via//chicago

np: "step out (live)" - oasis
yes, yet another guilty pleasure. i really got into Oasis back with Definately Maybe. i was just starting to discover Britpop - the Stone Roses, Blur, and the like. i heard "Live Forever" on the student station down in Champaign, The Planet, back in the days before it became a shitty Q101 clone. i was enthralled. it reminded me of the way the rock and roll used to sound when my dad was playing it around the house. no real angst, just rock and roll. i went out and bought the album right away, and it played a great foil to all the Seattle grunge i was playing at the time. then i discovered the magic of the import single and the magical Oasis B-sides. i think "Supersonic" was the first one i purchased, quickly followed by the other singles off of Definately Maybe, including the "Whatever" non-album single. i found most of the B-sides to be just as good as, if not better than, many of the album tracks. then, of course, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? dropped. even better than the first album. i'm sure i annoyed many people on my dorm floor that year with the amount of spins it got. i was hyping them so much to my friends that they were already sick of them before the radio overplayed "Wonderwall" and "Champagne Supernova".
Don't Look Back in Anger" even became the song i HAD to put on the jukebox everytime we went out to Flanagan's to drink. i gobbled up each of the imports as came into the local record shops. it even got to the point that a guy at Record Service would hold a copy for me when the shipment came in. of course my musical tastes were growing all over the map in college, but Oasis was always a steady presence in my life. through all the sub-par albums that followed, i was loyal to a fault. so yes, i still get every import single that comes out, even now that they've dropped to two or even one B-side per disc. and as before many of the B-sides are even better than the album tracks. which hasn't really been that hard to do. but Heathen Chemistry was a step back in the right direction, even though it's no return to form. definately an underrated album though, i just think the band's rep was ruined so badly in the public's eyes that no one really cared. that's fine. i'll endure the taunts and teases and sub-par releases, as long as Noel keeps dropping me a gem or two, no matter how hard they are to get ahold of.