"THE FIRST BIOGRAPHY" by Unknown

The very first time Oasis played together they promised they were going to be the best, that they'd never settle for the dull thud of mediocrity. And then they set about proving it. Right from the off, they resisted the security of the obvious, of doing things the way they were supposed to. They never sent a demo to a record company, knew that supreme self-confidence and a host of classic songs would be enough to curve destiny their way. When Creation Records supremo Alan McGee saw them at a club gig in Glasgow they had no manager, no agent, and no money. Just greatness. He signed them on the spot. An unsuspecting world was about to be blown away.

On April 11th 1994, Oasis released their debut single, 'Supersonic', an elegantly noisy pop celebration. By now their live shows were being talked of as something very special and they'd built an extensive, committed fan base. A trio of classic singles, 'Shakermaker', 'Live Forever' and 'Cigarettes and Alcohol' further emphasised Oasis' soaringly assured power. Their increasingly growing audience began to wonder what they ever did without them.

More live shows followed, including a triumphant New York debut and promoters soon got used to the band breaking all records, exceeding even the wildest expectations.

With the release of their debut album, 'Definitely Maybe', it was time to rewrite the record books once again. The album was the fastest selling debut in British history, entering the charts, unsurprisingly, at number one. It's still in the UK top twenty after a staggering eighteen months, going way past triple platinum and perhaps more impressively has sold well over one million copies outside the UK.

They crowned 1994 with their No.3 Xmas single 'Whatever', swept the readers' and writer's polls in the music press, and were, unsurprisingly, winners at the BRIT Awards. Barely a year between their first single and the stratospheric. Not bad going.

In 1995 the reputation of Oasis' live shows sky-rocketed. All around the world gigs sold out in under half an hour, and telephone exchanges from Dublin to Detroit blew up through the sheer weight of calls for tickets. Furthermore they headlined Glastonbury, played two nights in a colossal tent on Irvine Beach, Scotland, and staged the two biggest ever indoor gigs in Europe, at a specially-expanded Earls Court. So loud were the latter that serious earth tremors were reported in the Kensington and Chelsea areas. The shows themselves were astounding, emotional, and proof, if any was needed, that Oasis were undoubtedly the biggest and best band in the country.

On record, too, the band had progressed, in April 'Some Might Say' provided them with their first No. 1 single, selling over 300,000 copies. The follow-up 'Roll With It' reached 400,000, and 'Wonderwall' is Platinum (600,000) and rising after 12 weeks in the Top Ten, and inspired an almost instant cover version by Mike Flowers.

Their second album '(What's The Story) Morning Glory?' went straight in at No. 1, and became the fastest-selling album since Michael Jackson's 'Bad' in 1987. By the end of 1995 it was certified 6 times Platinum, and, apart from Robson & Jerome, by far the biggest-selling album of the year. This success is being mirrored world-wide, with the album hitting No. 1 in France, Sweden, Ireland and New Zealand, as well as reaching gold in most other countries.

If last year was magnificent, their future looks better still. Edging into 1996 , there's 4 BRAT Awards, 6 BRIT nominations, and 'Don't Look Back In Anger' their ninth single in less than 2 years. Significantly, at time of writing '...Morning Glory?' had just jumped to No. 5 in the US Billboard charts.

How much more do they want? How much have you got'?

"DON'T BELIEVE THE TRUTH" by Colin Murray

Oasis have always been at their best when they didn’t give a fuck…

When Noel scrawled tunes about nothing that meant the world and Liam buzzed off his head with a passion never rivalled by any rock ‘n’ roll singer in history.

Put simply, this is a glorious rebirth...

Noel is writing songs about queuing too long for a pint of milk and Liam is a whirlwind of inspiration and wondrous bullshit. Fans have been waiting for this moment for ten years…

Why? Because it’s been ten years since Oasis made an album that truly changed the musical landscape. It’s been ten years since they wrote an album of such spirit that you felt compelled to adopt a swagger as you walked through the streets of your council estate.

Don’t Believe The Truth is that album. It’s the Oasis that blew you away and an Oasis you’ve never met.

It’s not about one particular song. It never has been. It’s about an old attitude that somehow got lost amidst the tabloid hoo-ha and the mountains of cash, coupled with a complete reinvention of how and why Oasis exist.

For the first time in their history, they are functioning as a band. No longer does Noel feel the weight of the world on his shoulders, and Liam’s writing tunes with the enthusiasm of a toddler who’s just mastered walking. Gem is the rock on which the new Oasis is built while Andy Bell is an enigmatic influence, who makes Liam watch films starring David Essex. They call him Wing Commander Bell.

They are four individuals, who have pushed, pulled, laughed and fought inside the four walls of a studio, for what seemed like forever, to reach the light. And now they’ve arrived, it’s positively blinding.

When they listen back to this record, a newborn confusion reigns. They're not sure who played what and when. All they know is that Zak Starkey played drums, although there is a rumour flying around concerning Liam, two spoons and a box of Cheerios.

Don’t Believe The Truth runs to eleven tracks, and Noel has written five. That includes Let There Be Love; a defining moment in Oasis history. A song pulled back from over-production; one that sighs rather than shouts. ‘Who kicked a hole in the sky so the heavens could cry over me?’ It’ll break your heart.

Mucky Fingers - which sounds like nothing Noel has ever written before - is his trip on the Velvet Underground, fuelled by Jack Daniels and an old, beat up organ bought on e-bay.

Then there’s Lyla, who is apparently ‘‘Sally’s sister’’, and The Importance Of Being Idle - a song so stark, so simple and so fundamentally Oasis, that it could have been a b-side in 1994. It’s THAT good.

When you hear Part of the Queue, you realise that ‘Noel Gallagher the songwriter’ has regained some truth. He's once again tackling the little things, and leaving the meaning of life to somebody who has the time to work it out.

Three tunes are Liam’s, although he claims to have written over a hundred.

What we do hear is the deafening ninety second Meaning of Soul which spits fifties rock ‘n’ roll blades at passers by, while Love Like A Bomb is a wistful daydream that he wrote with ‘‘Julie fucking Christie’’ in mind.

As for Guess God Thinks I’m Abel, Liam reckons he has a conversation with God one night in a boozer. God told him He was Abel. Simple as that.

Gem is his sounding board, who he drags into their studio at all hours to work on sparks of ideas that are currently flowing from him at a phenomenal rate. Andy describes Liam as ‘‘…outrageously talented. He just invents chords. For every song on the album he probably has ten just as good’’.

The opening track on Don’t Believe The Truth is Andy Bell’s Turn Up The Sun, with it’s Midnight Cowboy intro that explodes into threatening, explosive rock ‘n’ roll. He also pops up with Keep the Dream Alive, a song inspired by a film called Stardust, starring David Essex. Noel won’t watch it. The others won't shut up about it.

That leaves Gem’s A Bell Will Ring and another layer on an album full of different sounds.

Noel sums up the all-new, harmonious Oasis…

‘‘If somebody said to me, in twelve years you’ll be in a band with your brother and two carrot munching geezers who don’t like football I would have said fuck off, I’m not joining the Bee Gees.’’

Don’t Believe The Truth is truly the long awaited new album from Oasis, a band who now operate with the type of unity and passion usually reserved for the A-Team, on the trail of a group of Mexican cattle rustlers. Thankfully, though, some things will never change…