Customer Reviews

Stop the Clocks (with DVD)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Music: 5 Stars; Compilation: 2 Stars; DVD: 3 Stars

Oasis has come at the end of its contract with their label, and when told that a "best of" was going to be issued whether the Gallagher brothers liked it or not, Noel Gallagher took it upon himself to come up with the band's first career-spanning compilation. Initially it was going to include several new songs (including "Stop the Clocks"), but then that changed too (although the album title stuck) when all was said and done, we are left with this beautiful mess.

"Stop the Clocks" (2 CDs, 18 tracks, 86 min.) brings a selective sampling of some of Oasis greatest hits and best known tracks, including its US breakthrough hit "Wonderwall", which still sounds as fresh today as when it came out more than a decade ago, but also "Champaign Supernova", "Don't Look Back in Anger" and "Acquiesce", originally a B-side but it has become one of Oasis' best known and beloved songs. Nothing wrong with the music as such on this compilation. It's what is NOT on here that is the problem: Noel tries to rewrite history and conveniently ignores the "Be Here Now" album ENTIRELY, hence no "D'You Know What I Mean", "Stand By Me" or "All Around the World", all huge hits; other early-era classics MIA include "Shakermaker", "Whatever" and "Roll With It", and even latter day hits such as "The Hindu Times", "Little By Little" and "She Is Love" are conspicuously absent. I guess I could have understood Noe's approach if this was a single CD compilation, but it is not. Can someone explain to me why, at a mere 86 min. over 2 CDs, all those hits and classics are not on here?

The DVD brings a little relief: 2 great live songs (Fade Away, from 1994, and Champaign Supernova, from 1996), an interview of Noel and Liam, and a preview of the upcoming documentary movie "Lord Don't Slow Me Down". In all, not bad, but it could have been so much better! Thanks for the 2 songs, but how about another 10 or so?

This compilation, however great the music on here, is nothing but a beautiful and incomprehesible mess. Lacking any new songs on the CDs, the only redeeming factor is the DVD, with all of its own limitations. "Stop the Clocks" is far from being a "definitive" overview of Oasis 1994 through 2005. Buyer beware.

I never thought oasis would release a greatest hits album, as all their albums are like a greatest hits album. But this is a 'best of' album. The songs that Noel Gallagher believes are the best 18 from the bands 14 year career. This is not a compilation of radio singles, the songs that the record company have chosen over the years. The only reason Noel decided to release this compilation is to give the band total control over the project after sony announced they were going to release a best of album of the band following the bands decision to sever their ties with the record company.

There are no new songs on here, so die-hard fans will need a good reason to purchase this as they already own all these songs on CD. Well the reason is for the bonus DVD, which includes live footage, an interview, photo galleries and a bonus trailer.

The interview with Noel and Liam goes for 40 minutes and describes the songs on the album, why they were chosen and how the album came about. It also features footage of the band over the years and the changes they have gone through with different band line-ups. I actually had to watch with sub-titles as the thick mancunian accents are hard to understand in some places.

There are two live songs. Fade Away from the chicago metro way back in 94, and the excellent champagne supernova from the history making live show at knebworth in 1996. Also included is the film trailer for 'Lord don't slow me down'.

All other fans of the band who don't wish to buy all the albums will find this to be a worthy purchase as it definitely does include the best 18 songs from the band. It includes songs like Some might say, Wonderwall, Slide Away, The Masterplan, Live Forever, Morning Glory and Don't look back in anger. I only wish it included stand by me which is one of the best songs from the band.

I believe this is an album for everyone, not just the fans. It is a summary of a very important chapter in rock n' roll history. A chapter that will be remembered for a very very long time.

I am a huge Oasis fan, and have all these songs on other CD's, however it is great to hear them grouped in a way chosen by the artist. I am also a sucker for DVD extras etc. and this dvd is perfect.

Stop the Clocks deserves the respect of hardcore fans and past fans of Oasis. The band has been making music for the past 12 years, haven't lost their touch, haven't sold out to make pop or rap, and, after 12 years, still revolve around the once-known-to-be fueding brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, the voice and soul behind one of the most exciting and unpredictable bands in recent memory.

Clocks delivers a retrospective of Oasis's bumpy career thus far. To no surprise, most of the songs, which were all compiled by the Gallaghers themselves as songs that, according to them, encapsulate their band's best contributions to modern rock over the past decade, are from their first two albums: Rock 'n Roll Star, Live Forever, Supersonic, and Slide Away from the 1994 breakthrough debut Definitely Maybe; Some Might Say, Wonderwall, Don't Look Back In Anger, Morning Glory and Champagne Supernova from the 1995 mega hit follow-up What's The Story Morning Glory. Other classic hits include the UK number 1 hit Go Let It Out from 2000's dud Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants, the Liam penned ballad Songbird from 2002's subtle Heathen Chemistry, and the UK number 1 hits Lyla and Importance of Being Idle from 2005's solid Don't Believe The Truth. The boys even manage to thrown in 4 great b-sides, which sound better than most of the singles they've released to date: the brilliantly written acoustic ballad Talk Tonight, the sentimental The Masterplan, the arena rocker Acqueisce, and the stunning Half The World Away.

The only flaw I find on the compilation is the title: Stop The Clocks is a song Noel has been writing, rewriting, recording and re-recording over the past 5 years; someway, somehow, it would have been nice to have this song included on the compilation instead of causing some sort of confusion, and even misleading some music-goers to the content of the album, but that's Noel Gallagher for you!

Besides that, both the collection of classics and the band still rock on!

Recommended

A

For those thinking this is the definite Oasis singles collection, take a look at the songs NOT included (highest U.K. chart position):

Shakermaker #11
Whatever #3
Roll With It #2
D'You Know What I Mean #1
Stand By Me #2
All Around The World #1
Who Feels Love? #4
Sunday Morning Call #4
The Hindu Times #1
Stop Crying Your Heart Out #2
Little By Little #2
She Is Love #2
Let There Be Love #2

Their web site states: "The tracks as chosen by the band themselves - the songs they believe encapsulate their remarkable career to date." For many though, omitting all these tracks (no less than 3 number one hits) is rather excessive. Actually, this track list would make most bands proud of their achievement. Usually when tracks are omitted on such greatest hits compilations, those are one or two songs the band just simply hate (case in point is the recent R.E.M. In Time compilation which skips Shiny Happy People) or more often minor hits or known album tracks. Not one track from Be Here Now is included but over half of the tracks here are from their first two releases, incidentally the albums most people already own.

This edition includes a bonus DVD. Given the type of this compilation, it should be no surprise that it consists mainly of a few performances and interviews. Alas, this is not the place to find Oasis videos in one place.

This is not to say that the songs on this compilation are not superb, they are. On that strength I give this set 4 stars (I am probably generous). There should, however, be a warning sticker on this release stating that this is merely a compilation, nothing more. An alarming case in point is the track Whatever, which has only been available as a single. This begs the question, why is there not a double CD version of this release? Ooops, actually this is a double CD release with simply very few songs on each CD compared to the compilation norm. Maybe this is some kind of retro attempt. In the age of programmable music, I'd rather be able to edit my music down to my personal choices of nine songs as opposed to being limited in that option.

As with all "Greatest Hits", you can never make every fan happy. This is a great attempt to address Oasis's history, and for the most part, it succeeds. The dvd makes up for any deficiency in song selection.

I was just browsing the web when I noticed that Oasis came out with a new CD, "Stop the Clocks"! I got really excited and searched for it to see how many tracks were on it. To my dissapointment, all the songs that are on this cd I already have in my Oasis collection. I have all their previous albums and 13 import singles, so not much is new to me. But this is a great CD if you are a casual Oasis fan, but if you are an Oasis collector you probably already have all these songs. The DVD bonus might be enough to pick this up for some hardcore fans. This CD has a nice selection of their greatest hits, however I would have liked to see "Whatever" make an appearance on it, since it wasn't added to "The Masterplan" CD. If you dont already own all their previus CD's i would say buy this now! If you already have all their previous CD's, but it if the DVD is that important to you. Me....i think i will pass.

Oasis' song catalog is such that Noel Gallagher SHOULD have added that third disc to "Stop the Clocks." (He didn't, he said, because considering Bob Dylan and the Beatles only have two discs in their "best of" collections, giving Oasis three discs would seem presumptuous and arrogant.)
This set is a must-have for anyone who is interested in hearing more from Oasis than "Don't Look Back in Anger" or "Supersonic."
You'll hear some of the greatest music written in the past 15 years.

First off let me say that I am not the biggest Oasis fan. I like 'em, just not obsessively.
For me this collection (if you watch the DVD, we are told over and over to not call this a 'greatest hits') is great. Short, but great. 18 tracks, all winners, perfect for a long drive with the volume up. The DVD is the icing on the cake. Again on the short side, but great. The track by track commentary is priceless. The 2 live tracks are great, but only 2. The trailer is annoying as it's a commercial for another release. Why would you advertise that you have an advertisement on this??? Oh well, minor flaw I guess.
As to all the griping about what is and isn't on the CDs, I look at it like this: if I went and saw Oasis in concert and the collection was the playlist, I would leave a happy man indeed.

one of the best oasis cds
. the bonus dvd is one of the greatest oasis interviews
I have seen. this is a must-have for true oasis fans. I've watched it several times and I still enjoy it every time .





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i still find it interesting