The 15 Greatest Oasis Songs Ranked
With a rumored reunion on the horizon and the 30th anniversary of Definitely Maybe arriving this week, it's time to chart the Gallagher brothers' best and boldest offerings.
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Exclusively reported by The Times on Saturday (August 24) morning, it appears that an Oasis reunion may be imminent. Jonathan Dean wrote that the Gallagher brothers have squashed their long-standing beef with one another and agreed to play concerts at Heaton Park in Manchester in 2025. 15 years ago, Oasis played their then-final gig at V Festival and, since then, Liam and Noel have kept their distance and focused on their respective solo projects. Over the course of it all, England’s greatest living pair of brothers have publicly thrown jabs at one another—but that all seems to be water under the bridge. The summer of 2025 is looking impressive, with a 10-night stint at Wembley Stadium presumed to be on the table along with a Glastonbury headlining slot (the former of which would break Taylor Swift’s eight-concert record that she set this year). And with the 30th anniversary of Definitely Maybe hitting later this week, the rumors feel extra serendipitous.
Over the years, Paste has covered Oasis and the Gallagher brothers, but the magazine has never churned out an all-time greatest songs ranking—except for a greatest B-sides list, which you can read here. As the resident Britpop fan on the staff, I’m tackling this one and satiating the hunger of my teenage past—when I bought a used copy of (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? just days after getting my driver’s license. I’d like to say that this list covers Oasis from 1994 through 2008, when they released their final LP Dig Out Your Soul, but even the most-hardcore Oasis stumpers will agree that the band’s post-2002 discog leaves a lot to be desired. So, don’t be shocked that this write-up is very Definitely Maybe and Morning Glory? heavy. It’s not my fault that one of the greatest English bands ever came out the gates with two masterpieces!
Anyways, here are the 15 greatest Oasis songs of all time. Feel free to sound off in the comments about what tracks deserved a spot, which inclusions should have been higher and, heck, why don’t you grab your parkas and tinted shades and let us know which Oasis tune is your all-time favorite! Without further ado…
15. “Acquiesce” (1998)
Originally the B-side to Oasis’ first #1 single in the UK (“Some Might Say”), “Acquiesce” found a home on The Masterplan compilation album in 1998. Noel wrote it, and he claims to have done so while waiting out a train delay during the recording period for Definitely Maybe. Alan McGee wanted Oasis to release the song as a single instead of “Some Might Say,” but Noel was apprehensive about it—on account of his belief that the track was not yet ready (he later walked that back and said it would have been strong enough to make the final tracklist of a record). The band played “Acquiesce” on Saturday Night Live in 1997, and Liam singing that “I don’t know what it is that makes me feel alive, I don’t know how to wake the things that sleep inside” sounded damn good ricocheting off Studio 8H’s walls.
14. “Bring It On Down” (1994)
Few things are as fun as when Oasis kick up a fuss and put on a punk wardrobe—and that’s exactly what they do on “Bring It On Down,” a tune stashed on the backside of Definitely Maybe, in-between “Supersonic” and “Cigarettes & Alcohol.” Noel’s portrait of working class Manchester on “Bring It On Down” is one of his very best, captured with a dichotomy of bliss and melancholy when Liam sings “You’re the outcast, you’re the underclass, but you don’t care because you’re living fast” and ruptures through the sound barrier. It’s a shot of adrenaline that gets delivered without pretension—just a couple of English kids reflecting on a busted system without any inflection of melodrama.
13. “Champagne Supernova” (1995)
Consistently one of the band’s most well-known tunes, “Champagne Supernova” closes (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? like a tender tempest. At seven-and-a-half minutes long, it’s the track that—in my opinion—best encapsulates the momentum Oasis had going into 1995 after Definitely Maybe crashed head-on into the British music zeitgeist. You can cite “Wonderwall” or “Don’t Look Back in Anger” as more definitive star-making moments for the Gallaghers, but “Champagne Supernova” is a tsunami thrashing through a cathedral—cathartic and galvanized in equal measure, told through intervals of sobering, cataclysmic walls of sound that tumble into tranquil waves crashing into Morning Glory?’s epitaph.
12. “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star (1994)
The first song on the first Oasis record, “Rock ‘n’ Roll” comes screaming into view like a Johnny Rotten-tinted kiss-off. One of the band’s greatest balances of lead and rhythm guitar, it’s a true, shining testament to how Noel and Paul Arthurs could scribble magic into the air with only their fingers. “I live my life for the stars that shine, people say it’s just a waste of time,” Liam sings like he wants your knees to buckle; he gets in your face and then, as a beastly, frenetic unit, Oasis tell you they’re the best band in the world just minutes into their introduction. It’s the act of not giving a fuck personified into a shit-eating smirk that’s heavy like a skull-splitting riff.
11. “The Masterplan” (1998)
Like “Acquiesce,” “The Masterplan” began as a B-side—this time as the B-side to “Wonderwall,” which peaked at #2 in the UK and #8 in the US. Written and sung by Noel, it’s one of those songs that you can’t believe wasn’t a hit single in its own right. It’s got a very Abbey Road aura to it—which makes sense when you hear Noel woozily singing “Octopus’s Garden” near the end of the track—and is a rather baroque installment in Oasis’ catalog. As the soaring riffs wane, a symphony shows its teeth and the whole arrangement becomes this lush, hypnotic scape of high-class, anthemic rock divinity. “All we know is that we don’t know” is Noel at his most sentimental.
10. “Columbia” (1994)
Definitely Maybe’s midway point, “Columbia” is nothing fancy and that’s what makes it pop. Oasis cobbled some chords together (A, D and C) with nonsensical lyrics and called it a day, and the result is a track with catchy, vibey repetition. Liam sings lines over and over, turning couples into double-takes while Noel and Arthurs’ guitars swirl around each other like water circling the drain. In an instant, Noel’s axe gets stuck on the B and E strings and melts the whole thing into a gripping, sensational sting of full-hearted, raspy rock ‘n’ roll. Someone once said “Columbia” was Oasis’ “Tomorrow Never Knows.” Listening back to it again recently, I think that assertion might be right on the money. What I’m certain of, however, is that the band’s performance of the song at Barrowlands in 2001 remains one of the greatest live moments ever captured.