The best song from every Oasis album

Despite the band’s history being riddled with infighting and drama, Oasis still managed to deliver more than their fair share of anthems. Whether they were busy feuding with Blur during the Britpop wars or at each other’s throats with the Gallagher brothers, they managed to put it aside and focus on giving the world hit after hit. Songs like ‘Wonderwall’, ‘Roll With It’ and ‘Supersonic’ remain some of rock’s most beloved songs, still regularly heard by music fans who sing along to every word.

But are those hits their best tracks? Every album has winners and losers. Some Oasis albums are veritable treasure troves where every song is gold, while others require a little more digging to find their greatness. Given the gleaming jewel on each LP, these are the best tracks from each release.

The best song from every Oasis album:

‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ – Maybe (1994)

For their debut album, Oasis showed their power and potential in an overwhelming way. Maybe was not only the birth of a legendary band, but also of a whole new era. Some even argue that the origins of Britpop date back to the record’s release. The songs include hits that have become timeless anthems, such as ‘Live Forever’, ‘Supersonic’ and ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’. It seems like an impossible task to choose the best songs ever.

But let’s start at the beginning, shall we? It feels like no song defines the spirit of Oasis quite like “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star.” Because that’s exactly what the Gallagher brothers called themselves, the song functions as a mission statement of an opening remark. It marked the glorious return of raw, gobby, all-out rock ‘n’ roll in the UK and established Oasis as the leaders.

“Don’t look back in anger” – (What’s the story) Morning Glory? (1995)

There are no misses on (What’s the story) Morning Glory? Oasis certainly didn’t stumble over the tricky second album hurdle that plagues so many bands. Instead, they leapt over it and took their quality to the next level with a second release that not only cemented their stardom but also shot it into the ether.

Once again, it’s a record full of hits and the quality is consistent throughout. But ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ stands out as something very special. It provides a huge sing-along moment that rock fans still can’t get enough of, throwing their arms in the air to wail “and soooo Sally can wait” at every chance they get. But at the same time, if you give them your attention, the lyrics are full of nuance and poetic flair. Noel Gallagher really proves his mettle with this one, as the song is full of nods to his heroes, musings on fame and a unique vantage point on the lofty feelings of regret, moving on and growing up. “Please don’t put your life in the hands / Of a rock ‘n’ roll band / Who’ll throw it all away,” they sing as a nod to their previous album, but also as a beautifully prophetic sign of things to come…

“It gets better (Man!!)” – Be here now (1997)

Be here now was an album that the general public loved. Its release, following the band’s two previous albums and the boost to their reputation that the entire Britpop era had brought, was frantically anticipated, with even news outlets reporting on the enthusiastic scramble of fans to get their hands on it. However, if the album has one hater, it’s Noel Gallagher.

“Everyone says, ‘It’s brilliant!’” he recalled. NME“And right towards the end, when we were doing the mix, I thought to myself, ‘Hmmm, I don’t know what to do anymore.'” For him, it’s a failure in their discography, as he himself admitted: “It’s just not right.”

But “It’s Getting Better (Man!!)” feels like a stroke of genius among a number of forgettable songs. At an extended seven-minute runtime, it went far beyond the band’s typical radio-ready rock ‘n’ roll hit, built on four chords and a dream. For perhaps the first time in their career, the group showed real musical prowess and a forward-looking vision. It was a statement that they were ready to experiment.

‘Talk tonight’ – the master plan (1998)

OK, the master plan is not an official album, but because it consists entirely of unheard tracks, was released while the band was still in their early stages, and is largely considered an essential part of their discography, it counts. Regardless, Talk Tonight deserves a spot among the best tracks to celebrate the song that feels like Noel Gallagher’s best lyric.

“Talk Tonight” is something special, just like the story that inspired it. After a disastrous performance and a huge fight with his brother, Noel was ready to quit when he met a random girl backstage, Melissa Lim. In a moment of complete desperation and confusion, he clung to her and hid at her house while she stopped him from breaking up the band. “I wasn’t going to let it happen while I was waiting. I told him, ‘You can’t leave the band — you’re on the cusp of something big,’” she said in an interview.

“I wanna talk tonight / Until the morning light / About how you saved my life,” Gallagher sings on what is undeniably one of the band’s most beautiful songs.

‘Fuckin’ In The Bushes’ – Standing on the shoulders of giants (2000)

As the battle between Liam and Noel reached new heights, the music suffered. By the turn of the millennium, let’s be honest, the band was already over. When founder Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs suddenly quit, things never recovered, or at least were bumpy for a while.

However, amid a season of uncertainty for the group, and although their lyrics were quite weak, ‘Fuckin’ In The Bushes’ is a unique moment of greatness. If Be here now was the announcement that the band was ready to experiment, this was the result as an expanding instrumental that seems to hearken to Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band or Fleetwood Mac’s high-octane ‘The Chain’. Sure, it doesn’t offer the big sing-along moment the band is known for, but it was a statement they were still working on, and they weren’t going to trip over their own shadows or former selves.

‘Stop crying’ – Pagan Chemistry (2003)

By the time Pagan Chemistry came out in 2003, the band seemed to have their mojo back. They had two new members, Andy Bell and Gem Archer, who gave the group some new energy. They had also been busy, splitting their time between recording the album and touring the world. Whether it was one or the other, or a combination of both, who knows? But suddenly Oasis were writing anthems again.

‘Stop Crying Your Heart Out’ is one of them. It feels like one of the few big, stadium-sized hits they managed to make after their early years. Now that the ’90s are over and Britpop is dead, this angsty take on a rock ballad feels like a moment of mourning for what happened. Now Oasis were determined to find their way forward.

‘Lyla’ – Don’t believe the truth (2005)

They needed that strange transition period, because by 2005 they had both feet on the ground again, their sound was back and bigger than ever and their songwriting had been restored to its former glory.

‘Lyla’ sounds like it could have been their debut, delivered with the same energy and unapologetic rock ‘n’ roll spirit that made them stars. It also gave the world a huge sing-along moment, with “Hey Lyla” being shouted by vast crowds around the world and remains one of their most infectious and beloved hits.

‘Falling down’ – Excavating your soul

The problem is that Oasis should have stopped a long time ago. By the late 2000s, they couldn’t hold on to themselves anymore. Members were changing and changing all the time; the brothers were constantly spitting, and their numbers just weren’t holding up like they used to.

Noel Gallagher could still deliver moments of greatness, however, with ‘Falling Down’ being one of them. It sounds more like what his solo projects would become, with more of a moody edge than their earlier gritty rock ‘n’ roll. Even the best of Excavating your soul can’t match the worst of their previous albums, but the glory days were over and even their latest success couldn’t save the band.

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