Oasis - Stop The Clocks

Well, let's dispense with the obvious flaw at the outset, shall we? There is absolutely no need for this record to exist other than to pull in a few extra quid for the Gallagher brothers. They will claim it's the "end of the first phase" of their career but I mean, come on. It is commercial fan rip-off bullshit. But, let's just take that "end of a phase" thing and run with it for the purposes of reviewing the generation defining music that lies within.

For while it should be agreed that not only is this commercialised bullshit and indeed, not the best 18 Oasis songs there are, it just doesn't really matter. Listening to this music again reminds you that your tastes weren't all fucked up in the mire of Britpop mediocrity. Oasis really were the real deal, they really were, if only for about 3 years, the best band in the World.

Fair enough again that the later songs on here pale in comparison to what came before. Even the cocaine-overload of Be Here Now's whirlwind expanse sounds great and, with hindsight's benefit, can be lumped in with Blur and This Is Hardcore as the albums that killed Britpop and did you a mighty service by taking your musical brain out the way before you were seduced by Shed Seven or, god forbid, Ocean Colour Scene. The latter songs though, despite some flaws and a lack of balls-out vigour that typified their early work, still stand up quite well. The swirling 'Go Let It Out' and the simplistic strum of 'Songbird' have a certain magic to them that comes from the conviction the brothers put into all their finest work.

That 14 of the 18 tracks here come from the 90s says much about the self-awareness Noel still has about his own music and while a smattering more from later records would have given a fairer musical overview, in terms of their prevailing legend and reputation, what lies here is what it rests upon. And what a legend it will be when its looked back upon.

Their greatest work, 'Live Forever', 'Rock N Roll Star', 'Cigarettes And Alcohol' rang triumphant in a post-Cobain world of disillusionment and pessimism. After the tragic star's denouement of popularity, here stood two youngsters from Manchester, fists held high and brains buzzing on cheap coke n pills, bellowing back that being a rock n roll star was fucking ace. 'Live Forever' especially has aged wonderfully, a paradoxic blend of age and youth and a giant 'Fuck You' to the grunge age. Definitely Maybe itself now seems a rallying call to Britains youth to get back to their roots and listen to songs that rock n roll was invented to hear. Songs of protest, not political but social, that a generation heard like never before. It's no accident of osmosis that you feel like you know these songs, you know them because Noel Gallagher seemed back then to have a near supernatural ability to sing about what you wanted to hear; getting high and playing in a rockin' band and everyone listened.

Where he truly earned his stripes as a songwriter though, was with the astonishing 'Wonderwall'. Alex James of Blur, speaking after beating Oasis to No. 1 with 'Country House', said he knew the second he heard it that "we won the battle, but they were gonna win the war". He wasn't wrong. That incessant, loping acoustic strum set to nonsensical yet utterly straightforward lyrics became, and remains an anthem of modern love and a exemplary example of songwriting economy that would disappear in a fug of chemical soon after. 'Don't Look Back In Anger' settled it with its mass yell-along while the utterly ridiculous grandiosity of 'Champagne Supernova' was the culmination of that era. Only two records maybe, but still an era of music contained within.

The lovely b-sides 'Half The World Away' and 'Talk Tonight' still have a lightness of touch unexpected in Gallagher but the lack of anything from Be Here Now disappoints as the complete coke-insanity of 'D'Ya Know What I Mean' sounds really good now while 'Part of the Queue' from Don't Believe The Truth (an underrated record indeed) was a step towards the maturity we'd all hoped to hear.

But it makes little difference. If you're of a certain age, you'll remember how important this band was, how good they were, and don't have to feel bad about it. This is another class and, while there is no need to buy it whatsoever (even the single-only 'Whatever' is culled), relistening to these songs is a joy all should experience.

Oasis - Stop The Clocks
Key Tracks - 'Wonderwall', 'Live Forever', 'Champagne Supernova'
Platt Rating - 0/10 for its existence but 9/10 for the music it houses.