The Masterplan : Oasis : Review : Rolling Stone

One day we may look back, in wonder if not in anger, at the collective hallucination that heralded Oasis as the new Beatles; notwithstanding the soaring euphoria of songs like "Live Forever" and "Wonderwall." Given the backlash against lads rock that followed last year's underwhelming Be Here Now, we're certainly not ready for the leftover scraps that make up The Masterplan. Bored ballads about "how you saved my life," leaden rockers about it being "all too much for me to take": You want listless clichés, Noel Gallagher's got 'em. A quick dip into the cod-Bacharach bag for "Half the World Away" provides some respite from the crass soccer-terrace anthems, while the Slade-Stooges splice "Headshrinker" suggests that Oasis missed their true calling as pure glam-rock revivalists. Otherwise, it's all too little for this reviewer to take.