Every Oasis song, ranked in order of brilliance

A decade ago, on August 22 2009, Oasis took to the stage for the final time at Weston Park, Stafford.

The show was to headline V Festival, and this was a band no longer at the peak of their powers.

They had been touring on their most recent album Dig Out Your Soul, but their heart was no longer in it.

Six days later, a show in Paris did not go ahead at the last minute due to a row between the brothers. A formal statement confirming the band was no more was quickly issued.

Liam and Noel went their separate ways, and are now hugely successful as solo acts. Unfortunately for fans, they're never getting back together - and the soap opera of their never-ending arguments still play out on social media and in interviews.

To mark the occasion, we've decided to take a look back at every single one of Oasis' studio album tracks, and have also included The Masterplan B-side compilation and significant non-album singles - 87 songs in total.

Let's get started...

87. A Bell Will Ring

Forgettable.

86. Digsy's Dinner

The black sheep of the first album, packed with nonsensical inside jokes. The band didn't take this song very seriously and neither should we. Still, it's good fun for what it is.

85. Force of Nature

Zzzz... plodding dad rock from Noel who should know better.

84. The Nature of Reality

Considering the bored and lazy sound of the final Oasis album it is incredible to think the world were shocked when they called it quits in 2009. They were finished long before that fateful row in Paris and this song proves it.

83. A Quick Peep

The weakest of Oasis' instrumental tracks, written by Andy Bell.

82. Waiting for the Rapture

Trundling and dull.

81. Meaning of Soul

Puzzling how it finds itself on Don't Believe the Truth, which at times sees Oasis return to their best form. Must try harder.

80. Falling Down

Loses itself in the various shades of grey that characterise Oasis' final album.

79. Aint Got Nothin

See above.

78. Hung in a Bad Place

Monotone and a little bit boring by the high standards of Oasis. Written by Gem Archer.

77. Better Man

The only song on Heathen Chemistry that was joint-written by Noel and Liam. It brings a hit-and-miss album to an end.

76. Mucky Fingers

Don't Believe the Truth marked a return to form for Oasis, with the band sounding creative and energised once more. This song doesn't quite live up to the rest album unfortunately.

75. Soldier On

As the last track on Dig Out Your Soul, it's a decent ending to a poor album.

74. Hey Now!

The jangled, sliding guitar riff and poppy vocals make this sleepy album track - sandwiched between stone cold classics in Oasis' second album - memorable enough.

73. To Be Where There's Life

The track's Indian-influence makes it feel like Liam is doing a George Harrison impersonation, but it's actually written by Gem Archer. Not a total failure.

72. Fade In-Out

With Johnny Depp on guitar, this song is a missed opportunity. The band refashioned it for live performances and it's tremendous - see the 1997 GMEX show, for example. But the studio recording failed to capture any of that magic.

71. (Probably) All in the Mind

A great listen if, for nothing else, Liam and Noel's harmonising together throughout.

70. Headshrinker

One of the few tracks on The Masterplan B-side collection that deserves to be a B-side.

69. The Turning

Noel's unusually apocalyptic lyrics are the highlight of this track: "You carry the lantern/I'll carry you home/You search for the disappeared/I'll bury the cold."

68. It’s Getting Better Man

Each song on Be Here Now may have its faults in terms of length or production, but they're easily memorable due to the power of Noel's melodic songwriting. This is the only track that falls short in that department.  

67. F****** in the Bushes

This instrumental opening to Oasis’ 4th studio album Standing on the Shoulders of Giants is sheer aggression and attitude right from the off. One can only imagine it's probably playing on loop inside Liam's head. The name of the song got the album banned in Walmart, and Oasis' ongoing struggle to crack America intensified.

66. I Can See a Liar

Feels like a mid-album Be Here Now outcast.

65. Keep the Dream Alive

Uplifting and sounding very much of its time as an overly-polished mid-noughties rock ballad, Keep the Dream Alive deserves to be cherished more by fans than it is.

64. Born on a Different Cloud

This track, written by Liam, feels like it is trying far too hard to imitate John Lennon. Critics of Oasis will say this is always the case with the band, and they may not be wrong but it works in their favour more often than it doesn't.

63. Roll With It

Never one to miss an opportunity to generate a headline, Noel recently said of Roll With It: "It has never been played by anybody since the band split up, so that tells its own story." Liam, shock horror, disagrees with his brother, telling the Glastonbury crowd earlier this summer before belting it out in response: "Apparently this is s***". After playing the tune he tells the crowd: "There’s no way that’s s***"... and he's right, but it's far from a classic.

62. Magic Pie

Often mocked by fans, it did stick out like a sore thumb on Be Here Now due to its downbeat nature. Many songs on that album are accused of being too long, but this one really feels too long.

61. Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

You don't need to re-invent the wheel with every song and this foot-tapper of a song is fun enough.

60. Part of the Queue

Noel's dark and stormy, half-acoustic-half-rock lullaby.

59. She's Electric

Sounds like a Blur song more than an Oasis track.

58. Little James

Liam's first go at writing a song himself, and while his lyrics at times are a bit more kitchen-sink realism than the powerful imagery Noel can conjure, it's a beautiful and progressive melody in keeping with the album's efforts at the time to refashion themselves after Be Here Now.

57. The Importance of Being Idle

A tribute to The Kinks and a mainstay of Noel's solo career set list - he's clearly fond of the song. It's charming and bluesy with playful lyrics: "I'll be fine - if you give me a minute, a man's got a limit/I can't get a life if my heart's not in it."

56. Up in the Sky

It's a signal of how strong the band's songwriting was at the time that this feels like a mere album track on Definitely Maybe. In any other circumstances it would be a lead single for so many bands at the time. Cracking riff.

55. Guess God Thinks I'm Abel

One of the strongest songs Liam has written. With lyrics using imagery from The Old Testament and the story of Cain and Abel - Cain murdered Abel, his brother - Liam sings: "You could be my best friend, stay up all night long. You could be my railroad, we'd go on and on." No awards for guessing who he wrote this one for.

54. Bag It Up

Bag It Up is the opener on Dig Out Your Soul, the band's final album which is bereft of memorable tracks. Thankfully this song manages to be one of them.

53. Going Nowhere

Forgotten by some, Going Nowhere has a beautiful horn and string section that compliments Noel’s acoustic guitar perfectly. It’s testament to the strength of his songwriting that this isn’t higher up the list.

52. I Hope I Think I Know

It's just good fun.

51. Love Like a Bomb

A great, mystical acoustic track in the mould of Who Feels Love? It's hard to imagine the song having such an impact without Liam's vocals on it - but thankfully it does.

50. Fade Away

The central charm to Fade Away is how it transports us back to simpler times. We can imagine it being rehearsed in The Boardwalk, long before concerns such as orchestral compositions or ponderings on how a song would work for a sold-out stadium troubled the band. This is reflected in the chorus as Liam sings: “While we’re living/The dreams we have as children fade away”.

49. My Big Mouth

Debuted live at Knebworth before it had been released on Be Here Now, this, by Oasis' high standards, is a by-the-numbers rock track considering it was written at the height of their powers. But it stays strong in the memory thanks to a thunderous bridge as Liam sings: "Around this town you've ceased to be/That's what you get for sleeping with the enemy." Or is he saying "NME"? Who knows...

48. Swamp Song

This instrumental will always have a special place in the hearts of Oasis fans, as they band opened their Maine Road set with it. Includes an aggressive harmonica solo by Paul Weller and not many songs can boast that.

47. Songbird

Penned by Liam, it's straightforward and uncomplicated but no weaker for it. A good old-fashioned toe tapper of a ballad.

46. Sunday Morning Call

Another track on Standing on the Shoulder's of Giants which epitomises the band's weary outlook on their own success at the time. Despite it's initial misery, the song manages to be uplifting thanks to a rousing chorus.

45. Turn Up the Sun

Written by bassist Andy Bell, it's the best Oasis song in which the Gallagher brothers played no part in its creation. Noel harmonises with Liam brilliantly during the chorus. If you remain unconvinced about the power of this track, take in a viewing of the band opening a gig with it at The Etihad in 2005 and see how the crowd respond. It's hairs-on-the-back-of-your-neck stuff.

44. Shakermaker

When you watch the low-budget video for Shakermaker, which sees the band lounge around on furniture in the streets of Burnage, it's incredible to think that almost exactly three years on their video for Do You Know What I Mean? would feature an army of fans, helicopters, a crumbling war-torn landscape and a heavy military presence - such was their rise. The song borrows from 1971's "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing", and a lawsuit followed.

43. The Hindu Times

A great riff, and great vocals. As the opening track on Heathen Chemistry, Oasis came out swinging with The Hindu Times. And following the moody, self-pitying Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, Noel's lyrics return to a more positive outlook on his music: "'Cause God gave me soul/In your rock 'n' roll babe."

42. The Girl In The Dirty Shirt

Liam's vocals and Noel's harmonies on this track are one of the highlights of Be Here Now.

41. Lyla

A powerful Oasis anthem. When Noel and Liam were asked what they liked most about this song, Liam simply responded: "Every time we play it, it feels like it's going to kick off." And it really does.

40. Little By Little

Noel's ability to, time and time again, write a chorus guaranteed to unify a sea of people in singing along is spectacular. The forgettable verse lets the song down, however.

39. Roll It Over

Another song on Standing on the Shoulders of Giants that sees Noel mull over the misery of success during this troubled period with the opening gambit: "I can give a hundred million reasons/To build a barricade/I blame it on the changing of the seasons/The thoughts that I've conveyed." The song continues on this theme, attacking the hangers-on and celebrity culture in which the band were now firmly embedded: "Look around at all the plastic people/Who live without a care/Try to sit with me around my table/But never bring a chair." Noel's drowsy, subtle lead guitar work on the track is brilliant.

38. Underneath the Sky

A distinctive and dark fairytale of song.

37. It’s Good to be Free

The song didn't trouble Oasis' live set lists much until Noel split from the band and went solo. All of a sudden he used the song as the opening track for his shows. Wonder why.   

 

36. Where Did It All Go Wrong?

As the band came to the end of their miserable Be Here Now tour, the band desperately needed an extended rest - but Noel refused and kept writing material for the fourth studio album to come. He told the band's inner circle that it would be called "Where Did It All Go Wrong?", but he was eventually talked out of it. The name did find its way onto the album with this angsty track however. Beginning as a softer ballad it eventually transforms into a heavy rock anthem, very much in the mould of Little By Little.

35. Stay Young

Originally intended for the Be Here Now album but cut late on, Stay Young has been put down by Noel since as being no good. He’s wrong. 

34. Bring it on Down

The original line-up of the band often cite this as one of their favourites to play live. Perhaps forgotten by casual listeners of Oasis, it's punk-rock energy and anger sticks with you. Noel often chastised Nirvana for their apathy, but their influence is present here - along with The Sex Pistols - and is perhaps an insight into Noel's pre-success outlook on the world: "You're the outcast, you're the underclass/But you don't care because you're living fast".

33. I'm Outta Time

Haunting. Liam's opening "la la la la" sticks in the mind.

32. Married with Children

Stripped back and sounding like a demo, it's the last song on the band's first album and today it feels like a farewell to simpler times before they hopped on the rollercoaster that was Oasismania. The vocals are strangely delicate, though Liam was only 21 at the time of recording.

31. Go Let It Out

For an album short on “hits”, Standing on the Shoulders of Giants desperately needed a lead single like Go Let It Out. It's difficult to imagine the song being anywhere near as infectious as it is without Liam's vocals.

30. Hello

Oasis open their second album with Hello which climaxes in a chant from Liam, borrowed from, er, Gary Glitter: "Hello, hello, it's good to be back, good to be back". The song was among those used to open the famous Maine Road shows in 1996. Liam dedicated it to criminals who reportedly intended to kidnap him during the shows. The threat thankfully never materialised.

29. Cigarettes & Alcohol

The playful 12 bar blues rhythm masks more of the band's early angst heard in Bring It on Down with the lyrics: "Is it worth the aggravation/To find yourself a job when there's nothing worth working for?" But the song also showcases an uplifting edge, as Liam chants: "You gotta make it happen!" - and they did.

28. She Is Love

A highlight of Heathen Chemistry, She Is Love is among the closest to a Paul McCartney bop that Noel has conjoured.

27. Don’t Go Away

A great, tight rock ballad which was the antidote for Be Here Now's loud, brash, overly-produced arrangements.

26. The Shock of the Lightning

The only track on Dig Out Your Soul that deserves to sit at the top table of Oasis tracks. It's electrifying and fun, with sensational vocals and harmony from Liam and Noel.

25. Acquiesce

The song boasts a glorious anthem of a chorus, and is a favourite among fans. It reaches its peak as Noel takes over the singing from Liam and tells us: "Because we need each other/We believe in one another/I know we're going to uncover/What's sleepin' in our soul". The brothers long claimed that the song represented a declaration of love and unity between them... however Noel later admitted: "When the record came out everyone was going, ‘It’s a song about Liam’, and that I was saying that we need each other, we believe in one another – which was total f****** b******."

24. All Around The World

Those in-the-know long whispered about All Around The World and its potential before it was released. It was hailed by the band's inner circle as their take on Hey Jude. There's amazing footage of the band rehearsing it in The Boardwalk years before its eventual 1997 release. Noel held his nerve before taking it to the studio - he was desperate to get it right, and to do so he once claimed that he'd need two orchestras. The eventual recording never lived up to the potential, sadly, and the band never got it right live either. But for sheer ambition alone it gets close to full marks.

23. Rock 'n' Roll Star

The first song on their first album, Rock 'n' Roll Star is a statement of intent. As an ode to music being a tool for escape from dull circumstances, the song tells the story of Oasis before it had even been written. And whether it is the first or 500th time you're listening, as Liam sings: "In my mind my dreams are real/Now we're concerned about the way I feel/Tonight, I'm a rock 'n' star" it's impossible not to be convinced.

22. Columbia

A song they had from the start, before anyone knew who they were, it's fitting that the band chose Columbia to be the first song they played at Knebworth. Liverpudlian band The Real People helped Oasis cut an early demo of the track, and were instrumental in its composition. According to then-drummer Tony McCarroll, they were responsible for the "come on, come on... yeah yeah yeah" outro that was often a highlight of the song's live performances. Its riff carries the almost monotone track, which is then elevated by pure attitude. 

21. Who Feels Love?

A semi-psychedelic ballad with incredible harmonies, Who Feels Love? sounds otherworldly compared to much of the band's previous work. In the build up to Standing on the Shoulders of Giants being released, guitarist Bonehead and bassist Guigsy left the band. This left Noel to play both bass, rhythm and lead guitar. He later commented on the album that while it was not their finest hour "I worked harder on that album than anything before and anything since". That hard work is justified on this track, as it stands among one of Oasis' finest.

20. Supersonic

Written by Noel in a matter of minutes, the song's opening verse is exactly what you'd expect from Oasis at this point - but it then leaps into a euphoric chorus as Liam tells us: "'Cause my friend said he'll take you home". Few songs got crowds jumping like Supersonic did during the Oasis heyday.

19. Stand By Me

Is it too long? Yes. Is it utterly magnificent with one of Oasis' most beautiful melodies forming a lullaby disguised as a stadium sing along? Also yes.

18. Morning Glory

Perhaps their best song when performed live, the guitar riff is an instant assault on the senses before the rhythm section kicks in. The verse and bridge work to build a tension that results in an incredible climax as Liam sings: "You know you should so I guess you might as well...". Terrific.

17. Half the World Away

It’s inexplicable to determine how Half the World Away never found itself as a single on a fully-fledged album. It was however deemed good enough to lead a John Lewis Christmas campaign, and to be the soundtrack on The Royle Family’s opening credits. More importantly, it’s still good enough for heartfelt stadium singalongs when Noel performs it as a solo act.

16. Slide Away

Written at the late stages of the first album's recording process, Slide Away almost did not make the cut. It's a song that hits the road with a simple, moody chord progression and eventually finds itself in a victorious chorus. In an album packed with angst and attitude, it stands alone with Live Forever as an emotional anthem where Noel shrugs off his hardman act with the lyrics: "Two of a kind/We'll find a way/To do what we've done/Let me be the one who shines with you."

15. Rocking Chair

This melancholy, acoustic bop was ditched, according to Noel, from the band’s live set because the chorus was too high for Liam. As a result it may have faded from view for many, but it was lined up to be a key track on What’s The Story Morning Glory until being later replaced by a song called Wonderwall... speaking of which...

14. Wonderwall

Not only a mainstay of almost every Oasis show since its release, but also a guaranteed feature at many a wedding, football match, drunken karaoke and soppy US TV drama. As a result of being hugely overplayed, some fans have tired of Wonderwall but it's undeniably brilliant. The song is named after George Harrison's album Wonderwall Music - the first solo release a member of The Beatles produced, and it's one of the few moments that Oasis climb to the heights of genius reached by their heroes they so aspired to imitate.

13. Stop Crying Your Heart Out

A fiercely optimistic song on Heathen Chemistry that shrugs off the misery and self-analysis of the previous album, Standing on the Shoulders of Giants. The music video was a desperate attempt to appeal to a US audience, a market they could never truly crack. What makes the song the powerhouse it has become is Liam's vocals. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds have played it on their recent tours and it doesn't come close without his brother at the mic.

12. Listen Up

A giant of a B-side. The melody of Listen Up’s verse - carried in one of Liam’s finest performances in the studio - plunges and soars between minor and major, befitting Noel’s typically contradictory lyrics: “Take me up to the top of the world/I want to see my crime”. The chorus is triumphant, joyous - before Liam sings “I don’t mind being on my own.” Funnily enough, after the band broke up Noel reclaimed the song and occasionally used it to open a set. Much like It's Good To Be Free, he may have smirked to himself when singing that line.

11. Talk Tonight

Written by an AWOL Noel following a row during the band’s first tour in the United States, it’s among his finest. It's quiet power is best described by producer Mark Coyle who later commented in the "Supersonic" documentary : “That’s one moody song... and yet it shows that little delicate side to him, that you don’t see. He doesn’t show his emotions... he never did unless you stick him behind the glass with a microphone and he lets loose this emotion that he’s got. You almost see a little boy. Something very innocent, very pure. They’re my favourite moments. It’s like a door opens and little light comes in. Then the door’s shut again and he’s calling you a t***.”

10. Gas Panic

Perhaps the moodiest Oasis track alongside Slide Away, the opening verse and chorus are the calm before the storm. Noel's electric guitar eventually comes into life and we feel plunged into his shoes as the Oasis machine grew far too big and Liam sings: "'Cause my family don't seem so familiar/And my enemies all know my name." In their live album Familiar to Millions, Liam introduces the song by telling the crowd "good f****** tune this, come on".

9. Cast No Shadow

This remains one of Noel's greatest lyrical achievements, bolstered even further with the harmony he sings over his brother Liam during the chorus: "Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say/Chained to all the places that he never wished to stay/Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say/As he faced the sun he cast no shadow." Noel wrote the song on a train to Wales as he returned to the studio to finish off the album. 

8. Don't Look Back in Anger

Following the Manchester Arena bombing, this momentous stadium anthem - packed with euphoria and melancholy - took on a greater meaning thanks to Bernsmeier-Rullow. She began singing it during a moment of silence as people gathered to pay their respects in the wake of the atrocity, and the crowd joined in. As the city grieved the loss of 22 people, it became a moment of inspiration for many. Speaking of the moving moment, she said: "I love Manchester, and Oasis is part of my childhood. Don't Look Back in Anger - that's what this is about: we can't be looking backwards to what happened, we have to look forwards to the future." When Noel first began writing and playing early versions of the song during soundchecks in 1995, Liam would joke with him and ask: "Who's Sally? What does it mean?". Noel had little idea what it meant, it just sounded great. 24 years on we know what it means, and it sounds even better.

7. Some Might Say

When questioned by reporters in the 90s about Some Might Say and where it sat on the league table of Oasis songs thus far, Liam simply quoted back a lyric to them: "Some might say, they don't believe in heaven/Go and tell it to the man who lives in hell" and told them its quality was on par with The Beatles. Despite his affinity for the song, which he still sings as a solo act today, there is no music video for it because Liam didn't like the concept and stormed off. Noel cites the character of the song to his heritage. He's previously said: "Because I'm first-generation Irish there's always a melancholy, but a kind of uplifting sadness."

6. Whatever

A glorious, stand-alone single released in between the first and second Oasis album. Definitely, Maybe caught people's attention, but the release of Whatever confirmed Oasis were going to justify their own hype. It's melodic, joyous and - unlike many Oasis tracks - entirely justifies its length and the use of the orchestra brought along for the ride. Noel Gallagher may have borrowed from The Beatles track Octopus's Garden for the core melody, but the song eventually produced here actually betters Ringo Starr's composition. When the band played Whatever at Maine Road, Liam got into a fight with a harmonica player and stormed off stage. Noel had to take over vocals, while the harmonica player gave Liam the middle finger.

5. Let There Be Love

The greatest Oasis song beyond the electric first three albums. Its lyrics are beautiful, with vocals from Liam to match as he sings: "Who kicked a hole in the sky so the heavens would cry over me? Who stole the soul from the sun in a world come undone at the seams? Let there be love." Noel then takes the mic and the song turns down a more psychedelic and downbeat route before returning home. The song was never performed live by the whole band beyond dubbed TV appearances, and the song's music is a mere montage of live performances (not of the song itself). As a result it hasn't been classed as an "iconic" Oasis song by many - but it is among their very, very best. As the last track on Don't Believe the Truth, it's hard to imagine A Day in the Life, the closing track on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - which in many ways the song mirrors - was not in the Gallagher's thinking.

4. D'You Know What I Mean?

A mammoth rock song and the last great single before Oasis went on the slide. An aggressive, moody anthem and every inch of it encapsulates the Oasis mindset of arrogance, or self-belief, depending on how you look at the world. Determination, too, is present as Liam sings: “Get up off the floor and believe in life/No one’s never ever gonna ask you twice”.  An amusingly high-budget video sums up the excess of the Oasis glory years quite nicely. Liam sings it to you as if you've just spilled his pint.

3. Live Forever

There's overwhelming joy and pain in Live Forever. After Noel wrote it, he played it to his bandmates who told him "f*** off, you did not write that". But he did. The songwriter plays the "normal lad" role in front of the camera, but there's such poetry to his lyrics - whether he likes it or not. Like much of Oasis' early work it celebrates the notion of escapism from mediocre surroundings: "Maybe I don't really want to know how your garden grows/Cause I just want to fly". But today it means so much more. Liam dedicated the song to those who lost their lives in the Manchester Arena atrocity when he appeared at the One Love concert in 2017 - an appearance that perhaps awoke a new generation to Oasis. And perhaps it's also a reminder of the bond Liam and Noel once shared back in the early days, even if the brothers now appear torn apart for good: "Maybe you're the same as me/We see things they'll never see".

2. Champagne Supernova

The last track on What's The Story Morning Glory, Oasis closed their historic Knebworth set with Champange Supernova. Many - including Noel - now say they should have packed it in for good that night as it could simply never get bigger, and never get better. At well over seven minutes long it is one of the few lengthy Oasis tracks that deserve to go on and on as Liam again and again asks: "How many special people change? How many lives are living strange? Where were you while we were getting high?" Oasis made a career out of "no fuss" music, but this song stands out from the rest  - it is a progressive track with several acts, each verse and chorus refashioned every time. First, as a light, melodic ballad, eventually transforming into a psychedelic rocker before coming full circle.

1. The Masterplan

Liam's voice, swagger and attitude are key ingredients in what makes the Oasis sound so distinct and electrifying - so it initially feels like a betrayal to hail their greatest song The Masterplan, given he had no apparent involvement as it was created... only he did. After being recorded by Noel, Liam swung by the studio and the brothers got into one of their infamous rows. Journalist Paolo Hewitt was present, and in his definitive biography of the band, Getting High, he recalls how the fight only came to a stop when Noel played the track to Liam. Responding to the song, Liam simply told his brother: "You don't know how good you are" before leaving. This is not an allegation many would now throw at Noel, as his brash self-confidence in his music is on show for all to see in any interview he gives. However the Noel who wrote The Masterplan was much younger, writing it in a hotel room in Japan as the band needed more B-sides. During the sombre opening of the song, with a mystical string section, Noel sounds lost: "Take the time to make some sense of what you want to say/And cast your words upon the waves", before finding himself in a glorious, unifying chorus. Later reflecting on the song, Noel said: "I think it’s the best song I’ve ever written." He's not wrong.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news. We are on Instagram too. We'll also bring you live updates and notifications of breaking news on the M.E.N. app - download it here.