Oasis’ new best-of, ‘Stop the Clocks’, has me flying a plane in my big mouth. Not that I strictly need it - I already own every Oasis album and a billion singles - but the sheer concept of an Oasis greatest hits compilation is absolutely biblical.
Some might say Oasis are over the hill; has-beens who should make way for gonna-bes.
Well, stop the clocks indeed. Don’t Believe the Truth firmly put paid to the disaster that was the great rock and roll swindle (Be Here Now), picked up exactly where Heathen Chemistry hinted the band had rebirthed, and firmly stomped Oasis back to number one all around the world.
Oasis are the best band in the world and that’s a fact, Jacky Brown.
No band since 1994 has consistently released such top-tier output, especially in terms of the singles. The songwriting is superb, though granted, their delivery has not always been. A brilliant collision of all Who have been before, infused with a little bit of stolen Teen Spirit, meant Oasis were the absolute bomb. They needed each other as much as fans like me needed them.
Stop the Clocks will easily stack up as one of the greatest best-of albums ever pressed. In my blatantly subjective and entirely biased opinion, it rates right up there with Michael Jackson’s HIStory, The Beatles’ 1, and the Eagles. Anthems like Wonderwall, Live Forever, Lyla, Slide Away, Songbird, The Importance of Being Idle, and The Masterplan make it so.
In a commanding, Captain Picard kind of way.
The fact that Stop the Clocks will completely omit heavy hitters like Roll With It, Stand by Me, D’yer Know What I Mean? or Whatever speaks absolute volumes as to the staggering quality of the songs that actually made the cut.
The thing about Oasis has always been their B-sides. They are blatantly better than most bands' A-sides. And thus, The Masterplan is rightfully treated like the alternate National Anthem in Britain and absolutely deserves its place on this album.
So, all you Oasis haters out there can go listen to your Gnarls Barkley and your emo crap. People who actually know what music is supposed to sound like—and how it's supposed to make you feel—will have their heads down to the record store next week to grab a copy.
That’s exactly what a space man would do, as he drives in his Jaguar.
D’yer know what I mean?
Extra for Experts:
- U2 has a great suite of B-sides as well.
- Go on son, Dig Out Your Soul.
