The J Files looks back at the biggest album of the Britpop era and one of the biggest albums of the 1990s.
Feature by Dan Condon
Chapter 1
What's The Story?
It was 1995, a year after Oasis' acclaimed debut album, Definitely Maybe, and the band was under pressure to deliver on (What's The Story) Morning Glory. Few people would have guessed just how strongly their second record would connect with audiences around the world.
Their cracking lead single 'Some Might Say' topped the charts in the UK, but then the next one, 'Roll With It', was a slight setback. It was infamously released on the same day as Blur's 'Country House', which debuted at number one, further fuelling a Britpop battle between the two bands.
"'Roll With It' was the first Oasis single not to have a spark of magic, the first not to find a clever way to rework the past into something fresh," Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote on AllMusic.
I didn't like the beat. I thought it was a bit too groovy. I just didn't like it. I thought it was a bit weird.
Liam Gallagher on 'Wonderwall'
But it turns out the band's biggest ace remained up their sleeve. 'Wonderwall' not only saw the band overtake their Britpop sparring partners Blur, it made Oasis legitimate pop stars the world over.
Melody Maker called it "A mesmeric declaration of love – haunting, beautiful and effortlessly simple."
The public agreed, snapping up well over two million copies worldwide. It made the top ten in 13 countries and, many years after its release, triple j listeners voted it the best song of the past 20 years.
"I'd like to congratulate Australia for having good taste," Liam Gallagher told triple j's Tom and Alex upon learning that they'd taken number one spot in the 2013 countdown.
Then he revealed that he initially didn't care for the song.
"I didn't really like it at first," he admitted. "I didn't like the beat. I thought it was a bit too groovy. I just didn't like it. I thought it was a bit weird.
"As soon as people heard it they got into it, so obviously I changed my mind. I thought 'Oh, I'm totally wrong'."
A song as ubiquitous as 'Wonderwall' was reason enough for millions to pony up and buy (What's The Story) Morning Glory, but the push didn't end there. 'Don't Look Back In Anger', the first Oasis song to feature Noel Gallagher on lead vocals, rocketed to the top of the UK charts and went platinum.
Finally, the epic 'Champagne Supernova', featuring scintillating lead guitar from The Jam's Paul Weller, closed out both the album and its singles campaign.
Few albums can boast as many publically adored highlights as (What's The Story) Morning Glory did. Six of the album's ten tracks (not counting the two untitled interludes) were released as singles, a feat more common among pop artists like Michael Jackson or Shania Twain.
For an artist as self-assured as Noel Gallagher already was, this was like fertiliser for his ego.
"There are people who are in bands now that will never write albums like that," he told triple j's Richard Kingsmill in 2002. "They'll be lucky if they write one album like that in their career. I wrote two straight off the bat.
It's bigger than any one The Beatles had. It's bigger than any one U2 had. It's so fuckin' massive it doesn't bear thinking about.
Noel Gallagher
"My first two records sold 30 million copies. The second one of those two is the biggest selling British album of all time. It's bigger than any one The Beatles had. It's bigger than any one U2 had. It's so fuckin' massive it doesn't bear thinking about."
Despite the bravado, Noel Gallagher was well aware that the plan to make Oasis the biggest band in the world was expertly crafted.
"There's lots of little things that you need to go right for you to be as massive as we became," he told triple j's Jay and The Doctor in 2005.
"It's alright saying the songs are great, but if you've got an idiot for a manager who's more interested in drugs and booze then you're not gonna get anywhere. Luckily enough we had and still have got possibly the best manager. He's fucking ace. He's well into music and he knows his stuff.
"We had the best record label in Creation and Alan McGee. We had the best fans. Our first 12 single and album sleeves, we worked with some great people – it was all part of it. It meant that all we had to do when we walked on stage was tear the roof off. And we did it every night.
"We had Liam who looked great in pictures and me who apparently sounded great in print. It's not just enough to go and buy a Les Paul, get a pair of fucking flares, grow a pair of sideys and go 'right, I am the greatest.' It doesn't fucking work like that."
Chapter 2
Cast No Shadow
Oasis didn't make it to Australia to tour (What's The Story) Morning Glory, much to fans' dismay. They were set to play dates around the country in November 1996, but their split following the MTV Video Music Awards in September meant the shows had to be cancelled.
They reformed again, but Oasis never hit the same heights as they did on (What's The Story) Morning Glory before breaking up for good in 2009.
Noel Gallagher had pledged the band would stay together until they'd matched their previous highs.
"Number one: we're going out on top," he told Kingsmill in 2002. "When we've actually repeated the feat of ...Morning Glory, is when you want to start worrying about whether the band will continue or not. That'll be the time to go out.
You fuckin' need us more than we need you.
Noel Gallagher
"Number two: you fuckin' need us more than we need you. Your lives and the people that listen to your radio station and listen to Radiohead and fucking Blur and Robbie Williams – your lives would be lessened without me and my brother and it's as simple as that."
Despite the band splitting and quickly reforming a few times in the past, Noel said that he felt they were most likely to bow out at the band's peak. In 1996 Oasis headlined two shows at Knebworth House an hour north of London. Over 2.6 million people reportedly applied for tickets, with the band playing to over 150,000 each night.
"The closest it's ever been to being finished was onstage at Knebworth, when it was like, how do we top that?
"The time to call it a day is either when Liam goes bald or when we've sold fucking 25 million albums."
Following up one of the biggest albums in history is perhaps the most unenviable side effect of Oasis' fame. In 1997 they released Be Here Now, an album that has since been panned by critics, fans and even the band themselves.
"We really should have taken a couple of years off after ...Morning Glory," Noel told Kingsmill. "But we decided to go back into the studio, which, in hindsight, was a stupid thing to do."
The entire rock'n'roll world was waiting to hear how Oasis would follow up such a monumental release.
"I would defy anybody not to feel the pressure when that happens. You're never gonna live up to that and you can never repeat that. Definitely Maybe and Morning Glory were released between '94 and '95. That was just a moment in time where I was bang on the fucking case.
"Then the drugs took over and the fur jackets and the fucking stupid entourage and it all got a bit out of hand."
Chapter 3
Hey Now!
It was on the back of Be Here Now that Oasis finally did tour Australia. Not that the Gallagher brothers remember much about it.
I just defy anyone to take a phone call that says you've got ten million pound in the bank and not fucking party.
Noel Gallagher
"This is like coming to Australia for the first time for me," Noel told triple j's Mel Bampton and Charlie Pickering during his second Australian visit in 2002. "Because I don't remember any of it last time."
Before they'd even touched down in Australia the band had found trouble.
Liam Gallagher earned a lifetime ban from Cathay Pacific after causing trouble on their flight from Hong Kong.
Members of the band (or their entourage) reportedly smoked, swore and threw objects at staff and other passengers.
Things didn't get any better. Ticket sales for their shows were abysmal. Reviews slammed the band's performances and even Noel agreed that they were in poor form at the time.
"We're sorry about the singing," Gallagher said in a statement after the band's undersold Brisbane show. "Last night's concert was appalling and I apologise. I can't offer any excuses."
You can get away with absolute murder when you're the biggest band in the world. We were abusing our position, somewhat.
Noel Gallagher
They made headlines every couple of days while in Australia. Noel Gallagher called Princess Diana a "lazy cow" on national television and Liam was arrested for assault after allegedly head butting a fan outside a Brisbane hotel.
Noel Gallagher offered a reason for why it wasn't the band's finest hour.
"We'd just got paid," he told Bampton and Pickering. "Halfway through that tour all the money had just come through for ...Morning Glory, 18 million albums, we got royalty cheques that were in the millions. Millions and millions of pounds.
"I'm afraid I wasn't arsed about the crowd and the gig 'I've just become a multi-fucking-millionaire, we'll be back soon enough'. [I couldn't] fucking give a shit.
"I just defy anyone to take a phone call that says you've got ten million pound in the bank and not fucking party.
"We were a bit tired and emotional. We wanted to go home. We were the biggest band in the world when we came here. You can get away with absolute murder when you're the biggest band in the world. Anything you can have on tour you get it. We were abusing our position, somewhat."
Chapter 4
Don't Look Back In Anger
Every now and then Noel says something that suggests he regrets the way Oasis behaved when they were the world's biggest band.
"You know that saying 'youth is wasted on the young'? Well that's kind of fucking true," he told triple j's Jay and The Doctor in 2005. "I wish I could be where I am now and it be 1994 again. I would enjoy it a lot more I think.
“The Oasis thing was moving really fast and, when you're young, you move really fast with it. I've forgotten a lot of stuff."
Other times, it seems like Gallagher may have been happy without any of this success at all.
"I never thought I'd have the success that I've had. I thought 'As long as I can play the guitar, I'll be right'," he said to Mel and Charlie.
I just thought 'If I can learn how to play this and maybe have a nice girlfriend and a nice place to live, that'd do me'. But then some fucking idiot went and offered us a record deal and fucking ruined it all.
Noel Gallagher
"Even now, sitting in hotel rooms and playing Smiths songs or Beatles songs wiles away the hours. I just thought 'If I can learn how to play this and maybe have a nice girlfriend and a nice place to live, that'd do me'.
"But then some fucking idiot went and offered us a record deal and fucking ruined it all."
