''Stop the Clocks'' is a compilation album by English rock band

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentBig Brother Recordings. The "retrospective collection" is an 18-track double album with the featured songs chosen by

Noel Gallagher Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Gallagher is the primary songwriter, lead guitarist and a co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis (band), Oasis. After leaving Oasis, he formed Noel ...

. It was certified 5× Platinum in the United Kingdom.

Background

The album came about due to the end of Oasis' recording contract with

Sony BMG Music Entertainment Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout ...

had previously said that the band wouldn't release a greatest hits album unless they were about to split up. In an interview with news.com.au in December 2005, he hinted that Sony were planning to release one anyway, and that despite his misgivings, he would have to get involved with it otherwise it'd be bad. This was clarified in December 2006, when he told ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' that when he made it clear to Sony that the band were not going to re-sign to them, the record label decided to release a greatest hits album. Gallagher then explained that he insisted that it had to be a 'best-of' because he felt a compilation of the best singles, album tracks and B-sides would produce a stronger album than a compilation of singles. To address some fans' concerns that the release of a greatest hits album was a sign that the band were about to finish, based on some of Noel Gallagher's previous comments, the press release for the album confirmed that they were merely taking "a well earned sabbatical prior to starting work on new material, destined for similar levels of success in the future. As such, this is not a full stop, but merely a time out; a dream set list, and a chance for the world to review the immense contribution that Oasis have made and continue to make to rock 'n' roll." Gallagher stated in an episode of MTV's

Gonzo Gonzo may refer to: People * Gonzo (nickname), a list of people with the nickname * Radislav Jovanov Gonzo (born 1964), Croatian music video director Radislav Jovanov, also known as Gonzo * Matthias Röhr (born 1962), German musician whose stage ...

that the album would be more for future generations, as Gallagher himself became interested in artists such as

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

through compilation albums. To celebrate the release of the album, the band unveiled their first full-length film – '' Lord Don't Slow Me Down'', shot during the ''

Don't Believe the Truth ''Don't Believe the Truth'' is the sixth studio album by English rock band Oasis. It was released on 30 May 2005 by Big Brother Recordings. It reached number one in the UK Albums Chart with first week sales of 237,865, and is the 32nd fastest s ...

'' world tour, from May 2005 to March 2006, the film was shown in November 2006 around the world in selected picture houses, theatres and cinemas to winners of fans competitions and the press. It was also broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK. In Japan, a box set was also released of all their singles to coincide with the album.

Content

''Stop the Clocks'' focuses heavily on the band's first two albums, ''

Definitely Maybe ''Definitely Maybe'' is the debut studio album by the English rock band Oasis, released on 29 August 1994 by Creation Records. The album features Noel Gallagher on lead guitar, backing vocals and as chief songwriter, Liam Gallagher on lead vo ...

'' and ''

(What's the Story) Morning Glory? ''(What's the Story) Morning Glory?'' is the second studio album by the English Rock music, rock band Oasis (band), Oasis. Released on 2 October 1995 by Creation Records, it was produced by Owen Morris and the group's lead guitarist and chief ...

'', with each contributing five tracks, plus four B-sides (also included on the band's other compilation album '' The Masterplan'') from this era. Only two tracks appear from ''

'', and one track each from ''

Standing on the Shoulder of Giants ''Standing on the Shoulder of Giants'' is the fourth studio album by English rock band Oasis, released on 28 February 2000. It was the band's first album under their new record label Big Brother Recordings. In the year preceding the album's re ...

'' and '' Heathen Chemistry''. The album does not feature any material from '' Be Here Now''. When the release of ''Stop the Clocks'' was first announced in July 2006, speculation was rife that the unreleased song of the same name would be included on the record as a bonus track. However, Noel Gallagher told fans at a Q&A session that the song was considered for inclusion, but they weren't happy with any of the many versions they have recorded. It would later be released on

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 2010 as the solo moniker of Oasis (band), Oasis songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist Noel Gallagher. The touring band consists of former Oasis members Gem Archer ( ...

' 2011 debut album. Gallagher also confirmed that the title was chosen to sum up what was described in the initial press release as being "merely a time out; a chance for the world to review the immense contribution that Oasis have made and continue to make to rock 'n' roll."

revealed in an interview in April 2005 that 'Stop the Clocks' was the original title for the band's early recorded material in early 2004, which turned eventually into ''Don't Believe the Truth''. Gallagher revealed to ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' that he was approached about including some new songs on the album as well, but that he opted not to "because it takes the focus away from what you're actually trying to say with a retrospective." Gallagher told ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' in September 2006 that he picked the tracks on the album, and there were about eight songs that "should be on there, but aren't". He explained that his original vision was for a 12-track album on one CD, but, after whittling down from an initial 30+ tracks, the track listing was finalised. He admitted that he had had arguments with people about the track listing but that "someone has to pick the track listing, and I've picked it and that's the end of it. But that must mean we're pretty good, if people are arguing about what's not on it, it's brilliant!" During an interview on Radio 1 in October 2006, and later during a question and answer session with ''The Sun'',

Liam Gallagher William John Paul Gallagher (born 21 September 1972) is an English singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer and co-founder of the rock band Oasis (band), Oasis and fronted the rock band Beady Eye from 2010 to 2014, before starting a succes ...

, who got a songwriting credit with his "

Songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5,00 ...

", claimed that he was happy with the tracks Noel had selected for the album, although he said that he would have liked "Rockin' Chair" and " D'You Know What I Mean?" to be included. Noel, however, admitted that "D'You Know What I Mean?" was to be included on the album up until the moment it was being mastered, explaining that the length of the song "upset the flow of the album". Songs that the band also wanted to be on the track listing were "Cast No Shadow", " Don't Go Away", "Gas Panic!", " Whatever" and " Little by Little", although they could not fit them in since they felt the record would "drag on" and make it too long, being over the some 18-track idea Noel had planned out. Noel has also said he would have liked to have found a place for "Fade Away", "(It's Good) To Be Free", " Let There Be Love" and "Listen Up". In the special boxed edition of ''Stop the Clocks'', at the end of the 'Lock the Box' interview, when Liam was told "Whatever" was not included in the track listing, he exclaimed, "Thank fuck for that."

Cover

The cover was designed by Sir Peter Blake, best known for his design of the sleeve for the Beatles' album ''

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (often referred to simply as ''Sgt. Pepper'') is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26May 1967, ''Sgt. Pepper'' is regarded by musicologists as an early concept ...

''.

Critical reception

''Stop the Clocks'' received generally positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

upon its release. In 2019, ''

'' ranked it at number 7 in its list of the "28 Greatest 'Best Of' Albums".

Chart performance

The album debuted at number two in the UK charts selling over 50,000 copies in its first day of release and 216,000 in its first week of release, surprisingly not selling enough to knock '' The Love Album'', by Irish boy band

Westlife Westlife are an Irish pop group formed in Dublin in 1998. The group consists of members Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily. Brian McFadden was a member before leaving in March 2004. The group disbanded in 2012 and later reun ...

off the top spot. By the end of the year ''Stop the Clocks'' had sold 898,000 copies in the UK making it the 7th biggest selling album of the year. It also debuted at number 89 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, starting with 18,000 units sold.Hasty, Katie
"Jay-Z Reclaims His 'Kingdom' With No. 1 Debut"
billboard.com. 29 November 2006. It did however enter the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

album charts at number one, selling 87,462 copies in its first week.

Track listing

An edited version of the untitled eleventh track from ''

'' (without snippets of " The Swamp Song") appears at 4:50 into "

Morning Glory Morning glory (also written as morning-glory) is the common name for over 1,000 species of flowering plants in the family Convolvulaceae, whose taxonomy and systematics remain in flux. These species are distributed across numerous genus, gene ...

", while the last few seconds of the untitled sixth track from the same album appear at the start of " Some Might Say".

Limited edition

Along with the regular 18-track album, a limited edition set with a bonus DVD was also released. The special edition includes a 32-page booklet, the 40-minute EPK (titled ''Lock the Box'' and featuring Noel and Liam talking about the songs on the record), the full-length trailer for Oasis new rockumentary film ''Lord Don't Slow Me Down'', "Champagne Supernova" featuring John Squire live at Knebworth in August 1996, "Fade Away" live at the Chicago Metro,

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

in October 1994, and a picture gallery. It is encased in a gatefold digipak with a slipcase designed to preserve the set.

HMV exclusive bonus DVD

With orders from

HMV HMV is an international music and entertainment retailer, founded in 1921. The brand is owned by Hilco Capital and operated by Sunrise Records, except in Japan, where it is owned and operated by Lawson. The inaugural shop was opened on Lo ...

.co.uk, a bonus DVD was packaged with the album. The DVD featured two live songs, "Half the World Away (Live at Glasgow Barrowlands,

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, 2001)" and "Morning Glory (Live from V2005)".

Best Buy exclusive bonus disc

Best Buy Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was r ...

stores, the regular two-disc version of the album was packaged with the ''Stop the Clocks'' EP as a bonus disc.

Personnel

Oasis

– lead vocals (apart from tracks 3, 5, 9, 13 and 18), Acoustic Guitar on track 15, tambourine *

– guitars, lead vocals on track 3, 5, 9, 11 (chorus), 13 and 18, Backing Vocals on track 1, 2, 6, 7, 14 and 16, piano,

mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

, bass guitar (6) . * Paul Arthurs – guitars, piano,

(tracks 1-3, 6-13, 16-18) * Paul McGuigan –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

(tracks 1-3, 7-12, 16-18) *

Gem Archer Colin Murray "Gem" Archer ( '; born 7 December 1966) is an English guitarist and singer. He is best known as a member of the rock bands Oasis, Beady Eye and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, making him and Chris Sharrock the only members ...

– guitars and keyboards (tracks 4, 5 and 15) * Andy Bell – bass guitar (tracks 4, 5 and 15) * Tony McCarroll – drums (track 1, 2, 7, 8, 10 and 12) * Alan White – drums (tracks 3-6, 9, 11, 14, 16-18) * Zak Starkey – drums (track 4 and 5)

Additional personnel

* Owen Morris – bass (13) *Anthony Griffiths – backing vocals (12) *

Paul Weller John William Weller (born 25 May 1958), better known as Paul Weller, is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame in the late 1970s as the guitarist and principal singer and songwriter of the rock band the Jam, alongside ...

– solo guitar (17)

Promotional material

*The '' Stop the Clocks EP'' featuring the 1995 b-sides " Acquiesce" and " The Masterplan" was released in promotion of the compilation on 13 November 2006. New promo videos of those two songs were made and circulated to the music channels, but neither of them featured any of the band in person. *A

promo PROMO (Promoting Missouri) is a Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territ ...

with the Lynch Mob Beats Mix '95 of " Champagne Supernova" was also issued.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

External links

''Stop the Clocks''
at

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

(streamed copy where licensed) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stop The Clocks Oasis (band) compilation albums 2006 greatest hits albums Albums produced by Dave Sardy Albums with cover art by Peter Blake (artist) Albums produced by Owen Morris Albums produced by Mark Coyle Big Brother Recordings compilation albums Columbia Records compilation albums