Oasis B-sides
If you only have ten minutes, start here. These three tracks are the reason Oasis B-sides have a cult following.
| B-side | Album Single | Year | Notes | |--------|--------------|------|-------| | "Acquiesce" | Some Might Say | 1995 | The most famous Oasis B-side. Features a dual vocal between Liam (chorus) and Noel (verses). Lyrics: "Because we need each other / We believe in one another." Often played live as a set closer. | | "The Masterplan" | Wonderwall | 1995 | Noel's crown jewel. A philosophical, piano-led ballad. Noel later admitted it was a mistake not to put it on Morning Glory. Became the title track of the 1998 B-side compilation. | | "Talk Tonight" | Some Might Say | 1995 | An acoustic, introspective song about Noel's crisis during the 1994 US tour. One of his most vulnerable lyrics. | | "Rockin' Chair" | Roll With It | 1995 | A melancholic, mid-tempo track about aging and regret, sung by Noel. Fan favorite. | | "Half the World Away" | Whatever | 1994 | A haunting, organ-driven ballad. Gained a second life as the theme song for the BBC sitcom The Royle Family. | | "Fade Away" | Cigarettes & Alcohol | 1994 | Punk-inspired and urgent. Later re-recorded for a charity album with Johnny Depp on guitar. | | "Listen Up" | Cigarettes & Alcohol | 1994 | Anthemic and defiant. Lyrics: "Got to make it somehow / On the dreams we still believe." | | "Going Nowhere" | Stand by Me | 1997 | A late-era gem from the Be Here Now sessions. Wistful, loping melody about stagnation. | | "Stay Young" | D'You Know What I Mean? | 1997 | Upbeat, power-pop. Originally considered for Morning Glory. Features the line "Come on, brother, stay young." | oasis b-sides
To understand Oasis’s B-sides, you have to understand the 1990s music economy. In the CD single era, the B-side wasn’t a digital afterthought; it was a weapon. Labels charged £3.99 for a two-track CD single, and fans bought it for the exclusive flip. Most bands treated this as a dumping ground for demos or rotten acoustic versions. If you only have ten minutes, start here
Oasis did the opposite.
Noel Gallagher, the band’s de facto leader and songwriter, grew up on The Smiths, The Jam, and The Beatles—bands that treated B-sides as a canvas for experimental genius. Noel had a problem: he wrote too fast. In 1994-95, he was churning out classic rock riffs in his sleep. The standard LP could only hold 11 songs. So, the rest went to the B-sides. By 1998, the clamour for these orphaned tracks
What emerged was a parallel universe. The A-sides were the stadium rockers—brazen, loud, immediate. The B-sides were where Oasis got weird, fragile, acoustic, psychedelic, and vicious.
By 1998, the clamour for these orphaned tracks was so loud that Oasis finally compiled them onto The Masterplan. The gag? The compilation itself was better than most bands’ greatest hits albums. Let’s look at the evidence: