Ranked: Oasis' Greatest Albums
"I challenge anyone to be in a crowd when Don't Look Back In Anger comes on and not get goosebumps as everyone compulsively throws their arms in the air and sings every single word as if it's some sort of hymn."
It's the summer of 2025 and Oasis are reuniting for their first world tour in sixteen years. Family feuds, fame, fandom and frenzy - the journey towards the Manchester legends' return to the stage has long dominated music headlines, the legacy of the Britpop band's rock 'n' roll status is truly cross-generational.
READ NOW: Rough Trade Essential Britpop
With this momentous occasion on the horizon, it feels like no better time to revisit the band's vastly popular catalogue, specifically, the seven studio albums which Oasis managed to unleash to the world before their disbandment in 2009. To review and rank such a revered catalogue is an intimidating task, but up to the job is fellow Northerner and longtime Oasis fan, Rough Trade East's Matt Burr.
Whether you're a lifelong devotee who lived through the Definitely, Maybe era, or a new fan drawn in by the mythology of the Gallagher brothers, Oasis’ discography is a sprawling collection of hits, many of which are likely familiar as a result of the band's ubiquitous presence in popular culture.
Grab your parka and join the Britpop brigade in squabbling over where each album stands in the pantheon of rock 'n' roll.
"We're just around the corner from what is probably the biggest and most lucrative reformation in history so it feels like a great time to get everybody arguing about how they would rank the seven Oasis albums. I'm one of an unthinkable number of people who had their life shaped by Oasis. Whilst I was only two years old when Definitely Maybe came out they soundtracked almost all of my entire life thanks to my dad. He took my cousin to her first show when she was 13 which happened to be the (What's The Story) Morning Glory? tour at Sheffield Arena on the 30th November 1995 and then seven years later he took me to see them at their second night at Hull Ice Arena on the 3rd July 2002. It was my second ever concert and I still remember him leaning out of his office one morning as I was setting off to school and telling me "we're going to see Oasis". I was just ten years old.
None of us ever thought we'd get to see Oasis again. I was 17 when I last saw them and I'll be 33 when I see them at their first Wembley show in July. Arguably this could be the best possible time to see them since they have no albums to push - the set list will be wall to wall hits. The atmosphere is going to be, in Liam's words, BIBLICAL. I've stuck to the studio albums only for this one which disqualifies The Masterplan as it's a B-side compilation so here is the honourable mention because you can't deny that Oasis really did keep the art of the b-side alive with songs like Acquiesce, The Masterplan, Half The World Away and, the first song to ever make me cry, Talk Tonight.
As a northerner I do naturally feel like my opinion on Oasis is more important than anyone else's from around the world but I've tried to mix both the cultural and personal impact these albums have had. Naturally though the thing that qualifies me to make this list above everything is the fact that I share the same birthday as Noel.
Shall we then...?"
7. Dig Out Your Soul
Now, I don’t like this album being at the bottom but also, like SOTSOG, it’s not down here because it’s a bad album. To me this was the album when the band finally started to experiment with their psychedelic Beatles influences and it paid off. Falling Down was the last Oasis single that they released and what a crescendo that is? It's almost poetic really when you think about it.
I saw them twice on this tour and they were outstanding. The last time I saw them was on the Friday night of their Heaton Park residency, they were supported by Kasabian, The Enemy, Twisted Wheel and Free Peace and the tickets were just £45. What a difference 15 years can make?
Best tracks: Falling Down, The Shock of the Lightening, The Turning
6. Standing On The Shoulder of Giants
This was always the album that everyone told me was the worst Oasis record and they’re probably right but not because it’s a bad album, far from it. It just doesn’t have as many massive songs on it as the other albums do. I would argue though that Fuckin’ In The Bushes, Gas Panic and Go Let It Out are amongst the top 10/15 Oasis songs of all time though so I would say that makes the album pretty solid, right? Who Feels Love? and Roll It Over deserve a mention too - hearing Liam’s crowd at Knebworth belting out the latter at Knebworth in ’22 was really something.
Best tracks: Gas Panic, Fucking In The Bushes, Roll It Over
5. Don't Believe The Truth
This was the album where Noel giving up some of the writing responsibilities paid off for Oasis. Andy Bell’s opener in Turn Up The Sun, Liam’s 1:42 stomper The Meaning of Soul and Gem’s A Bell Will Ring happily sit amongst Oasis’ catalogue whilst feeling like their songwriting style had added more melody into aspects of their songs. From a production perspective the album sounded like it had more space than previous releases, it felt raw but polished at the same time with plenty of breathing room to hear all of the layers in the instrumentation. I have a lot of happy memories of this record coming out - I remember being on dial up internet with my dad trying to load the Lyla video. My friend back home also named his daughter Lyla and that’s cool innit?
Best tracks: Lyla, A Bell Will Ring, The Importance of Being Idle.
4. Be here now
Yeah I know everyone’s going to expect this to be number 3, it’s a great album but there’s a lot in the way of big intros and guitar solos on it isn’t there? By Noel’s own admission they banged in so much coke and the album was over produced with too many guitar parts layered. Some critics label this album as the record that signified the end of the Britpop movement and I guess in some ways you can't really disagree with that. That being said, you can’t argue with the songs - D’ya Know What I Mean? is a quintessential Oasis swagger, the type that no other band could ever pull off. In 2017 Liam even ranked this as his favourite of the bands' releases.
Best tracks: D'you Know What I Mean?, My Big Mouth, I Hope, I Think, I Know.
3. Heathen Chemistry
This was the tour where I first saw Oasis. Hindu Times was the first CD single I ever owned and my parents gave it to me on my 10th birthday, I played it to death and got my guitar teacher to show me how to play it - it might even be the song that made me get my first capo. Hung In A Bad Place was my dad’s favourite on here. A nod definitely should go to Iggy Pop though where Noel has lifted the start of Nightclubbing for Force of Nature. As an album I don't think it gets enough recognition - the songs I've already mentioned plus Stop Crying Your Heart Out, Little By Little and Songbird - some of Oasis' biggest songs post-Be Here Now are on this record. I remember at the show on this tour people got their lighters out during Don't Look Back In Anger to which Noel quipped "put your lighters away you're not at a fucking Elton John concert".
Best tracks: The Hindu Times, Hung In A Bad Place, Stop Crying Your Heart Out
"Mad to think one of the biggest bands in the world played two nights at a run down Ice Arena in Hull."
2. Definitely Maybe
An album that defined an entire generation, deliberately mixed by Owen Morris to be louder than every other band on a jukebox and it still kicks like a horse compared to anything else nowadays. The album was initially due to be recorded at Monnow Valley Studio in Wales which didn’t go very well with Noel saying it wasn’t working out. Liam later said about the sessions “I don’t remember much recording, just shitting me pants because it was haunted”. As I've said, I was two when this album came out but I can only imagine how electric it must have felt to hear Rock & Roll Star for the first time. It's a perfect debut album from a rock and roll band.
Best tracks: Slide Away, Columbia, Live Forever
1. (What's The Story) Morning Glory
I know there will be a lot of people who will argue that Definitely Maybe should be number 1… But this is my list and not yours! I would argue that having an iconic debut album is an achievement but being able to follow it up with a second iconic album just a year later is remarkable. I challenge anyone to be in a crowd when Don't Look Back In Anger comes on and not get goosebumps as everyone compulsively throws their arms in the air and sings every single word as if it's some sort of hymn. Also, fun fact: Paul Weller played the guitar solo on Champagne Supernova. (We won’t talk about Gary Glitter’s writing credit on Hello though).
Best tracks: Don't Look Back In Anger, Champagne Supernova, Some Might Say.
Time Flies...1994-2009
Experience Oasis in their full glory with the much-in-demand Record Store Day 2025 edition of this standout singles collection Time Flies...1994-2009. Released on Big Brother Recordings, the tracklisting spans fifteen years across the Manchester outfit's staggering seven consecutive number one albums.
Oasis: The Story Behind The Music
Reporting on a legacy, the bad and the good. This summer we are lucky enough to choose from several new books offering us the opportunity to engage critically with the story so far.
From the gritty pubs of Manchester to the dizzying heights of global stardom, John Robb peels back the layers of Manchester's best known musical export in Live Forever: The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of Oasis. Featuring an exclusive interview with Noel Gallagher ahead of the Oasis Live '25 Tour and bespoke artwork by Brian Cannon.
A Sound So Very Loud: The Inside Story of Every Oasis Song Recorded is the first and definitive book about the music of Oasis written by two insiders Ted Kessler and Hamish MacBain and published in time for the reunion tour.
In Oasis: The Masterplan we follow renowned photographer Kevin Cummin's as he photographs the band as they cement their identity. Signed by Kevin Cummins + Rough Trade Exclusive A5 print.