Roll With It (Oasis Song)

"Roll with It" is a song by the English rock band Oasis. It was released on 14 August 1995 by Creation Records as the second single from their second studio album, ''(What's the Story) Morning Glory?'' (1995). In a highly publicised chart battle with Blur's single "Country House" dubbed " The Battle of Britpop," "Roll with It" reached number two on the UK singles chart.

'Battle' with Blur

"Roll with It" received a great deal of attention when Food Records, the label of Britpop rivals Blur, moved the original release date of the single "Country House" to beat it on the charts, sparking what came to be known as " The Battle of Britpop". The British media had already reported an intense rivalry between the two bands and this clash of releases was seen as a battle for the number one spot. The media sensation was spurred on by verbal attacks from the respective camps (in particular Noel and Liam Gallagher, Damon Albarn and Alex James), that extended beyond the music industry to the point where the two bands were regularly mentioned on the evening news. In particular, public imagination was sparked by the contrast between the "working class" Oasis and the "middle class" Blur. In the end, Blur's "Country House" single sold 274,000 copies to Oasis' 216,000 copies of "Roll with It". The singles charted at number 1 and number 2 respectively.

In 2019, Noel Gallagher reflected on the battle on Dermot O'Leary's ''Reel Stories'', dismissing both songs as "shit". He suggested that a chart race between Oasis's " Cigarettes & Alcohol" and Blur's " Girls & Boys" would have had greater merit: "'Roll With It' has never been played by anybody since the band split up".

Critical reception

The AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine described 'Roll with It' as "an assured stadium rocker that unabashedly steals the crown from Status Quo". David Stubbs from ''Melody Maker'' wrote, "This isn't the mounting cascade of manna and adrenalin that was ' Some Might Say' or ' Acquiesce'. It's subdued by comparison, a light shower after that musical thunderstorm, something for us to kick through the puddles to until their next mighty moment of precipitous pop. Rolling along, marking time, fair enough." A reviewer from ''Music & Media'' said, "When was it that dance fans predicted the end of rock? By going two steps back to the '60s Oasis takes it six steps forward. So roll over you sceptics, "my my, hey hey, rock 'n' roll is to stay."" Mark Sutherland from ''NME'' wrote, "Have no fear, you will la-la-la-like it. It is, after all, a pretty good record." Andrew Harrison from '' Select'' named it "Oasis' weakest single, but still far from the Quo travesty of legend, even if the song might conjure visions of flying wetlook perms." Leesa Daniels from ''Smash Hits'' gave it two out of five and named it "the weakest track" of the album, "and Liam sounds like he's got a sore throat."

''Top of the Pops'' performance

When Oasis played "Roll with It" on chart show ''Top of the Pops'' on 17 August 1995, they were required to mime the song, and in doing so the Gallagher brothers switched roles with Liam pretending to play guitar and Noel pretending to sing (equipped with Liam's tambourine).

Marketing

The single artwork features a photograph of the band on the beach at Weston-super-Mare. Many potential locations were examined along the Somerset and Avon coastline (Oasis were playing Glastonbury that weekend, so a beach within striking distance of the festival site had to be found).

Themes

The song is like several other Oasis", in that it preaches the importance of being oneself.

Track listing

* UK CD single
# "Roll with It"
# "It's Better People"
# "Rockin' Chair"
# " Live Forever" (Live at Glastonbury '95)

* UK 7-inch single
:A. "Roll with It"
:B. "It's Better People"

* UK 12-inch single
:A1. "Roll with It"
:B1. "It's Better People"
:B2. "Rockin' Chair"

* UK cassette single
# "Roll with It"
# "It's Better People"

* Australian CD single
# "Roll with It"
# " Talk Tonight"
# " Acquiesce"
# "Headshrinker"

Note 1: "Headshrinker" was a B-side of the band's previous UK single " Some Might Say" and was one of the last tracks to feature original Oasis drummer Tony McCarroll.

Note 2: "Live Forever" was recorded live at the Glastonbury Festival on 23 June 1995.

Personnel

* Liam Gallagher – lead vocals, tambourine
* Noel Gallagher – lead guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
* Paul Arthurs – rhythm guitar
* Paul McGuigan – bass guitar
* Alan White – drums, percussion

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

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1995 songs
1995 singles
Creation Records singles
Number-one singles in Scotland
Oasis (band) songs
Song recordings produced by Noel Gallagher
Songs written by Noel Gallagher
Arena rock songs