Fans of Oasis can now relive the brawn and swagger of the Manchester heroes second and most successful album as it has now been remastered.
What’s The Story (Morning Glory)? was originally released on October 1 1995, and propelled Oasis into the orbit of stadium rock acts – with the anthems to match – establishing the Burnage lads as a British institution.
And this iconic album has now been re-mastered as part of Oasis’ Chasing the Sun 1991-1997 exhibition.
Arguably the UK’s biggest (and perhaps greatest) band since The Beatles, Oasis are undoubtedly a band that divide opinion.
They took the music industry by storm in the 1990’s, conquering all in front of them with their mod looks, football hooligan antics and arrogance.
The groups main antagonists – avid Manchester City fans Noel and Liam Gallagher – led the way into a new dawn for British rock n’ roll; while still sticking to their Maine Road routes.
Often cited as the band’s best album, Morning Glory was the champagne-fuelled follow up to the psychedelic Definitely Maybe – the Gallagher brothers and co’s debut effort – shrouded by drugs, booze and sibling rivalries.
TROUBLE IN PARADISE: Liam and Noel often had fall-outs during the band’s time together (©freschwill)
Released in August 1994, Definitely Maybe helped spark the Britpop revolution, alongside the likes of Blur’s Parklife and PULP’s Different Class.
The album spawned the hit singles Supersonic, which songwriter Noel proudly boasts was ‘written in half-an-hour’, and which told listeners to ‘be yourself, you can’t be no one else’.
Other hits included Shakermaker – an unashamed rip-off of the Coca Cola song I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing.
Then came the anthemic Live Forever and last, but certainly not least, the brazen Cigarettes & Alcohol – a satirical take on the British binge-culture that followed the infamous ecstasy-laden ‘Madchester’ scene, pioneered within the steamy confines of the Hacienda nightclub.
Definitely Maybe got a makeover of its own back in May to celebrate the albums 20th anniversary, and now hits such as Don’t Look Back In Anger, Roll With It, Some Might Say and the perhaps overplayed Wonderwall have been given a revamp.
After the success of Definitely Maybe – it was the fastest selling UK debut album ever at the time of release – Oasis embarked on a UK and US tour towards the back end of ’94, which was halted when Noel temporarily departed the band after yet another clash of heads with Liam.
TOP TUNE: Wonderwall became one of the most iconic songs in UK music history (©freschwill)
However, the stand-alone single Whatever, released in time for Christmas, indicated things were on the mend and the band were back with aplomb in ’95 with the blistering Some Might Say – their first UK No.1 single.
Next, the ‘battle of Britpop’ with Blur; working class vs. middle class; North vs. South; rock vs. pop.
And while Blur eventually trumped Oasis, with their single Country House outselling Roll With It, the Gallagher’s no doubt won the war.
Morning Glory was released two months later and Oasis never looked back.
The LP, despite being slated before release by critics, was a barnstorming success, and the lead single Wonderwall has gone on to sell around five million copies as of December 2012.
“You can’t get bored of 15,000 people shouting for ‘Wonderwall’. That’s better than drugs,” Noel said of the band’s most famous songs.
The Gallagher brothers’ every move was now headline news – something that neither shied away from.
“If you don’t want to be in the biggest band in the world, you may as well pack it in,” Noel said at the time.
Oasis followed the album up with a grand slam world tour – culminating in a celebratory stint at Knebworth where they played to 250,000 people over two nights.
Tim Burgess of The Charlatans, another Manchester indie band that had large-scale success in the 90’s and who performed at Knebworth alongside Oasis, stated in his book Telling Stories: “It was the end of an era for Oasis, because how could you get any bigger than that.”
Oasis’ mega-hyped third album arrived in 1997 on the back of the Morning Glory tour, but Be Here Now was an unflattering fall from grace.
Although it was a huge commercial success, it was critically slammed because of its overblown attitude – a reflection of the group’s cocaine-driven lifestyle.
“I still tell people that the Be Here Now album is the best advertisement against taking cocaine. It goes on too long, it’s smothered by its self of self-importance, just like coke users are,” Noel admitted.
Oasis split in 2009, but the Gallagher’s still have a global fan base, which will no doubt be delighted to see their favourite tunes revitalised.
The re-issue will also include all the B-Sides from the Morning Glory sessions, including the awesome crowd-raiser Acquiesce and the magnificent ballad The Masterplan.
Available for purchase and download from Monday September 29, the box-set includes a 180gram double 12-inch gatefold vinyl of a re-mastered version of the original album, triple CD album and a copy of the original promo cassette sent out to critics before the album’s release.
Main image courtesy of Oasis, via YouTube, with thanks
