"Slide Away" is a song by the English rock band

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentDefinitely Maybe'' (1994). It was written by lead guitarist

Noel Gallagher Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the chief songwriter, lead guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis until their split in 2009. After leaving Oasis, he formed ...

and serves as the tenth track on the album.

Composition and recording

Writing

claims he wrote it on a

Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz guitarist, jazz, country guitarist, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid body ...

guitar that

Johnny Marr Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerou ...

sent to him, since he had few guitars available to him at the time. On the ''Definitely Maybe'' DVD, he also notes that he took Marr's guitar out of the case, sat down, and ''"the song wrote itself"''. Gallagher wrote it about his girlfriend at the time – Louise Jones and the song was written about their stormy relationship. He described them as "soulmates" and when they finally split up in June 1994, Noel said 'I don't think I'll ever get over it.'

Recording

During the recording of ''Definitely Maybe'', there was an argument between Gallagher and rhythm guitarist Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs. Gallagher was taken to the pub by bassist Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan where he calmed down, had a few drinks, went back to the studios and recorded "Slide Away". The song was recorded during the initial Monnow Valley Studio sessions, and produced by Dave Batchelor. During recording, Batchelor stood in front of drummer Tony McCarroll and pointed at each of his two crash cymbals in turn, to make sure that McCarroll alternated the cymbals across the stereo image. Batchelor and the band had an argument about the song's tempo, which was ultimately ended by the suggestion of engineer Dave Scott. The band completed the final take afterwards, but Batchelor was angered and fired Scott over the incident. Scott was later informed by Mark Coyle that "Slide Away" was the only song kept from the Monnow Valley sessions, after being remixed by Owen Morris.

Style

Recalling the style of "Slide Away", Alex Niven wrote that the song "adopts the classic grunge technique" by combining a " heavy rock base with a melody that alludes to

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fu ...

and

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

". In an interview on the bonus DVD of '' Stop the Clocks'', Gallagher comments that the track contains his brother Liam's best ever singing.

Release

It is featured on their debut album '' Definitely Maybe'', on the "

Whatever Whatever may refer to: Music Albums * ''Whatever'' (Adore Delano album), 2017 * ''Whatever'' (Aimee Mann album), 1993 * ''Whatever'' (Danny Thompson album), 1987 * ''Whatever'' (The Friends of Distinction album), 1970 * ''Whatever'' (Gre ...

" single, and on the " Champagne Supernova" US single. Also in the ''Stop the Clocks'' interview, Noel claimed that he was told to release it as a fifth single from ''Definitely Maybe'', but Gallagher refused, arguing, "You can't have five inglesoff a debut album.""Lock the Box". ''Stop the Clocks''

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Columbia, 2006. Furthermore, it is claimed to be

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. On ...

's favourite song by Oasis in the same interview. A limited edition UK promotional CD was pressed to celebrate the band's success at the 1995

Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

. The song is included on Oasis' best-of album ''Stop the Clocks'' in a slightly different mix; Noel's backing vocals during the

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have been removed, and it's this version that has been included in reissues of '' Definitely Maybe'' since.

Live performances

Both of the Gallagher brothers claimed that the song should have been played more often at concerts, and although it was rarely played, it remains a fan favourite. However, it was included on the set list of the band's Dig Out Your Soul Tour. It was described by guitarist Gem Archer as ''"the one for the fans"''. A live version recorded on 17 April 1995 at the Southend Cliffs Pavilion was included on the video album, ''

Live by the Sea Live by the Sea is a live video recording by the English rock band Oasis, released on DVD, VCD, and VHS. It features Oasis' gig at the Southend Cliffs Pavilion on 17 April 1995, as well as the videos for " Rock 'n' Roll Star" and " Cigaret ...

''. A live version of the song was released in 2007 on the live album ''The Dreams We Have As Children'' by Noel Gallagher. Liam Gallagher has performed the song at his solo performances, most notably at the

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contempo ...

and

Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Fest ...

in 2017.

Reception

While reviewing the ''Definitely Maybe'' album, ''NME'' writer Keith Cameron described "Slide Away" as "a completely heart-rending love song" that showed the band possessing "both the sweetness and tenderness to complement their well-proven hooligan qualities." Gibson Guitar.com listed the song as one of a ten of Noel's best guitar tracks. In the 11 May 2013 edition of ''NME'', the song was listed at number 57 in the magazine's "The 100 Greatest Britpop Songs" list, and in 2019, it was ranked number 1 in a list of greatest Oasis songs by the same magazine.

Personnel

Liam Gallagher William John Paul Gallagher (born 21 September 1972) is an English singer and songwriter. He achieved fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis from 1991 to 2009, and later fronted the rock band Beady Eye from 2009 to 2014, before start ...

– lead vocals,

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called " zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thou ...

– lead guitars, bass, backing vocals *

Paul Arthurs Paul Benjamin Arthurs (born 23 June 1965), known professionally as Bonehead, is an English musician. He is best known as the rhythm guitarist, occasional keyboardist and co-founder of the rock band Oasis. Early life Paul Benjamin Arthurs wa ...

– rhythm guitar * Tony McCarroll – drums

Certifications

References

External links

"Slide Away" song review
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

{{Oasis Oasis (band) songs Rock ballads Grunge songs Songs written by Noel Gallagher 1994 songs Creation Records singles 1990s ballads