What is The Masterplan?
Short Answer:
The real masterpiece. Not the myth. Should have been album number three.
Long Answer:
What is it?
The Masterplan was released on 2 November 1998. Officially, it’s a B-sides compilation. Unofficially, it’s the best thing they ever made.
No concept. No hype. No cocaine-fuelled press cycle. Just fourteen tracks lifted from the flipside. And somehow it tells the story better than the records that were supposed to.
There’s no filler. No warm-ups. No distractions. This is Oasis without the press conferences. Every track matters. Most of them could have led a single. Some should have led an album.
Tracklist
Acquiesce
Underneath the Sky
Talk Tonight
Going Nowhere
Fade Away
The Swamp Song
I Am the Walrus (Live)
Listen Up
Rockin' Chair
Half the World Away
(It's Good) To Be Free
Stay Young
Headshrinker
The Masterplan
Start to finish, this is the band unguarded. No posturing. No myth-building. Just the material. Acquiesce could level a stadium. Talk Tonight could shut one up. And The Masterplan sounds like a career closer, not a B-side.
Here’s the thing. The songs they gave away would have made most bands. Oasis left them on the back of a single because they had something even better waiting.
Where was it recorded?
Abbey Road Studios
Sawmills Studio
Rockfield Studios
Sessions from 1994 to 1997
Pulled from the B-sides of singles from the first three albums
The production shifts. The locations change. The quality doesn’t.
Who played on it?
Liam Gallagher – vocals
Noel Gallagher – guitar, vocals, songs
Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs – rhythm guitar
Paul “Guigsy” McGuigan – bass
Tony McCarroll – drums (early tracks)
Alan White – drums (later tracks)
Noel takes the mic more often here. That’s no loss. His voice suits the quieter ones. And when it matters, he hits just as hard as Liam.
Sound and Style
No single style. Just instinct. Acoustic bruisers. Fuzzed-up anthems. Lennon covers. Psych detours. And none of it sounds forced. These weren’t experiments. They were the overflow.
This isn’t a record that tries to prove anything. It already knows. It’s the band playing without pressure and still outclassing almost everything around them.
You can hear the freedom in the sound. No charts to chase. No critics to bait. Just songs that came too easy.
Reception
People who already knew the tracks bought it for the sake of completeness. Everyone else walked into something far better than expected.
Critics said it was strong. That’s one way of putting it. Most albums don’t have a run like Listen Up, Rockin’ Chair and Half the World Away back to back. Let alone in the margins.
Fans always knew. Now it was official.
Legacy
This is the album that says what needs to be said. Not with headlines. With songs. No stadium epics. No press scandals. Just track after track that still lands, years later.
The Masterplan was the reminder. The band weren’t just lightning in a bottle. They were overflowing. When the albums got loud and the message got lost, this was always there. No nonsense. No excess. Just the proof.
Oasis didn’t need more hits. They had too many songs already. These were the ones they gave away without blinking. Which makes them even more impressive.
You Should Listen to The Masterplan Right Now
You should listen to The Masterplan right now because this is the version of Oasis that never missed.
No flab. No padding. Just fourteen reasons why they mattered. Every one sharper than the last. None of them trying too hard.
This isn’t a compilation. It’s the core. The place where everything that made them great still sounds fresh. The swagger’s still there. It’s just in the writing, not the headlines.
You won’t find a weak link. Just the band at full power, without the baggage. Not trying to be important. Just being brilliant. And that’s what matters.
This was the masterpiece. They just didn’t label it as one. That’s what makes it real.
