"I challenge anyone in the crowd when Don't Look Back In Anger comes on not to get goosebumps as everyone compulsively throws their arms in the air and sings every single word as if it's some sort of hymn."
Matt Burr
After sixteen years apart, Oasis reunited for a landmark world tour. Family feuds, fame, fandom and frenzy — the Manchester legends’ return to the stage dominated music headlines, while the Britpop band’s rock ’n’ roll legacy remains truly cross-generational.
The reunion offers the perfect opportunity to revisit the band's vastly popular catalogue, specifically, the seven studio albums that Oasis managed to unleash to the world before their disbandment in 2009. To review and rank such a revered catalogue is an intimidating task, and up to the job is fellow Northerner and long-time 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.
2026: A new documentary film, Don't Look Back in Anger, offers another opportunity to revisit Oasis’ enduring cultural impact.
This reunion ranks among the biggest and most lucrative in music history, making this 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 lives shaped by Oasis. Whilst I was only two years old when Definitely Maybe came out, they soundtracked almost 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 30 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. Today, it's mad to think one of the biggest bands in the world played two nights at a run-down ice arena in Hull. 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 the last time I saw them, so the chance to see them return at Wembley felt surreal. With no new album to push, the focus could remain on wall-to-wall hits. The atmosphere was always 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 (2008)
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 on which 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 Lightning, The Turning
6. Standing on the Shoulder of Giants (2000)
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 or 15 Oasis songs of all time, 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 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 (2005)
This was the album where Noel giving up some of the writing responsibilities paid off for Oasis. Andy Bell’s opener, 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 while 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 (1997)
Yeah, I know everyone’s going to expect this to be number three. It’s a great album but there’s a lot in the way of big intros and guitar solos on it, aren’t there? By Noel’s own admission they banged in so much coke and the album was overproduced with too many guitar parts layered on top. 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’You Know What I Mean? is quintessential Oasis swagger, the type that no other band could ever pull off. In 2017 Liam even ranked this as his favourite of the band’s releases.
Best tracks: D’You Know What I Mean?, My Big Mouth, I Hope, I Think, I Know
3. Heathen Chemistry (2002)
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 should definitely go to Iggy Pop, with Noel lifting 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
"it's 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 (1994)
This album defined an entire generation. Deliberately mixed by Owen Morris to be louder than every other band on a jukebox, it still kicks like a horse compared with 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? (1995)
I know there will be a lot of people who will argue that Definitely Maybe should be number one… 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 in the crowd when Don't Look Back In Anger comes on not to 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