Noel Gallagher once famously claimed that the only time there would be an Oasis 'best of' collection would be once the band had split. Yet he reckoned without the power of major record labels.   Full text...

Tonii-iiight, and forever, they are rock'n'roll stars   Full text...

A collection, effectively, of Noel Gallagher's favourite moments from the band's catalogue, so heavily weighted is it in favour of Oasis' early material (14 out of 18 tracks come from the first two albums and contemporary b-sides), it makes quietly explicit what their fans have long suspected. For all their embracing of the rock ‘n' roll paradigm, Oasis never quite burned out - instead, they faded away.   Full text...

This is a great music collection, but one with no relevance.  Full text...

Weirdly, the band that killed off indie music forever with their all-conquering success turned out to be its saviours. The generation that grew up playing these uncomplicated songs now dominates the charts. None of them has written a Live Forever yet but at least the guitar industry was saved. This snapshot of an unrepeatable era certainly entertains. Terry Venables is back on the England bench too, so maybe history really is repeating itself.  Full text...

Needlessly split across two discs, but jammed with one great track after another, Stop The Clocks is a band-curated glance backward at what could be charitably described as an erratic career, one which flared brightly in the mid-'90s and is just now righting itself.  Full text...

As you might expect, this “Best Of” is weighted towards that 1994-1996 period. Of the 18 songs here, only four are from the last ten years. It’s a curious compilation; two UK number ones are omitted, whilst four b-sides and three album tracks are included. In fact, there is no evidence that the much derided Be Here Now ever existed.   Full text...

Despite a good decade or more having passed since the majority of these songs were recorded, Oasis's heyday really does feel like yesterday. Like it's been 24 hours since the last time you burst into song about being a rock and roll star, or that you were sniffing Alka Seltzer through a cane. No doubt in another ten years it will still feel the same. I wonder if you'll be able to say that about Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly in 2016? Who...?  Full text...

it's certainly not a bad set of songs collected here, and a reminder of the greatness that the band was and may be capable of again.  Full text...

One of those two-disc sets in which the longer is 44 minutes long. But, aw, guys, we can't stay mad at you.  Full text...

Stop the Clocks largely proves what fans already know: Oasis were at their best when they were coming up from the bottom.  Full text...

Stop the Clocks doesn't cast any new insight into the band's history, and can't put the Gallagher brothers in any better light than its first two albums did. Skip this pasted-together compilation, and go for the act's real two-disc best of collection: A copy of Definitely Maybe and What's The Story Morning Glory.  Full text...