I think Noel thinks he's putting out the strongest album he can and the bsides are just songs taht weren't good enough for the album - but in many cases from our viewpoint but not his they end up being better than songs on the album
(though the omission of the Masterplan doesn't make much sense then)

MG would have been massive regardless of the switching around of a few tracks...thats just the essence of the time

BHN was what it was, i don't think stay young or anything would have done much to change reaction to it. I know it's oversaid but the production was all that held it back(and thats just a judgment call cos most like it the way it is)

i agree about SOTSOG, add LAMB and one way road, take away a couple iffy tracks and its a masterpiece in my mind(it still is to me the best 'grower' record they have)

HC was fucked because the album and b sides werent particulary strong as a whole, adding idlers dream instead of a weak track would only help the album some, but not enough

i forgot about TYFTGT, that could have replaced all in the mind(even though i really dig marr's solo) it's liams voice that's necessary

What's fokkin wrong with Put Yer Money where yer mouth is

it's kicking

5 minutes including she is love

I definitely think that a stronger track selection on some of the albums would have done a world of good. DM is brilliant and where Noel did best in his song selection.

(WTS)MG? is almost perfect song-wise I think, the only change I would suggest is that Acquiesce should have been the opening track. Imagine that - the acoustic version of Morning Glory comes in and then BANG! off we go into a huge rock anthem. Is better than Hello.

BHN and SOTSOG are the two worst examples of bad track selection, although as someone said above BHN was hampered by the over-production. But songs like My Big Mouth, which is just a wall of noise, and I Hope, I Think, I Know, whihc is pretty pedestrian tune by Oasis standards, should have come off. I would have used Stay Young instead of My Big Mouth and saved The Masterplan to be the final song on the album, coming in as the reprise of All Around The World fades away (like A Day In The Life on Sgt Pepper - magic!)

SOTSOG I think should have had Let's All Make Believe on it instead of I Can See A Liar . It's one of the very best vocals Liam has ever done and a great tune. PYMWYMI is agood tune but would have been better if Noel had actually bothered to write a second verse. On HC I would have put Idler's Dream on there because it's fantastic, rather than filler stuff like A Quick Peep.

A Be Here Now...Naked album is a fantastic idea!

For the record, I will never understand how Noel allowed Little James to appear on an Oasis album.

most of their b-sides couldn't fit the time alloted for a cd, or didn't flow with the rest of the album.

I believe that WTSMG was made to listen from beginning to end, but I don't feel thta's the case with BHN.

Has anyone noticed how long the songs are on BHN?
Most of the songs on WTSMG are a lot shorter.

One of the things that I feel makes WTSMG one of the Top 100 albums in the history of The Rock Era is the fact that after listening to the record about a half a million times, I still hear something new everytime I listen to it. Maybe a background vocal that wasn't there before, or maye a hidden meaning to a lyric. Isn't it amazing what a band can do when they're all fucked up on drugs LMAO! (As was the case with the Beatles!)

I see WTSMG as almost a rock opera, It is BEGGING to be listened to from beginning to end. One of the main reasons for this is The first few chords of Wonderwall hit you the instant you throw the disc on... and then a couple songs later, there it is. And there's The Swamp Song, Which pops up out of nowhere in the middle of the disc, and then, right before Champagne Supernova, there it is again, but somewhat different... I still think there is a hidden meaning to that instrumental, but I haven't figured it out yet. And with CS, what a way to close.

I think with BHN, Noel tried too hard to duplicate the magic of WTSMG, and tried to make a WHOLE RECORD full of anthems, like CS. (Hence all the long songs). He almost had it with All Around The World, it's a great song, but it doesn't have the same effect. After hearing CS for the first time (the ALBUM cut, not the crappy radio version that faded out during the yeaaah yeahhhhhs), I sat there completely drained and utterly wanting MORE. BLOOOOOOOOWN AWAY. After hearing AATW for the first time, I was like, "Cool song".

By the time SOTSOG rolled around, I think Noel was like, "Fuck it, mates. Let's try something else." And we all know how THAT turned out. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE SOTSOG, is full of great songs, but as a WHOLE, they just don't add up. But as I said, unlike most people, I thought SOTSOG has KILLER tunes, I was cleaning my car yesterday and had Sunday Morning Call CRANKED, man that orchestra during the bridge is AWESOME.

I think on HC, they tried to get back to the basics, shorter songs, but the album was flawed. Let me explain.

The quality of the songs, unlike SOTSOG, was just not that GOOD. The Hindu Times was a great song to start out with, but you didn't have that signature Hello, or Fucking In The Bushes preceeding it. Songs like Force Of Nature, Hung In A Bad Place, Better Man, they are all "good" songs, but they are FORGETTABLE. It is by design that Noel put the albums three strongest tracks together right in the middle of the album: Stop Crying Your Heart Out, Songbird, and Little By Little... to make people forget about Force Of Nature and Hung In A Bad Place, and to hopefully keep people on a high when they have to sit through the rest of the album. And even though Idler's Dream and You've Got The Heart Of A Star were soft songs, so what?? They are surely a lot better than All In The Mind and Born On A Different Cloud. I thought A Quick Peep was a decent little number. And actually I think that having Idler's Dream as the last track would have been a class way to finish the album.

With all that being said, bring on Don't Believe The Truth! I'm THIRSTY for it!

Even though I'm an American fan I do like that the group had great b-sides. That was part of their appeal. So it doesn't really bother me that some of their best songs went onto their singles (really EPs) rather than albums. I just wish those EP's were more released in America.

I also think Oasis quite wisely limit their albums to about 10-12 songs. A lot of great bands overdo it. The Red Hot Chili Peppers for instance. Great band. But their albums go on and on. Too many bands try to cram every song onto the CD. It's a bad idea unless you're going for a full double album in which case it can be more like a collage.

Anyway, if we are redoing Oasis albums, here's how I think they should've been:

Definitely Maybe

1. Rock n' Roll Star
2. Up in the Sky (slower)
3. Live Forever
4. Columbia
5. Fade Away
6. Sad Song
7. Supersonic
8. Bring it on Down
9. Cigarettes & Alcohol
10. Slide Away
11. Married With Children

Shakermaker and Digsy's Diner, and Strange Thing should've been b-sides IMO

(What's the Story) Morning Glory?

1. Acquiesce
2. Round Are Way (go against "Country House")
3. Wonderwall
4. Don't Look Back in Anger
5. Underneath the Sky
6. Rockin' Chair
7. Bonehead's Bank Holiday!
8. Some Might Say
9. The Master Plan
10. Morning Glory
11. (untitled)
12. Champagne Supernova

Roll With It, Cast No Shadow, Hello, She's Electric, and Hey Now could've been b-sides

Be Here Now - whole thing less overproduced

1. D'You Know What I Mean? (1 minute shorter)
2. My Big Mouth (maybe (I Got) the Fever or My Sister Lover instead)
3. Stand By Me - done folksy acoustic
4. Going Nowhere
5. Angel Child - completed, with a light string, organ, or piano accompaniment, and Liam and Noel sharing vocals
6. Don't Go Away
7. Stay Young
8. Flashbax
9. All Around the World - 3 minutes shorter and done in a different style. They'd already done the big Beatles-esque orchestral thing before, so why not try a "You Can't Always Get What You Want"-style arrangement?)
10. It's Getting Better, Man! - 1 minute shorter
11. All Around the World (reprise)
12. Slow - obviously, I've never heard this song, but if it's really as different and as beautiful as Alan McGee and Noel have said (and they've mentioned it since '97) it might have been a great way to end the album. After the bombast of AATW and It's Getting Better, Man, finish with a soft, slow unassuming and beautiful ballad.

Standing on the Shoulder of Giants
1. F*ckin' in the Bushes
2. Go Let it Out
3. Who Feels Love? (shorter)
4. Cigarettes in Hell (finished, Noel on vox)
5. Revolution Song (Liam on vocals)
6. Where did it All Go Wrong?
7. Gas Panic!
8. Sunday Morning Call - acoustic, maybe Liam on vox
9. Let's All Make Believe
10. Roll it Over

Heathen Chemistry

1. The Hindu Times
2. Hung in a Bad Place
3. Stop Crying Your Heart Out
4. Thank You For the Good Times
5. (You've Got) the Heart of a Star
6. Songbird
7. Idler's Dream
8. Little By Little
9. Shout it Out Loud
10. Born on a Different Cloud
11. Better Man