Love them or loathe them, there's no denying that Oasis made an indelible mark on the cultural landscape in their heyday.
The Manchester rockers will soon return to Ireland for the first time in 16 years when they take to the Croke Park stage in August. The reunion of the Britpop legends is one fans have been longing for and will give younger fans the chance to see their heroes live for the very first time.
During their storied career, the band released seven studio albums, beginning with the iconic Definitely Maybe in 1994 and ending with 2008's Dig Out Your Soul. The group also released B-sides album The Masterplan in 1998.
As we look forward to the band's return to Dublin, we've ranked all eight albums from worst to best. No doubt you'll have your own opinions on the group's work and if you agree or disagree with our choices, do let us know in the comments below. So, without further ado, here is our ranking of Oasis' albums.
8. Heathen Chemistry
Having joined the band two years previously, there was hope among Oasis fans that Gem Archer and Andy Bell would bring a new dimension to the band with both being accomplished songwriters in their own right. What we got was a fairly lacklustre affair.
Archer's 'Hung in a Bad Place' and Bell's instrumental 'A Quick Peep' are instantly forgettable while Noel Gallagher seems to be phoning it in, particularly on the likes of 'Force of Nature' and '(Probably) All in the Mind'. Even 'The Hindu Times' sounds like what AI would produce if you asked in for an Oasis song now and this writer has always been baffled by the popularity of 'Little by Little'. On the plus side, 'Stop Crying Your Heart Out' is quite a nice ballad and Liam begins to show promise as a songwriter on the likes of 'Songbird', a big step up from the awful 'Little James'. Speaking of which...
7. Standing on the Shoulder of Giants
Noel Gallagher famously said this album should never have been made as he "had no reason or desire to make music" and it's hard to disagree with him. With the band thrown into turmoil following the departures of founding members Guigsy and Bonehead, Noel, Liam and drummer Alan White are the only band members to appear on an album with more misses than hits.
While many of the songs on this album aren't up to much, the production and arrangement also lets them down at times - this performance on Jools Holland shows just how good a song 'Where Did It All Go Wrong' is for example. 'Gas Panic' alone probably elevates this above Heathen Chemistry and 'F****n in the Bushes' remains a banger but the rest is average at best.
6. Be Here Now
August 21, 1997 was a date us teenage Oasis fans were waiting for with baited breath. Oasis were set to release their third album and it would surely launch them even higher into the echelons of music history. Instead we got a collection of overlong, overblown, rambling tunes - cocaine in music form, basically!
But you know what, it's not all bad. 'The Girl in the Dirty Shirt' features and appropriately dirty piano riff and 'Fade In-Out' seems to have fallen into obscurity despite it being one of the strongest tracks on the album. 'Stand By Me' and 'Don't Go Away' are anthemic and may well get a live airing but don't expect much material from this album to appear on the forthcoming tour.
5. Dig Out Your Soul
The band's initial swansong is...fine although plodding at times. 'Waiting for the Rapture', 'The Shock of the Lightning' and especially 'Falling Down' show Noel still has it as a songwriter and although Liam takes the Lennon worship a little too far on 'I'm Outta Time' it's still a very good song.
After some excellent contributions to Don't Believe The Truth, Archer and Bell's 'To Be Where There's Life' and 'The Nature of Reality' fail to hit the mark but overall, a reasonably solid addition to the Oasis canon.
4. Don't Believe The Truth
Far and away the high watermark of Oasis 2.0. With Zak Starkey joining on drums, the band seem reinvigorated and ready to once again shove two fingers to those who wrote them off. Andy Bell's 'Turn Up The Sun' kicks proceedings off in bombastic style and his other contribution, 'Keep The Dream Alive' is suitably anthemic.
Gem and Liam jointly pen 'Love Like A Bomb' while their own solo compositions aren't too shabby either, particularly Archer's 'A Bell Will Ring'. Seemingly spurred on by the competition, Noel is not to be outdone either, delivering live favourite 'Lyla', the plaintive 'Part of the Queue', 'Let There Be Love' which sees Liam and Noel share lead vocals, and the glorious, playful ode to to doing feck all, 'The Importance of Being Idle'.
3. (What's The Story) Morning Glory
The album that saw Oasis really break into the mainstream, packed full of songs that have since gone on to become classics. Yes, 'Wonderwall' has been ruined by every annoying eejit at a party with a guitar (including yours truly!) but there's a reason it's still bellowed out by the masses 30 years later.
The same can be said about 'Don't Look Back In Anger', 'Champagne Supernova', 'Some Might Say', 'Cast No Shadow' and the title track. On the negative side, 'Hey Now' is pretty forgettable and with all the weapons in both bands' arsenal at the time, you still have to wonder why Oasis and Blur chose 'Roll With It' and 'Country House' as the tunes to go head-to-head in the Battle of Britpop.
2. The Masterplan
Oh what might have been! What were you thinking, Noel? What were you thinking!?! An album of B-sides that most bands would kill to have as their A-sides. Comprised mostly of songs from singles off the first two albums, this is the LP Be Here Now should have been.
The title track is quite possibly the best song Noel has ever written although it faces still competition here from the likes of 'Acquiesce', 'Talk Tonight', 'Rockin' Chair', 'Half The World Away' and '(It's Good) To Be Free'. Seriously, there isn't a bad track on this album. What were you thinking, Noel? What were you thinking!?!
1. Definitely Maybe
"Tonigghhhhhhht, I'm a rock n roll star," snarls a 21-year-old Liam on the opening track in a cocksure affirmation of his own abilities and a prophetic declaration of what's to come. There really could only be one winner of this ranking. Definitely Maybe was the fastest selling debut of all time when it was released and, as fans who saw Liam perform the album in full last year will attest, it still sounds as fresh today as it did 31 years ago.
'Supersonic', 'Columbia' and 'Slide Away' are instant classics. 'Shakermaker' and 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' shamelessly steal from masters of the past but so what - they still sound great and those same masters of the past weren't shy in pilfering from their heroes.
'Married With Children' is a plaintive closer to the album, 'Up In The Sky' and 'Bring It On Down' are two of the weaker tracks yet their still brilliant. And it also features the stone cold classic 'Live Forever' for good measure.
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