The Masterplan

American reissue on vinyl for this compilation of B sides and singles. For American audiences, the phenomenal worldwide success of Oasis was a little puzzling. That's because they only had part of the picture - unless they were hardcore fans, they didn't hear nearly three albums of material released on B-sides and non-LP singles.

Critics and fans alike claimed that the best of these B-sides were as strong as the best moments on the albums, and they were right. None of the albums had a song that rocked as hard as "Fade Away" (cleverly built on a stolen melody from Wham!'s Freedom), "Headshrinker", or "Acquiesce". There was nothing as charming as the lite psychedelic pastiche "Underneath the Sky" or the Bacharach tribute "Going Nowhere"; there was nothing as affecting as Noel Gallagher's acoustic plea "Talk Tonight" or the minor-key, McCartney-esque "Rockin' Chair", nothing as epic as "The Masterplan".

Most bands wouldn't throw songs of this caliber away on B-sides, but Noel Gallagher followed the example of his heroes the Jam and the Smiths, who released singles where the B-sides rivaled the A-sides. This meant many American fans missed these songs, so to remedy this situation, Oasis released the B-sides compilation "The Masterplan".