Oasis: What If Their Greatest Hits Weren’t on Their Albums?

1998. Just as I started middle school, the Gallagher brothers released The Masterplan. The album of the year. An instant classic. The cover, the photo with Noel in denim shorts and Liam with his hands behind his back, the songs. Acquiesce, Talk Tonight, Rockin’ Chair, (It’s Good) To Be Free. I played the album so loudly on my parents’ stereo that the Matisse replica in the living room fell off the wall.

No one wanted to take me to their concert because it was believed that Oasis attracted a rough crowd. I had heard that the band members frequently fought each other. I imagined that the song Stay Young was written for a member named Young, pleading with him not to leave the band.

Then I discovered that The Masterplan was not an album, but a compilation of B-sides. An epiphany. Not all Oasis songs were on the official albums. There was a hidden Oasis. One had to buy the CD singles to boast of knowing their entire catalog. Acquiring these was no easy feat in the days before internet normalized peer-to-peer sharing and streaming.

It was a hunt; watching for imports, scouring stores like Fnac and Gibert, taking loans from one’s allowance. Once you completed the collection, you could shine in social settings. While friends and peers played Wonderwall, Live Forever and Don’t Look Back in Anger, you could mention D’Yer Wanna Be a Spaceman?, Step Out, Half the World Away or Sad Song, appearing smarter than you actually were. A real ace.

A New Playground

In the 1960s, the B-side was often a dumping ground. It was the flip side, the one you had to fill to sell the hit on the A-side of the 45rpm disc. It featured the second-tier song, not worthy of the album, relegated to the abyss of the upside down world where flipping the vinyl was too much effort—only the Beatles treated their singles as double A-sides. And then there were the little arrangements between publishers and songwriters, involving royalties and reciprocal favors, typical industry manipulations.

Latterly, bands like Oasis, following in the footsteps of The Smiths, turned the B-side into an art form. Each CD single typically included at least three tracks, two of which were unreleased and an alternative take of the lead song. Sometimes, Oasis even covered well-known songs: Cum On Feel the Noize by Slade (Don’t Look Back in Anger, 1996), Heroes by David Bowie (D’You Know What I Mean, 1997), Street Fighting Man by the Rolling Stones (All Around the World, 1998) or My Generation by The Who (Little by Little/She Is Love, 2002).

However, it was the original compositions that truly captivated fans. Noel Gallagher, on stage, often played with the audience’s expectations. “You know Stand By Me?,” he might ask, knowing the track from the album Be Here Now (1997) was well-liked. “Hey, I’m going to play the B-side of the single, Going Nowhere.” A slight from another band might seem cruel, but coming from Nono, it was a treat. Oasis’s B-sides are so good that, like for me as a teenager, The Masterplan remains a reference “album” for the band. A song like Acquiesce (Some Might Say, 1995) is an absolute classic, often performed by the group.

Alternative Route

From Standing on the Shoulders of Giants (2000), a lesser-regarded or disliked album depending on who you ask, Liam Gallagher began writing his own songs—remember, the traditional songwriter for Oasis was Noel. Bragging as always, he claimed his tracks were up to par. There would be Little James, Songbird, Born on a Different Cloud among others like Guess God Thinks I’m Abel and I’m Outta Time.

The band’s persistence in releasing B-sides allowed Liam to include his own songs, such as the Lennon-esque Won’t Let You Down (Lyla, 2005) or Pass Me Down the Wine (The Importance of Being Idle, 2005). Others, for various reasons, ended up neither as B-sides nor on albums, like I Believe in All (2008) and Boy with the Blues (2008), found in the Deluxe edition of the band’s last album, Dig Out Your Soul (2008)—you can also find the latter on the soundtrack of the series NCIS, oddly enough. Meanwhile, Gem Archer, the band’s guitarist, also contributed two B-sides, Eyeball Tickler (Lyla, 2005) and The Quiet Ones (The Importance of Being Idle, 2005).

In the era of streaming and digital music, the concept of the B-side, implying the physicality of a disc, scarcely makes sense. The last major bands to offer quality B-sides include The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, and The Last Shadow Puppets. However, in this regard, Oasis remains the ultimate reference.