Oasis

For American audiences, the phenomenal worldwide success of Oasis was a little puzzling. That's because they only had part of the picture – unless they were hardcore fans, they didn't hear nearly three albums of material released on B-sides and non-LP singles. Critics and fans alike claimed that the best of these B-sides were as strong as the best moments on the albums, and they were right. None of the albums had a song that rocked as hard as "Fade Away" (cleverly built on a stolen melody from Wham!'s "Freedom"), "Headshrinker," or "Acquiesce." There was nothing as charming as the lite psychedelic pastiche "Underneath the Sky" or the Bacharach tribute "Going Nowhere"; there was nothing as affecting as Noel Gallagher's acoustic plea "Talk Tonight" or the minor-key, McCartney-esque "Rockin' Chair," nothing as epic as "The Masterplan." Most bands wouldn't throw songs of this caliber away on B-sides, but Noel Gallagher followed the example of his heroes the Jam and the Smiths, who released singles where the B-sides rivaled the A-sides. This meant many American fans missed these songs, so to remedy this situation, Oasis released the B-sides compilation The Masterplan.

The Many Faces Of Oasis celebrates the Britpop band by taking a journey through the band's rich history. Disc One features tracks by bands that featured former or future Oasis members including Hurricane #1 (with Andy Bell), Dr. Robert (with Alan White), Simon Townshend (with Zak Starkey) and others. Disc Two continues the theme form Disc One and features performances by All Star Band (with Noel Gallagher and Gem Archer), Parlour Flames (with Bonehead) and Phoneys And The Freaks (also with Bonehead). Disc Three includes tracks from their British Pop/Rock contemporaries including Inspiral Carpets, Lloyd Cole, 999, Martin Carr (Boo Radleys) and more.