Oasis, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory (Big Brother Recordings) *****

FAR from being the "‘difficult second album" for Mancunian Britpop legends, (What’s The Story) was a bold step for the band.

However, it’s a step in the direction that would ultimately lead to the Gallagher brothers believing their own hype and becoming parodies of themselves by the time their third album finally came around.

As an album, it’s not entirely successful, with the two short unnamed instrumental tracks (later included in full on the b-sides disc as Swamp Song), feeling much like filler, while the tendency to end a song too late – first evidenced on Definitely Maybe – really coming to the front here. Does Roll With It really need to be four minutes long? No, it does not, and it feels longer. Some Might Say pushes five and a half minutes, while Champagne Supernova is almost seven and a half. If anything it’s evidence that album two may have been hurriedly pulled together.

But as with the Chasing The Sun re-release of their debut album, the real treasures here are the extra two discs.

Oasis were almost always at their best on b-sides, and there’s an album’s worth of good stuff here. From the solemn Talk Tonight and the excellent, anthemic The Masterplan, to the fun and enjoyable Bonehead’s Bank Holiday and Round Are Way, there’s a little bit of everything – though the Brendan Lynch remix of Champagne Supernova feels a little pointless.

There are also a couple of entertaining covers, with Slade’s Cum On Feel The Noize and The Beatles’ You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away throw in for good measure, both cheeky nods to the band’s influences.

Disc three is a collection of unreleased demos and live recordings, not just for completists, showing the evolution of tracks that made the album and those relegated to b-sides.

Particularly good are the Liam-less MTV Unplugged versions of Round Are Way and The Masterplan, and a live recording of Some Might Say, with Liam apologising to the band for messing up the lyrics to their new single – probably the first and only time that happened, and a look at a band growing in confidence while laying the path for their faltering third album.

Dan Bean