Audio CD review:
Oasis - Cigarettes & Alcohol

Oasis - Cigarettes & Alcohol

Band: Oasis Title: Cigarettes & Alcohol Rating: Release Date: 27 August, 1996 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Cigarettes & Alcohol 2: I Am The Walrus (Live Glasgow Cathouse June '94) 3: Listen Up 4: Fade Away

Customer Reviews an incredibly great CD single By all means, I was eager to hear more from these blokes, and imagine my surprise when I came across "Cigarettes & Alcohol", an absolute gem of a CD single. What a thrill rush it was for me listening to Oasis' exhiliarting debut album "Definitely Maybe" album back in March of 1995. At this point, it's widely confirmed that Oasis' CD singles are a huge part of their legacy--their b-sides were typically just as great as the songs that made it onto the official albums--but back in '95, I didn't really know any better, and I just picked this up starving for more Oasis material. The title track was the 4th & final A-side culled from "Definitely Maybe", and with its T. Rex-derived riff, it's a great example of the exciting rock & roll blast Oasis were serving up so regularly back then. Then for the b-sides which were then unavailable on album. . . They totally tear it up with their live cover of "I Am the Walrus" which has a great Liam vocal and an extended jam section with impressive guitar heroics (did Noel actually play all that stuff?!?); call me nuts, but in terms of sheer power & enjoyment, it blows away the Beatles studio version which suffers from botched execution. Then you get a pair of Noel Gallagher originals--he delivers another soaring rock 'ballad' with the epic "Listen Up" which is in the same league as "Live Forever", and the disc closes with the hard-charging, wistful rocker "Fade Away". In the end, this disc, which runs nearly 24 minutes, really does have the feel of a genuine EP--Oasis used the CD single format as an opportunity to offer up more greatness as opposed to something tossed off merely to satisfy record company obligations. All 3 of the b-sides subsequently turned up on their 1998 b-sides compilation "The Masterplan" (although "I Am the Walrus" appears to have been edited/ shortened) but "Cigarettes & Alcohol" remains an incredibly great CD single in its own right. The BEST Oasis Single The B-Sides are even better. It starts with the A-side, "Cigarettes and Alcohol" good, solid rock-and-roll. The cover of "I am the Walrus" recorded live is simply awesome. At eight minutes long, it becomes an acid jam after about three. Next, you get "Listen Up" quite possibly the best song Noel Gallagher has ever written. After that, it's "Fade Away" which I feel is sort of a rock-ballad companion to another song Oasis did called "D'Yer Wanna Be A Spaceman". This EP is definitely for the true Oasis fan and even for those with a casual affection towards the five lads from Manchester. . You can see a complete list of all Oasis discography, or go back to the Oasis tabs