Oasis’ most glorious album, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?
The United Kingdom, 1995. The Battle of Britpop was at its peak. Oasis and Blur went face to face in one of the most celebrated band rivalries ever.
The battle itself divided the nation into two. Oasis represented the working class and the northern people while Blur represented the southern people, the hippies, and the uni-educated people. It was also the battle of influences. Oasis was mainly influenced by the likes of The Beatles, The Stone Roses, and other older rock ‘n roll and Madchester and Liverpool Movement brigade such as The La’s, The Smiths, etc. In the other hand, Blur was mainly influenced by Pulp and The Kinks, part of the early Britpop movement.
The battle reached its peak when Oasis was about to release “Roll With It” as their second single off their upcoming second album “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” (Or usually called “Morning Glory”). The single was planned to be released on 14 August 1995. At that time, Blur was also about to release their single “Country House” and planned to release it just one week after “Roll With It”. Damon Albarn, the vocalist of Blur, was worried that their single will be beaten by Oasis’ in the chart battle so he moved the release date one week earlier to match the Oasis’ release date. Their strategy worked. “Country House” topped the chart with “Roll With It” came close at second place.
Blur won the battle, but Oasis won the war. Morning Glory sold a record-breaking 345,000 copies in its first week in the UK and spent 10 weeks at number one on the UK Album Chart. Four million copies sold for Morning Glory in the UK while Blur’s “The Great Escape” only sold one million copies. Morning Glory propelled Oasis from being a crossover indie act to a worldwide rock phenomenon and is seen by critics as a significant record in the timeline of British indie music.
Following their commercial debut album success and a change in the line-up as Tony McCarrol (drums) was replaced by Alan White, they recorded Morning Glory in Rockfield Studios in Wales in 1994. The album cover is a picture of Berwick Street in London with DJ Sean Rowley and designer Brian Cannon in the frame.
Morning Glory consisted of twelve tracks, including two instrumental tracks Untitled 1 and Untitled 2 (also known as The Swamp Song excerpt 1 and 2). Morning Glory includes three of the most popular Oasis track of all time with a total length of fifty minutes, “Don’t Look Back in Anger”. “Wonderwall”, and “Champagne Supernova”.
The lead single “Hello” is a typical British rock ‘n roll tune (if not Britpop). Sang by Liam who was at his peak at that time, his nasally-screaming voice opened one of the best rock ‘n roll albums of all time. 7/10
The second track of the album, “Roll With It” follows the first track with another bang. It brought emotions and feelings with the line “I think I’ve got a feeling that lost inside, I think I’m gonna take me away and hide”. 7/10
The third track “Wonderwall” is the most popular Oasis’ track of all time. Streamed for over one million times in Spotify, becoming the first track of the 90s to be streamed for over one million times. Simple and fueled by feelings. Romantic and joyful at the same time. It’s also an easy-to-learn track for newbie guitarist because the chords are frickin easy. People can sing it without effort, as the way Liam sang it was so basic. You can find this song everywhere. Pub, stadium, or a fire camp, or name any other place where people usually sings together, you can always hear people sing this song. “Wonderwall” has become the anthem of Britpop and football. 9/10
The next track is “Don’t Look Back in Anger”, another anthem of Britrock and football. Sang by Noel Gallagher, it also brought joy and feelings. People sing it in stadiums across the world. There’s nothing wrong in this track. Pure talent of songwriting by Noel Gallagher. 10/10
The fifth track of the album is “Hey Now!”. Bang average track, but when Liam sings it, it’s always biblical. 6/10
The sixth track is untitled but also known as “The Swamp Song — Excerpt 1”. The track is forty-five seconds long filled with electric guitar and drums.
“Some Might Say” is the seventh track of the album and in my opinion, it’s the best of the album. Noel’s songwriting is undoubtedly biblical, but this track is exceptional. “Some might say, they don’t believe in heaven. Go and tell it to the man who lives in hell” is one of the best lines Noel has ever written. 10/10
“Cast No Shadow” is the eighth track of Morning Glory and arguably one of the most emotional tracks Noel has ever written. The song was dedicated to Richard Ashcroft, lead singer of The Verve who was going through a hard time back then with his band break-up. This is another songwriting masterclass from Noel with the line “As they took his soul they stole his pride” 9/10
The ninth track is “She’s Electric” Some say this is the track that The Beatles never released. Very Beatle-ish yet very original. A pure masterclass from Noel. 7/10
“Morning Glory” is the tenth track of the album. Rumours said that Noel was heavily stoned when he wrote this track. But even under the influences of drugs, Noel pulled a rock ‘n roll masterclass with this track. 8/10
The eleventh track is untitled but also known as “The Swamp Song — Excerpt 2” The track is thirty-nine seconds long and also filled with instrumentals only.
The last track of the album is “Champagne Supernova”. What a proper tune to end a majestic album. Seven minutes and thirty-one seconds long, this is one of the longest tracks Noel has ever written. The lyrics are not very much understandable and people also said that Noel was absolutely stoned when he wrote Morning Glory. But this is a masterpiece and again, a proper tune to end a majestic album. 10/10
The album also includes several B-sides tracks which sometimes are bigger than their A-sides tracks. To name a few, “Talk Tonight”, “Acquiesce”, and “The Masterplan” are some of the best Oasis’s B-sides. They were later included in Oasis’ B-sides compilation album “The Masterplan”
In conclusion, Morning Glory is definitely Oasis’s most glorious album since its most sold album and includes their top three tracks of their entire discography. Even when you are not an Oasis fan, you can never say no to “Wonderwall” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger”.
