The whole of Australia is currently experiencing Oasis fever, but what if you’re stuck at a BBQ and you don’t know much past Wonderwall? We’re here to help. Without further ado, here’s the ten Oasis songs you need to know, with enough information to make your friends believe you’ve ALWAYS been a big fan while you’re sitting in digital queues for tickets to their 2025 Australian shows.
Supersonic (1994)
We’re kicking off with Supersonic, the band’s first single from the album Definitely Maybe. At the time Oasis were big in the UK and starting to spread, but Australia took a little longer to cotton on. Nothing from Definitely Maybe made the Australian top 100, but over the years the album has stood the test of time with four of the biggest streaming songs from the band coming from that record.
Whatever (1994)
Australia’s first Oasis hit came in the form of a non-album track. Recorded after Definitely Maybe, the track cracked the ARIA top 40 and has become a classic, despite missing in action on any of their albums. It turned up on some bonus editions of Definitely Maybe, but was released in the UK as a Christmas single to bridge the gap between albums, reaching #3 over there.
Morning Glory (1995)
So this is where things heat up for the band, becoming the biggest act in the world. Their album (What’s The Story) Morning Glory was #1 across the globe and for a period the band were the biggest thing in music. After the success of the record, Noel Gallagher claimed the band were bigger than The Beatles (although he has since walked that back, saying he was embarrassed by the comments and was high at the time). For a kid of the 90s, it was probably true.
The album was chock full of hits, kicking off with Roll With It and Some Might Say before this title track (well kind of if you ignore the brackets in the album title) landed with the full record. A massive and distinctive guitar riff and even the helicopter hovering in the background, this was the band at their absolute boldest peak.
Wonderwall (1995)
Turns out that the (What’s The Story) Morning Glory juggernaut was just beginning, with the next single Wonderwall taking the wold by storm. It hit #1 in Australia (although only #2 in the UK after pretty much the whole country already bought the album) and quickly became their most enduring hit. It topped the 1995 triple j Hottest 100 and despite not appearing in the 1998 Hottest 100 of All Time (when the Oasis backlash was on), it grew in stature, making it to #12 in the 2009 Hottest 100 of All Time and then in 2013 was voted the #1 song of the Hottest 100 songs of the last twenty years. That’s hard to top.
Don’t Look Back In Anger (1996)
Yes I know, we’re sticking to the same album again, but when it’s one of the greatest rock albums of all time, you must. Wonderwall was backed up with another smash with Don’t Look Back In Anger. Another track that has only grown in stature, this was Oasis at their Beatles-eque best.
It was ranked by NME in 2012 as the #1 most explosive chorus in rock and more recently gained national treasure status following the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017. The song was used to remember the 22 victims and to show the city’s spirit, being spontaneously song by the crowd gathering for a minute’s silence in the city centre.
Champagne Supernova (1996)
Sorry (not sorry), we’re not done with Morning Glory just yet. Champagne Supernova was released as the sixth single from the album, showing just how strong this record actually was. It has become one of the biggest songs on the album (currently the band’s fifth most streamed track) and shows the power of a band to release a seven and a half minutes song as a single and still have it chart.
In the US, the song became the band’s second #1 single on the Modern Rock Charts and just the third song to chart in the Billboard top 40. The song got a 5:08 radio edit (yes kids, songs used to go for more than three minutes), but the beauty in this song was the intro and outro. The calm water sounds alongside the gentle strumming were the perfect closer after a riff-laden record and proved that the Gallaghers weren’t just guitar monsters, but had an incredible knack for subtletly alongside their anthems.
D’You Know What I Mean? (1997)
The Oasis juggernaut couldn’t have been bigger, but in 1997 the rules of ‘what goes up must come down’ started to kick in as the backlash against the band stareted in earnest.
When you create a near-perfect record, there’s only one place to go and while the followup Be Here Now was a solid rock record, it didn’t progress the band’s sound and critics and fans started getting restless.
D’You Know What I Mean was another rock banger, hitting #1 in the UK but failing to match the band’s US Wonderwall success. Here in Australia it managed #16 although the album continued the band’s #1 run in both Australia and the UK.
Sounding a little like an attempt at Wonderwall 2.0, the track is solid, but this is the point where the Oasis bubble burst.
Hindu Times (2002)
After the relative disappointment of Be Here Now (if six times platinum in the UK can be called that), the band hit reverse, with a record of b-sides and a live album while the band worked out ‘internal issues’ (well some of them).
When they re-emerged in 2002 then had come back down to earth with a thud and were just a mortal rock band putting out albums as opposed to the 90s superstars they had been.
The album Heathen Chemistry came with expectations, but despite being a solid listen, didn’t take them back to the stratosphere. Hindu Times is a solid rock track and did mange to give the band another UK #1.
Stop Crying Your Heart Out (2002)
Another curiosity in the Oasis catalogue, this second single from Heathen Chemistry was largely ignored at the time, hitting just #48 here in Australia (although did get to #2 in the UK).
People had just turned the band off at the time, but the song has grown over time to the point that today it is currently the band’s third highest streaming track on Spotify. Possibly the last great Oasis track (pending what might come next), the song deserves its place towards the top of the band’s canon.
It’s another ballad but unlike much of what was happening on this and the albums around it, there’s a freshness and hope in this song that shows why it endures today.
Lyla (2005)
The band dropped their second last album with Lyla being their final charting single here in Australia. It’s a big chorus banger that harks back to Oasis’ best work.
The album Don’t Believe the Truth matched the sales of Heathen Chemistry, showing the rusted on Oasis fanbase refused to head for the exits even when the critics did.
The band would release one further album Dig Out Your Soul in 2008 before the Gallaghers’ relationship crumbled for what was thought to be a final time and the band went on to their separate projects.
It was thought an inauspicious end for a band that was once ‘bigger than the Beatles’ but over the years history has been very kind to the Oasis catalogue as old fans reframed the songs without the hype and new fans came on board.
The announcement of the band re-forming for a world tour has exploded Oasis-mania once more and with rumours of new material, it’s possible the story is not done yet.
But for now, don’t miss your tickets when the band land in Australia next year! Check out all the details here.
