"We just want to blow every other band into oblivion" Noel Gallagher triumphantly told the presses. And for a brief period, in the mid nineties, it looked like they did, as the world turned to the attention and notoriety bestowed by the Gallagher brothers. Liam snarled like Lennon, Noel wrote like McCartney. Oasis may have borrowed a little too heavily from their influences (they gave a co-writing credit to Gary Glitter for 'Hello', unfortunate in hindsight), but they brought bravado and panache in place of originality. The critics may not have loved them (Oasis seemed too traditional compared to the rock avant-garde antics of Radiohead or the nihilistic theatrics of Manic Street Preachers), but the public certainly did, 'Morning Glory' and its underappreciated follow-up 'Be Here Now' the best selling UK albums of 1995 and 1997 respectively. Football anthems intact, Oasis performed their best concert at Knebworth, 1996.While 'Morning Glory' proved a slighter album than 'Definitely Maybe' (structurally, 'Maybe' flows much better than 'Glory'), it gave a new generation of listeners the stadium anthems they had long missed since the seventies.

josh lucas movies 'Hello' screamed with an array of loud guitars (in 1995, 'Glory' was regarded as one of the loudest albums ever recorded, thanks in part to producer Owen Morris's technical ingenuity, his compression box bringing the loud dynamics of a concert closer to the homes of every listener), while 'Roll With It' took the status away from Status Quo for singalong-cum rock. 'Cast No Shadow (the Gallagher's nod to The Verve songwriter Richard Aschcroft) reveled in psychedelic introspection, 'Champagne Supernova' went one further, drug laden lyrics and music embellished by Paul Weller's shimmering guitar lines (The 'Modfather' joining Britpop's biggest and brightest for a glorious jam). Noel took the spotlight for the marvelous Mott The Hoople inspired 'Don't Look Back In Anger' (arguably the best Oasis song Liam never sang), and would continue to sing at least one song on every subsequent Oasis record. 'She's Electric' may have been silly, almost pastiche, but it was a far sight better than most sub-par Britpop bands (themselves silly, almost pastiche). Only 'The Swamp Song' failed to work- an instrumental indulgence too far for a band only on their second L.P.

'Wonderwall' (itself named after a George Harrison soundtrack) showed the band's substance, a song every band from U2 to Blur have envied. Earnest in style, subtle in its performance, 'Wonderwall' gave the band their biggest U.S. hit, an acoustic ballad that lovingly over-shaowed the showy rockers preceding and succeeding it. Oasis's most covered song, it proved the most beloved of their career.

While 'Wonderwall' proved the best hit of their career, the album's second acoustic ballad, the casually cerebral 'Cast No Shadow', was dedicated to fellow songwriter Richard Aschcroft, whose 'A Northern Soul' flowed equally along 'Morning Glory'. And while the quieter acoustic numbers kept the listeners from steering into boredom, 'Some Might Say' (its title in reverence to the band's Irish roots) proved they could still rock like no other could, punk in spirit, shimmering guitars a-lined, the Beatles spirit kept alive and well.