Celebrating 25 Years Of Oasis’ Hit Album ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’

Posted On October 2, 2020

Samantha Colleran, October 2020

On this day in 1995, Oasis debuted what would become inarguably the most successful record in the band’s history, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? The record features some of the band’s most well known songs, including “Wonderwall”, “Don’t Look Back In Anger”, and my personal favorite that’s been mentioned on here more than once, “Champagne Supernova”. 

Noel Gallagher had a hand in producing this record, which makes it different from their first album. The band also replaced their drummer Tony McCarroll with newcomer Alan White. The songs written for the Morning Glory album followed more of a ballad style with big, powerhouse choruses that leave a lasting impact on listeners. The twelve track album is one of the best selling albums of all time, and rightfully so. From the opening track titled “Hello”, you’re launched into a more refined sounding Oasis, still full of the easily recognizable Liam Gallagher vocals and catchy guitar riffs, and of course with incredibly poetic lyrics courtesy of Noel. It signifies the band’s peak; it was after this album’s release the band played their legendary Knebworth shows where it was estimated about 2.5 million people in Britain applied for tickets, and approximately 250,000 were actually in attendance. (You can learn more about Knebworth in the Supersonic documentary which I reviewed in July). 

Despite tensions among the Gallagher brothers at times, this album was recorded in about 15 days. Noel and Liam shared a strange brotherly musical connection where Liam would sing the exact way Noel wanted him to, and everything seemed to piece together almost perfectly. You can hear it in every song how much passion and effort went into recording and mastering, it sounds incredibly fresh and powerful whether you’re listening on headphones or blasting it in your car with the windows rolled down. 

Although it received mixed reviews at the time of release, Morning Glory was the second fastest selling album in the UK at the time of release, just behind Michael Jackson’s Bad. By the time Morning Glory’s one year anniversary rolled around, it had been in the Top 10 albums for all but one week. It was successful in other countries as well, it made its way to charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the USA. “Wonderwall” and “Champagne Supernova” were both played on rock radios in the USA, both reaching No. 1 on the Modern Rock Track charts. As of September 22, Rolling Stone bumped Morning Glory from 378 (2012) to 157 (2020) on its “The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time” list. 

Critics can be wrong at times, and this is certainly one of those cases where those with harsh reviews were far off the mark. This album shaped the 90s Britpop sound and played a significant role in the culture at the time. It became the voice of a generation, songs like “Wonderwall” and “Don’t Look Back In Anger” were anthems for people of all backgrounds and ages. The lyrics of all the songs on this album can be applied to a number of situations and walks of life, they stick with people forever and years later they still remember every single word and note change. This album still serves as an inspiration for artists of today, and that’s the true mark of a fantastic album.

Limited edition 25 year anniversary reissues of Morning Glory are available for purchase on the official Oasis website, remakes of merchandise from 1995/96 are also available to purchase. If you missed your chance to get your hands on the reissues, you can always stream it on your preferred streaming service, or even watch the remastered videos for the album singles on the band’s official YouTube page! Let me know your favorite songs or memories associated with this album. Happy 25 years to (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?, and congratulations to Oasis on this milestone!