Oasis - The Masterplan

Following a British rock tradition initiated by the Beatles and lovingly inherited by the Jam and the Clash, Oasis is the only band of the CD era to offer fans extra tracks on their singles that are often as good as, if not better than, the hits. Rather than saving his new songs for the next full album, Noel Gallagher prefers immediacy. Thus, this compilation of those various "B-Sides"--many available as nonimports for the first time--works just great as a listening experience, offering metallic rushes ("Acquiesce," "The Swamp Song") and absolute melodic beauty ("Talk Tonight," the marvelous "Rockin' Chair"), while conjuring up the ghosts of Mott the Hoople, T. Rex, the Fab Four, and Slade, although Oasis's "Cum On Feel the Noize" is sadly absent. --Bill Holdship Amazon.com

The lead review is a joke.

This is truly a great Oasis collection of b-sides and live songs, and songs like Acquiesce, Underneath the Sky, and Talk Tonight cannot be overlooked. However, the very first review I saw by Sara O. Crane says that their first hit was Wonderwall and she enjoys the hit "Bittersweet Symphony." Does this anger any other Oasis fans? Did the greatest debut album ever, Definately Maybe, never come out before Wonderwall even existed? And babe, Bittersweet Symphony is by The Verve.
On another note, I strongly recommend this album to Oasis fans, and if you're just getting into the band, I recommend Definately Maybe or (What's The Story) Morning Glory, because I don't think they've matched the greatness of those albums since they came out. February 4, 2008

Incomplete

Wonderwall
At best, this is only a partial collection, because it omits Oasis's best B-side, Round Are Way, the one used in the movie A Life Less Ordinary and only found in CD form on the Wonderwall single. This is a GLARING omission, and makes this CD much less than a value. January 10, 2008

What's with Noel singing... Ego?

Hey folks... since usually those that write product reviews in the Music section of Amazon are typically pretty hardcore fans of the band in question, I'm putting this out there so that I might get an answer to a question I've had ever since recently getting pretty deep into the Oasis catalog myself. The ? is: With such an incredibly talented rock vocalist as Liam, why oh why does Noel Gallagher insist upon singing? First, though, let me clarify a point or two.

The reason I'm getting into them so late in the game is that I spent most of the time during their 'heyday' not really listening to popular music at all, as I was in my own band in San Francisco. And as anyone knows who has ever committed himself to such an endeavor, the many things that go along with being the frontman for a rock band in a market as competitive as SF's was back then knows it takes up all of the time and energy that you have for outside interests. Anyway, when we finally broke-up after making a nice dent in the local scene but still couldn't get signed (it was the beginning of what I call "the fake music era" - of boy bands, teen/tween 'superstars' (yeah, right!) like Britney, Justin, etc. and ushered in (I'm afraid) nothing but tonedeaf pedophiles masquerading as record company A&R folks... Geez, can you tell I'm still a little bit bitter!)

Anyway, before I heard Noel G. sing, my standard line about singers & songwriters used to be: "The best person to sing any song is the writer" as I believe that no one else has the ability to most effectively translate what the writer intended, emotion-wise, etc. But now I really think that either I was wrong all along, or else Oasis is the exception to that rule. It's not that I think Noel is technically that BAD of a vocalist, because he isn't; it's more that Liam is SO GOOD (!), and before I got deep into their stuff, I wasn't even aware that Liam hadn't written the tracks I had heard, either on the radio or wherever, before. And while I don't think Noel is the worst, he is incredibly uninteresting. He doesn't have pitch problems, but there's aspirit, an energy, something akin to the twinkle of an eye but referring instead to vocal delivery, that Noel completely lacks - Passion, that's what it is (just thot of it). So while I'm currently digging deep into THE MASTERPLAN, "Talk Tonight" is the only song sung by Noel that I can even listen to. And I can't skip that song even though it's N-S (Noel-Sung) because it's so freakin' excellent, I could probably listen to a Chipmunks cover version and still feel the passion in the song - it seeps from the lyrics like spilled honey. Still - would've been better, I bet, if Liam had sung it! And of course the same thing goes for the other Oasis albums I've been reviewing. It reminds me of Ann & Nancy of Heart - and Nancy Wilson is a WAY WAY better singer than Noel Gallagher. Still, everybody knows (Nancy included) that Ann is the one with the pipes... which is why you don't hear Nancy singing lead on tracks like Crazy On You or Barracuda. I guess the Wilson sisters get along better than the Gallagher brothers, but still, Noel is a musician and a songwriter to boot, and one would think that as such he'd want the best for his songs - and the best is clearly Liam. Anyway, I thought I'd go to a place where the superfans hang out, and maybe get an answer.

Regarding THE MASTERPLAN - I agree with most of the reviewers that (B-side collection or not) it's one of the very best Oasis albums. Besides "Acquiesce" (which is probably the most beautiful song Noel's ever written), I also love "Underneath the Sky", "(It's Good) To Be Free", "Stay Young", "Headshrinker"... and (reluctantly) "Talk Tonight". They're all good, solid rock songs, but Noel's vox just falls flat for me - I wish he'd go back to things the way they were and let his talents do what they do best, and Liam do ALL the singing. It does make me wonder what Liam does when they play live and perform these N-S songs... I s'pose he just strums a guitar aimlessly. Seems like a case of MAJOR BIG EGO on the part of the elder bro... but what do I know? I couldn't even get MY band signed (hee-hee). January 7, 2008

Thank you, YouTube

I probably shouldn't write a review for this album, as I don't own it and have only heard a sampling of songs on YouTube. That said, I loved the title song. When Noel and Liam set aside their Cain-and-Abel fued (I guess Liam thinks he's Abel), they are capable of great artistic collaboration. I think that their first hit, "Wonderwall," can't be topped. The beautiful use of the cello and compelling lyrics make "Wonderwall" one of the great rock songs in my book. In fact, "Wonderwall" reads as an ingenious song (where lyrics and music are equally wonderful) about vindication (on the part of the narrator) and comeuppance (moderately dished out to the second-person audience), at least that's my take on the Gallagher brothers' greatest hit. (Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" is another modern classic, with a similar use of orchestral instruments undergirding a rock band. It's hard to disagree with the embittered lyrics that we are "a slave to the money, trying to make ends meet, then [we] die" (or as the song possibly suggests, we are reincarnated over and over again in this bitter cycle--"'cause I'm a million different people from one day to the next"). Life has its "sweet" moments too, transcending monetary slavery, but you get the point that this world at its worst is economically driven, full of hardships, and a regression of how we are meant to live in the long run.)

Okay, back from my very long-winded birdwalk that spared me the necessity of writing a review of The Verve. "The Masterplan" reinforces Paul McCartney's exhortation to "Let it Be"---advice I think every human on the planet, myself included, needs to follow. I had a roommate back at my alma mater who joked that if she wanted to listen to The Beatles, she'd listen to The Beatles, meaning, of course, that she thought Oasis too much of a copycat band. Perhaps that criticism has merit, but Oasis can pay homage to a great band while putting its own spin on its oeuvre. "The Masterplan" has great philosophical insights, and I love when the other band members join Noel to create some gorgeous, albeit too short, vocal harmonies and voice overlapping. Although "The Masterplan" is great in its own right and apparently Noel's favorite work to date, I still think "Wonderwall" remains the most musically beautiful and lyrically probing of the Gallagher canon; I'll always consider "Wonderwall" Oasis's defining tune. Nonetheless, "The Masterplan" has a secure place among Oasis's greatest hits and has been justly relocated from the obscurity of b-sides.

I look forward to YouTubing the rest of this album.
September 21, 2007

A classic in every sense.

Okay, how many bands can release a compilation of B-sides (yes, B-sides, in other words the stuff Oasis deemed wasn't `good enough' to make it as singles!) that's so crammed with blisteringly good rock, it blows away most bands' A-side back catalogue?

This is an incredible album. Top honors go to The Masterplan, It's Good to be Free, Acquiesce, Fade Away... the list goes on... Yes, with their newer work they've failed to live up to the standards they set over a decade ago, but I defy any rock fan to listen to this and not love it.

Liam's trademark sneering vocal, Noel's thumping riffs, a sprinkling of lead guitar feedback... classic Oasis. What more could you ask for?

If you like Oasis, particularly their early work, you have to have this album.
October 28, 2006

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