The best song from every Oasis album

Although the band’s history has been marked by internal disputes and drama, Oasis have still delivered more than their fair share of anthems. Whether it was feuding with Blur during the Battle of Britpop or the Gallagher brothers at each other’s throats, they still managed to put it all aside and focus on giving the world one hit after another. Tracks like ‘Wonderwall’, ‘Roll With It’ and ‘Supersonic’ remain some of rock’s most popular songs, still regularly heard by music fans who sing along to every word.

But are these hits their best tracks? Every album has its winners and losers. Some Oasis albums are treasure troves where every song is gold, while others require you to dig a little deeper to find the greatness. These are the best tracks on each release, considering the shiniest jewel on each LP.

The best song from every Oasis album:

“Rock’n’Roll Star” – Definitely maybe (1994)

With their debut album, Oasis delivered an absolutely brilliant tour full of power and potential. Definitely maybe was not only the birth of a legendary band, but of an entirely new era, with some tracing the origins of Britpop back to the moment the record was released. The record includes hits that have become timeless anthems, such as “Live Forever,” “Supersonic,” and “Cigarettes and Alcohol,” and it seems like an impossible task to choose the best of their all-time best.

But let’s start at the beginning, shall we? It seems that there is no song that defines the spirit of Oasis like “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star”. Since that is exactly what the Gallagher brothers declared themselves to be, the song acts as a mission statement for an opening speech. It marked the glorious return to rough, raw, uncompromising rock’n’roll in Britain and established Oasis as a leading band.

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

There are no failures on (What’s the story) Morning Glory? Oasis certainly didn’t fall at the tricky second album hurdle that bedevils so many bands. Instead, they leapt over it and upped their quality for a second release that not only confirmed their star status, but catapulted it into the airwaves.

Once again, it’s a record full of hits, and the quality is consistent on every track. But “Don’t Look Back In Anger” stands out as something truly special. It offers a huge sing-along moment that rock fans still haven’t tired of, throwing their arms in the air to wail “and soooo Sally can wait” at every opportunity. But at the same time, if you pay attention to them for a second, the lyrics are full of nuance and poetic gift. Noel Gallagher has really shown his power with this song, as the track is full of nods to his heroes, reflections on fame, and a unique perspective 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 absolutely loved. Its release, following the band’s previous two records and the rise in renown brought about by the entire Britpop era, was insanely anticipated, with even news outlets reporting on the excited scramble by fans to get their hands on it. If the record has one hater, however, it’s Noel Gallagher.

“Everyone said, ‘It’s brilliant!’” he recalled NME“And right at the end, when we were doing the mix, I thought to myself, ‘Hmmm, I don’t know.'” For him, this is a flop in their discography, because he admitted: “It’s not fucking convincing.”

But “It’s Getting Better (Man!!)” feels like a stroke of genius among some forgettable tracks. With a sprawling seven-minute running time, it went far beyond the band’s typical radio-friendly rock’n’roll hit of four chords and a dream. Perhaps for the first time in their career, the group showed real musicianship and a forward-looking vision. It was a statement that they were willing to experiment.

‘Speak tonight’ – The master plan (1998)

OK, The master plan isn’t an official album, but since it contains only unreleased tracks, was released when the band was still working, and is largely considered a staple of their discography, it can certainly be counted as one. “Talk Tonight” deserves a place among the best either way, to celebrate the track that feels like Noel Gallagher’s best lyric.

“Talk Tonight” is special, just like the story that inspired it. After a disastrous performance and a heated argument with his brother, Noel was on the verge of quitting when he met a random girl, Melissa Lim, backstage. In a moment of utter despair and confusion, he clung to her and hid at her house while she talked him out of breaking up the band. “I wouldn’t let that happen while I’m still in the band. I told him, ‘You can’t leave the band – you’re on the verge of something big,'” she said in an interview.

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

“Damned in the bushes” – Standing on the shoulders of giants (2000)

When the arguments between Liam and Noel reached new heights, the music suffered greatly. By the turn of the millennium, let’s be honest, the band was finished. When founding member Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs quit out of the blue, things never recovered, or at least were rocky for quite a while.

Yet amidst a time of uncertainty for the group, and although their lyricism was quite weak, “Fuckin’ In The Bushes” is a unique moment of greatness. Be here now was the announcement that the band was ready to experiment, the result was a sprawling instrumental piece that Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band or Fleetwood Mac’s highly dynamic “The Chain.” Sure, it doesn’t offer the big sing-along moment the band is known for, but it was a statement that they were still going on and not letting their own shadow or their former selves get in the way.

‘Come on, don’t cry your heart out’ – Pagan Chemistry (2003)

By the time Pagan Chemistry was released in 2003, the band seemed to have regained their momentum. They had two new members, Andy Bell and Gem Archer, who brought new energy to the group. They were also busy, dividing 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 could write anthems again.

“Stop Crying Your Heart Out” is one of them. It feels like one of the few big, stadium-worthy hits they managed to pull off after their early days. Now that the ’90s are over and Britpop is over, this angsty take on a rock ballad feels like a moment of mourning for the past. Now Oasis were determined to make a mark for the future.

“Lyla” – Don’t believe the truth (2005)

They needed this period of strange transition because by 2005 they were back on solid ground, their sound was back and bigger than ever, and their songwriting had returned to its former glory.

‘Lyla’ sounds like it could have been their debut and is delivered with the same energy and unabashed rock’n’roll spirit that made them stars. It also gave the world another major sing-along moment, with ‘Hey Lyla’ being screamed by huge crowds around the world and is considered one of their catchiest and most popular hits.

‘Falling Down’ – Dig out your soul

The problem is that Oasis really should have stopped a lot earlier. By the end of the 2000s, they couldn’t hold on any longer. The members were constantly changing, the brothers were constantly arguing, and their songs just weren’t as successful as they used to be.

Noel Gallagher could still deliver great moments, however, and ‘Falling Down’ is one of them. If anything, it sounds more like what his solo projects would take on, with a moodier edge than any of their previous raw rock’n’roll. Even the best of Dig out your soul can’t hold a candle to the worst of their earlier albums, but the glory days were over and not even their last hurrah could save the band.

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