Noel finally had enough of Liam and left the band in 2009, but amidst all the drama, the band left behind enough tunes to make a 10 best Oasis songs list quite difficult to complete. The Gallaghers and Co. did it all, from sweet ballads to balls-out-rock.
- "Live Forever.” If Oasis had never released another song after “Live Forever,“ they’d still be legends and Noel Gallagher would still be remembered as a master songsmith. Deceptively simply, this swaying song off the band’s debut album, “Definitely Maybe,” is easy to sing along with and easy to relate to, despite its nonsensical lyrics, a Gallagher standard. The falsetto at the end of the chorus puts on the finishing touch.
- “Don’t Look Back in Anger.” Did The Beatles make a comeback in the mid-90s? Definitely Not, but this song is as close as Oasis came to aping the sound of both the band and solo members (the opening piano part is straight from John Lennon’s “Imagine.”) Any cries of ripoff fade however when Noel (taking lead vocals for once) soars over the chorus and delivers a classic melody no critic could beat back. It's one of the 10 best Oasis songs, if not one of the 10 best songs ever.
- “Fade Away.” “Cigarettes & Alcohol” is a great song and all, but why was this song only released as its B-side? "Fade Away" finds Oasis doing what they do best, energetic overdriven guitar-rock complete with bittersweet lines like “while we’re living, the dreams we have as children fade away.” Well, at least the Gallagher Bros. rock and roll dreams sure took a long time to fade away.
- “I’m Outta Time.” It took some time, but Liam eventually penned one of the 10 best Oasis songs with this Plastic Ono-era Lennon-inspired song. The guy named his son Lennon for crying out loud. This ballad contrasted nicely with the grooved out psych-rock of “Dig Out Your Soul.”
- “Lyla.” The Kinks had “Lola” and Oasis emerged with its own L heroine in “Lyla.” Liam sings “I've waited for a thousand years for you to come and blow me out my mind” in an Oasis tune that owed more to the British invasion music critics said they ripped off (think The Who) than most of their overdriven 90s songs. A fun foot-stomper and one of the 10 best Oasis songs.
- “She’s Electric.” A silly little love song about some girl with a “one in the oven, ” “She’s Electric” is Oasis at its most playful and mid-Beatles nicking (the end is the same as that of “With a Little Help From My Friends.”)
- “Stand By Me.” Not the Ben E. King single and certainly not as classic, Oasis’ “Stand By Me” is still a great (and long) single, complete with choice lyrics (“Made a meal and threw it up on Sunday”) and a gripping middle-eight. It perfectly captures the band’s classic sound and is one of the top 10 best Oasis songs.
- “Wonderwall.” Replete with epic strings, fantastic guitar and drum touches and a truly unique rhythmic vocal delivery, “Wonderwall” is a nearly perfect single. It’s no wonder this is the band’s signature song and one of the 10 best Oasis songs ever.
- “Morning Glory.” The opening guitar sounds off like an alarm and the lyrics are great, even the coke-imagery (“All your dreams are made when you're chained to the mirror and the razor blade). Noel could certainly do bleak and this near-title track stands out as one of the 10 best Oasis songs.
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“Rock 'n' Roll Star.” This song was not only prophetic (the members of the band were all rock ‘n’ roll stars in less than a year) but exuberant and catchy enough to make anyone singing it feel like a real rock star.
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