With Oasis nearing the end of the UK & Ireland leg of the Live 25 tour, and with the potential announcement of more dates for 2026. It feels like a good time to run through my ten favourite Oasis songs.
An early 2000s gem, at a time when the Oasis releases could be patchy. 'Little by Little' was initially released as a single from the 2002 album 'Heathen Chemistry', an acoustic-led ballad which reached Number Two in the UK Singles Chart. In more recent years, it has been given a new lease of life in Noel Gallagher's first solo shows and more recently during the Oasis tour.
Notably, if the Standing on the Shoulder of Giants opening track 'Fuckin' in the Bushes' is not considered an official part of the setlist since it is played from a speaker as the band walk on stage, 'Little by Little' is the only song played during the Live '25 Tour from their 2000-2008 discography, with every other song being from the first three albums (Definitely Maybe, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? and Be Here Now), and the B-side compilation album, The Masterplan.
The song has become an enormous stadium anthem far from its acoustic beginnings. It suits these large venues, though, the chorus has become a raucous, loud stadium chant. It had to make the list.
'Rock n Roll Star' was the final song of the main set of the band's Live 25 tour. In 1994, however, it opened the proceedings. The first song fans would hear when playing 'Definitely Maybe' for the first time.
Even after 31 years, the song still feels like Liam Gallagher's personal statement. From the outset, the guitar riff strikes forcefully and establishes a rebellious tone. The distortion gives it a gritty, defiant energy, like an amp turned up as loud as it can go. Liam delivers every line with absolute conviction, his voice full of the same swagger as the lyrics when the chorus kicks in. "Tonight I'm a Rock' n Roll Star" it's more than just a line; it's a manifesto that has gone on to define the man.
During the Live 25 shows, when the crowd echoed those famous words back to him, Liam replied in trademark Gallagher fashion: "Yes, you fucking are." He was right; in that moment, we were all Rock n Roll Stars. I remember standing among the sea of fans, all bellowing out those lines, some of us not even born when Oasis first hit the airwaves. The atmosphere was electric. As our voices united with Liam's, arms raised to the sky, we became part of something larger, something timeless.
This song is classic Oasis, with jangling guitars, a strong beat, and Liam's unmistakable attitude showing off the band's youthful defiance. The lyrics are straightforward but powerful, all about dreams, identity, and the pull of rock and roll. 'Rock n Roll Star' is more than just a track; it's a statement and a shared intent that shows why Oasis became the most important band of their generation.
I was fortunate to get to see the Oasis Live 25 tour. I caught the band on their last night in Manchester. The third song of the setlist was 'Morning Glory', a significant choice as it's a fan favourite and a high-energy track. It's easy to see why it was included, and it's also easy to see why it was included early in the setlist. In interviews, Noel has stated, "When Liam sings that first line, you know you're at a fucking gig. You know things are gonna fucking kick off after that."
The whole song from start to finish was a loud, brash affair. From the opening helicopter intro to the Beatles references, the blatant lines about cocaine use, the film is a rollercoaster ride. It's Oasis at their best, and it was one of the only songs that remained on the setlist from the day of its release all the way through until today. There aren't that many Oasis songs that can hold that accolade.
'Bring It On Down' was intended to be Oasis's first single. However, while recording it in the studio, issues with drummer Tony McCarroll prevented the band from producing a satisfactory take. As a result, they did not present the track to Creation Records owner Alan McGee. Subsequently, Noel wrote 'Supersonic' in Liverpool, changing the course of Oasis history.
The band eventually recorded 'Bring it On Down, which is the most overtly punk-influenced Oasis track. It sounds like the energy of the Sex Pistols and The Stooges.
The lyrics are dark and menacing, addressing the powers at be: "you're the uninvited guest, who stays to the end." They also highlight the frustration Noel and his peers faced before the band, with lines like "You're the outcast/You're the underclass. But you don't care, because you're living fast."
It's such an underrated song that has been given a new lease of life. First on Liam Gallagher's 2024 'Definitely Maybe' tour and then again on the Oasis Live 25 tour.
Another song from the band's debut album 'Definitely Maybe'. A beefy affair, a live staple for Oasis and Liam Gallagher's solo shows. Lyrics that see Noel go political again. "Is it worth the aggravation to find yourself a job when there's nothing worth working for?"
At the time of writing, Noel Gallagher was one of the so-called "Thatcher Children" a title branded to those who had grown up under the policies and leadership of Margaret Thatcher who had taken office in 1979 and left office in 1990. For those in the North of England, Thatcher and her party made decisions that would affect them for a long time.
Noel commented in interviews, "I don't think there's anything more soul-destroying than you, your brother, your dad, and two of your best mates, and both their dads, all going to sign on at the unemployment office," he recalls.
"At the time, it was just life. [I'd] just left school and gone on the dole. But looking back on it now, what message does that send? My dad's got no future?"
Despite being rooted in Noel Gallagher’s own circumstances, 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' maintains a timeless quality, speaking to successive generations. The song encapsulates recurring themes in youth culture: disillusionment with societal structures, resistance to conformity, and the pursuit of self-determination. Its lyrical directness and raw energy align with the tradition of British rock anthems that challenge the status quo, while its enduring relevance reflects the cyclical nature of generational frustration and ambition.
This is also one of the first Oasis songs I ever fell in love with; it had to make the list.
'The Masterplan' is a perfect example of Oasis' talent in the mid-'90s, and many fans consider it Noel Gallagher's best song. Even though it was just a B-side, it shows how Oasis could turn even their extra tracks into something special.
The song's rich orchestration, memorable melody, and thoughtful lyrics make it stand out. It probably deserved more attention than it got, but Oasis released it quietly, as they often did. Still, 'The Masterplan' proves that even Oasis's lesser-known songs could match the best work of any band.
And time has vindicated it. 'The Masterplan' has grown from cult favourite to setlist staple, even opening the encore on the band's Live 25 tour. Noel Gallagher also included the song in his solo setlists, creating continuity for fans. At the first show of the Oasis Live 25 tour, he dedicated 'The Masterplan' with the words: "This song is for all the people in their twenties who have never seen us before and kept this going for 20 years."
It's far more than just a B-Side, it's one of the band's most beloved tracks.
If you'd asked me a year ago, 'Champagne Supernova' wouldn't have made the list. But after the 'Live 25' tour and seeing Liam and Noel perform this seven-minute orchestral epic together, it has taken on a whole new life for me.
The track’s origins are pure Noel Gallagher. The title supposedly came to him while he was watching a documentary about champagne and misheard the title of the 'Pixies' album 'Bossanova'. Lyrically, it is often dismissed as nonsense, even Noel admits he was "out of it" when he wrote some of it, but that’s exactly where its power lies. Lines like "Slowly walking down the hall, faster than a cannonball" actually stem from Noel’s childhood memories of Bracket the Butler from the 60s kids' show 'Camberwick Green', who took forever to cross a room. By pairing those surreal images with the universal question, "How many special people change?" Noel created a song that means everything and nothing all at once. It’s a "mood" song; when you’re down, being "caught beneath a landslide" feels like suffocation, but when you’re in a stadium with 50,000 people, it feels like total liberation.
While the live version is a Gallagher-only triumph, the studio recording on '(What's the Story) Morning Glory?' is defined by the presence of "The Modfather" himself, Paul Weller. Weller provided the swirling, psychedelic lead guitar and those distinctive, slightly "drunken" backing vocals. The way their solos blend in the final mix created a sonic template for "Britpop Psychedelia" that no one has ever quite matched.
Ending the 'Live 25' shows with an epic firework finale, the song felt like a perfect epitaph for the 90s, but also a bridge to the future. It’s been 30 years, and it still has that same "Day in the Life" magnitude. As the final notes rang out over Manchester, it was clear: we weren't just watching a band finish a set, we were watching something really special.
'Talk Tonight' has always been a favourite of mine from my very first listen. It's one of the most vulnerable songs in the Oasis discography. Born out of a moment when Oasis were on the brink, 'Talk Tonight' has a warmth and intimacy that's entirely unlike anything else in their catalogue.
Noel Gallagher wrote it during a brief walkout from the band after a disastrous, drug-fueled show at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles in 1994. He fled to San Francisco and sought refuge with a girl he had met at a previous gig: Melissa Lim. She famously "talked him off the ledge," convincing him that he was on the verge of something too big to quit. The lyrics are a direct map of their time together, from her obsession with Snapple Strawberry Lemonade ("all your dreams are made of strawberry lemonade") to the quiet moments in Huntington Park ("you take me walking to where you played when you were young")
In the 'Supersonic' documentary, Noel claimed he couldn't even remember her name, but 30 years later, Melissa was spotted in the crowd at the 'Live 25' Rose Bowl show, proving that the woman who "saved Oasis" remains a significant part of the story.
A single song can redefine the musical landscape, and 'Live Forever' is one such song. For Noel Gallagher, it marked a turning point—he has claimed on multiple occasions that it was the first great song he ever wrote. It arguably launched Oasis and changed people's outlook on music.
Released four months after Kurt Cobain took his own life, it delivers a powerful and inspiring message: a song about you, the underdog, harnessing the potential and belief within yourself to achieve what you want ("maybe I just wanna fly / wanna live and don't wanna die"). It's also an ode to those who are with us along the journey ("we'll see things they'll never see"). The song rejects the banal and mediocre ("maybe I don't really wanna know how your garden grows / and I just wanna fly") and instead celebrates just how magnificent human beings can be ("maybe I will never be all the things that I wanna be / now is not the time to cry, now's the time to find out why").
It's uplifting and enduring; Liam's distinct vocal carries Noel's lyrics to a place that hits home beautifully. Every Oasis fan has their own story with 'Live Forever', the song carries a sense of immortality and feels eternal over thirty years later. The song has earned generational acclaim and is routinely ranked as not only one of the best Oasis songs but one of the greatest songs ever written. It's not my number one, though.
I couldn't have completed this list without mentioning this song. It's impossible to talk about Oasis without mentioning 'Don't Look Back in Anger'. For many of us in the UK, it's one of the first Oasis songs we ever hear. Alongside 'Wonderwall', it's instantly recognisable, and the chorus is ingrained into us from a young age. This song is part of the furniture. But beyond its status as a pop classic, it has taken on a deeper meaning, especially for the city of Manchester.
Following the Manchester Arena attack in 2017, the song became an anthem of defiance, unity, and resilience. On the 25th May 2017, three days after the attack, mourners gathered in St Ann's Square to pay their respects. Following a period of silence, one mourner, Lydia Bernsmeier-Rullow, began to break into the opening verse of 'Don't Look Back in Anger. The crowd of people joined in.
They were singing because they needed something that made sense, something familiar, powerful, and healing. When politicians and the powers at be could not provide the help and support. Manchester rallied around a song.
In Britain, 'Don't Look Back in Anger' has become part of the national furniture. One of those songs woven so deeply into the cultural fabric that it feels like it's always been there. It echoes through football stadiums, fills pub gardens after last orders, and sits permanently on the playlist of every busker, wedding DJ, and indie discos. It's been sung in joy and grief, at parties and vigils, in defiance and remembrance. It's passed down from siblings, learned by osmosis, blasted from radios and shouted from terraces. And no matter where you're from, whether you grew up with Britpop or discovered the song decades later when that chorus hits, you're part of something bigger. It's more than a song now. It's a unifier, an unofficial British hymn.
Slide Away' stands as the definitive Oasis song, and its legend is tied to a "passing of the torch" in Manchester music history. It was written on a 1960 Gibson Les Paul that Johnny Marr had sent to Noel. At the time, Oasis were relatively unknown and broke; Marr, noticing Noel only had one guitar and was struggling to stay in tune, gave him the instrument out of pure generosity.
The guitar had an incredible lineage; it was previously owned by Pete Townshend and used by Marr to write the 'The Smiths' classic 'Panic'. Noel says the song just "came out of the guitar" in about twenty minutes.
Remarkably, after Noel smashed that guitar over a stage invader’s head in Newcastle, Marr gave him another one, a black 1978 Les Paul Custom used on 'The Queen is Dead'. Every time you hear those shimmering, roaring riffs, you’re hearing the literal soul of Manchester rock being handed from one generation to the next.
Musically, the track is a masterclass in tension and release. Recorded during the initial 'Definitely Maybe' sessions at Monnow Valley Studio, it was the only song to survive those sessions, with the rest of the album being scrapped. It features what many consider to be Liam Gallagher’s finest vocal performance. There is a rasp and a desperate hunger in his voice, especially when he hits the line, "I don’t know, I don’t care, all I know is you can take me there!" It’s the sound of a man who isn't just singing lyrics, but pleading for a way out.
Seeing them do this together in 2025/2026, standing just yards apart, felt like the ultimate reconciliation. It captures every phase of a relationship: the giddy anticipation of "we talk of growing old," the melting-into-each-other devotion of "let me be the one who shines with you," and the reckless abandon of youth.
It transcends the Britpop era entirely; it could have been written fifty years ago or yesterday, and it would still hit with the same emotional force. It is the ultimate declaration of desire, devotion, and rock 'n' roll energy. For many fans, 'Live Forever' is the show's Noel Gallagher as a genius, but 'Slide Away' proves he's a poet.
There you have it: my top ten Oasis songs. I imagine many of you will have very different lists; feel free to share yours in the comments below!
Thank you for reading, Jack