Oasis - Stop the Clocks

Stop the clocks, brew the kettle, take that place in your beloved armchair and put everything aside for this collection of songs from the band who truly carried on The Beatles legacy. This is the sound of the terraces, the sound of a nation finding a voice, the sound of some of the finest modern folk songs ever penned. Oasis arrived at a time when music was at a loss - namely Kurt Cobain's suicide - and seemed to orchestrate the sense of societal and cultural change into a triumphant, swaggering, parker-donned fashion - with a hell of a lot of balls.

Go Let It Out is the track which sets us off on this journey through BritPop's monolith of a rock band. Already our imaginations are filled with being 18 years old, broke and having the best time of your life. But it's the massive Rock And Roll Star which really gets the party going. After that, comes a reminder as to why Oasis were able to grab the world by its collar in Some Might Say, a tale of optimism so convincing it seems more like a certainty.

A third of the way into Stop The Clocks and we are met with the seminal Wonderwall. On a personal note, this is the only song I have ever come across that has the capacity to bring anyone together, from the strum of the first chord. A wave of life chronicling tunes later and we arrive at Live Forever. Need I say more? This band, at their peak, were churning out songs that fitted like an old glove into the hands of an entire generation.

Undoubtedly, Oasis are a band way past their peak. Their hay-day ended with disappointing third album Be Here Now. Since that time, the band have, for the most part, failed to live up to their off-the-chart expectations. Their following studio albums seemed to have rolled by quietly and as such there are only a handful of numbers from their more recent releases on Stop the Clocks. Even these select few tracks don't reflect well compared to Oasis' early days.

However, as the record draws to a reflective ending, Don't Look Back In Anger is perhaps the most apt way of forgiving them. This should not be an album for critique, but for celebration. A raise of glasses to The Band of BritPop (lets be honest Damon Albarn). Oasis may have had their finest hour, but like the title says, stop the clocks. Stop the clocks and remember how the masterstroke-songsmithery of Oasis led us all to slip inside the eyes of our minds, and find a better place to be.