It has been played to death, every busker plays it, and Liam hated the song. Yet Wonderwall is perfection. The cello, the simple drumbeat hanging just behind the count, and that acoustic guitar everyone recognizes after one strike. It changed Oasis from a popular rock band into a global phenomenon that even broke into the American charts.
2. Don’t Look Back in Anger
This was the moment Noel stepped out of his brother’s shadow and claimed the microphone. With a piano intro that shamelessly winks at John Lennon’s Imagine, he created the ultimate stadium anthem. It is a song made for the masses: a chorus designed to be bellowed by ten thousand people at once with a beer in hand. “So Sally can wait.” No one knows who Sally is, but everyone is waiting for her.
1. Live Forever
In a time when Kurt Cobain sang about hating himself and wanting to die, Noel Gallagher wrote this song as a counter-reaction. “I wanna live, I don’t wanna die.” It is optimism born out of the gray reality of the working class. The melody is euphoric, the drumbeat is iconic, and the guitar solo halfway through feels like being lifted up. It is more than a song; it is the essence of why Oasis was so important. They gave people the feeling that life, despite everything, was worth celebrating grandly.
