CD Review

What is it about Oasis?  They have a sound both comforting for its familiarity and obnoxious for its grating, Noel-and-Liam-fueled Brit-poppishness.  And while they have passed the apex of their fame – arguably, by over a decade – their sound remains somehow comforting.

Nowhere is the paradox of their simultaneously annoying and reassuring sound more evident than on the recently-released two-disc retrospective, Stop the Clocks.  The album opener, “Rock ‘N’ Roll Star” from 1994’s Definitely Maybe, clearly lays out Oasis’ vision and, for a while at least, trajectory: including lyrics “Look at you now, you’re all in my hands tonight,” Oasis at least believed that they were always destined for stardom.  However, paging through the liner notes, it’s hard to ignore that the majority of songs on the Retrospective – and certainly the catchiest and most popular (including “Wonderwall,” “Champagne Supernova,” and others), were produced in the mid-90s.  Perhaps Oasis’ rise to stardom, coupled with their highly publicized internal feuds, were indeed too much, propelling the band away from writing the quality songs that gave them that fame in the first place.  

If you miss the Oasis of the good ‘ol days, this album could be just the ticket: combining some of their best (or at least more popular) songs along with a few lesser-known but quality works, it is a solid retrospective.  If you’ve already got their back catalogue, though, there’s not much reason to purchase Stop the Clocks; it adds nothing you don’t already have.