Ss112

You can hear that it's an attempt to do something different after Be Here Now. The effects and the psychedelic jam sounds. Go Let It Out and Who Feels Love? actually work pretty well, and I can see why they were chosen as singles. I found the quote the band used in the first track funny. Little James shows Liam's lyrical exercises were a bit naff, but I don't think Sunday Morning Call is as bad as Noel thinks it is. Patchy but an interesting experiment in expanding their sound.

It was a bounce back after Be Here Now, if only because it wasn't compiled solely from songs of the post-1995 era. Acquiesce, Going Nowhere, and the two B-sides of Cigarettes & Alcohol are as strong as the A-sides. The jam session Swamp Song and the Beatles cover aren't the best, but those are the two only real hiccups in what is a quality collection.

It's a step down from the band's first two albums, primarily because it sounds overstuffed, like they'd already given in to their own hype. Now Morning Glory was very loud too, but this is mastered so harshly there's barely room for the ballads to breathe. All Around the World might be good, but did it need to be that long? And then to have a reprise of it? Moments like My Big Mouth and Stand by Me have promise but are drowned out.

I think it's more immediate than Definitely Maybe and the band's ultimate statement. Even the four full tracks not released as singles are quality. But having six mint singles off of one album - Roll with It, Wonderwall, Don't Look Back in Anger, Some Might Say, Morning Glory, and Champagne Supernova - speaks to how confident Oasis were after their debut and delivered on its promise.