Oasis - Coming Of Age (2009)

In 2007 Oasis were riding high on the success of their sixth album 'Don't Believe The Truth', and taking the top two positions in the Q magazine poll of the fifty greatest albums of the last 50 years. The recorded for a couple of months in 2007, completing work on two new songs and demoing the rest, after which they took a two-month break because of the birth of Noel's son. They re-entered the studio on 5 November 2007 and finished recording around March 2008, with the band's seventh album 'Dig Out Your Soul' being released in October. After recording had finished Zak Starkey left the group, and he was replaced by former Icicle Works and the La's drummer Chris Sharrock on their tour, but he was not an official member of the band and Oasis remained as a four-piece. The first single from the record was 'The Shock Of the Lightning', written by Noel Gallagher, and it was pre-released on 29 September 2008, and when the album appeared a week later it went to number one in the UK and number five on the Billboard 200. In June 2008, the band had re-signed with Sony BMG for a three-album deal, and in February 2009 they received the NME Award for Best British Band of 2009. Over the summer of 2009 the band recorded some demos for the first album of the new deal with Sony, and then played some festivals, one of which should have been the V Festival in Chelmsford in  August, but this had to be cancelled after Liam contracted laryngitis. Noel later stated that he had a hangover, for which Liam sued him, and Noel had to apologise in order to get the lawsuit dropped. The band were due to perform on 28 August 2009 at the Rock en Seine festival near Paris, however mid-way through Bloc Party's set at the festival, their frontman Kele Okereke announced that Oasis would not be performing. Two hours later, a statement from Noel appeared on the band's website:
It is with some sadness and great relief...I quit Oasis tonight. People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.
Liam and the remaining members of Oasis decided to continue under the name Beady Eye, releasing two studio albums until their break-up in 2014, while Noel formed the solo project Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, and has released four studio albums. The tracks recorded for what would have been their eighth album were shelved, until they leaked online recently, and so here are eight tracks from the final incarnation of Oasis just before they ignominiously fell apart in 2009. 

Track listing

01 Out Of My Mind
02 Time
03 Alright
04 Forever
05 Bittersweet
06 Coming Of Age
07 Alive
08 Tonight

Johnny Marr - ...and on guitar (2010)

John Martin Maher (aka Johnny Marr) was born on 31 October 1963, and originally had aspirations to become a professional footballer, being approached by Nottingham Forest, and securing trials with Manchester City. At the age of 13, Marr's family moved him to a new neighbourhood in Manchester where he met up with a bunch of guitar players which changed his life, including The Cult guitarist Billy Duffy, who Marr would listen to rehearsing across the street from his new house. He formed his first band at 13 with Andy Rourke and Kevin Williams, and The Paris Valentinos performed at a Jubilee party in Benchill in June 1977, playing Rolling Stones and Thin Lizzy covers. In 1979 he re-united with Rourke in White Dice, who won a demo-tape competition organised by the NME, for which the prize was an audition with F-Beat Records, although it didn't result in a record deal. In October 1980, Marr enrolled at Wythenshawe College, and after White Dice dissolved in 1981, he and Rourke formed a funk band, Freak Party, with Simon Wolstencroft on drums. By early 1982 Freak Party had fizzled out, being unable to find a vocalist, so Marr approached Rob Allman, singer in White Dice, who suggested Steven Morrissey, a singer with the short-lived punk band the Nosebleeds. Marr approached a mutual friend asking to be introduced and they visited Morrissey at his house in Kings Road, Stretford in May 1981. With the line-up of The Smiths completed with he addition of Mike Joyce on drums, the band signed to Rough Trade Records and released their first single 'Hand In Glove' in 1983. 

By February 1984, the band's fanbase was sufficiently large to launch the band's long-awaited eponymous debut album to number two in the UK chart. Early in 1985, the band released their second album 'Meat Is Murder', which was more strident and political than its predecessor, becoming the band's only album (barring compilations) to reach number one in the UK charts. In 1986 the band released 'The Queen Is Dead', an album which has consistently topped polls of the greatest albums ever made, but despite their continued success, personal differences within the band, including the increasingly strained relationship between Morrissey and Marr, saw them on the verge of splitting. In July 1987, Marr left the group, and auditions to find a replacement for him proved fruitless. By the time 'Strangeways, Here We Come' was released in September, the band had split. The breakdown in the relationship has been primarily attributed to Morrissey's becoming annoyed by Marr's work with other artists, and this collection shows that he did offer his services to a number of artists between 1984 and 2010, although seemingly not that many while he was still a member of The Smiths. In August 1987, he was very briefly an official member of the Pretenders, touring with the band and appearing on the single 'Windows Of The World', and after leaving The Pretenders he recorded and toured with The The from 1988 to 1994, recording two albums with the group. He simultaneously formed Electronic with New Order's Bernard Sumner, releasing three albums during the 90's, and in 1992 he recorded a cover version of Ennio Morricone's 'The Good, The Bad And The Ugly' with Billy Duffy for the NME compilation 'Ruby Trax'. He's also worked as a session musician and writing collaborator for artists including Pet Shop Boys, Billy Bragg, Tom Jones, Kirsty MacColl, Black Grape, Talking Heads, and Beck, and this double disc set shows the wide variety of artists who have felt that having Marr added to their music would make it just that little bit special.  

Track listing

Disc One
01 Hand In Glove (single by Sandie Shaw 1984)
02 Greetings To The New Brunette (single by Billy Bragg 1986)
03 Windows Of The World (single by The Pretenders 1988)
04 (Nothing But) Flowers (from 'Naked' by Talking Heads 1988)
05 Still Feel The Rain (single by Stex 1990)
06 This Must Be The Place I Waited Years To Leave (from 'Behaviour' by Pet Shop Boys 1990)
07 Walking Down Madison (from 'Electric Landlady' by Kirsty MacColl 1991)
08 This Is Your Life (from 'Ripe' by Banderas 1991)
09 The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (from the 'Ruby Trax' compilation 1992)
09 Dogs Of Lust (single by The The 1993)
10 Rays Of The Rising Sun (single by Denise Johnson 1994)

Disc Two
01 Fat Neck (single by Black Grape 1996)
02 Rhythm And Blues (from 'Fresco' by M People 1997)
03 Lust For Life (from 'Reload' by Tom Jones 1999)
04 Milk And Honey (from 'Midnite Vultures' by Beck 1999)
05 Fool's Mate (from 'Crimson Tide' by Bert Jansch 2000)  
06 (Probably) All In The Mind (from 'Heathen Chemistry' by Oasis 2002)
07 Even A Child (from 'Time On Earth' by Crowded House 2007)
08 Enough Of Me (from 'The Empyrean' by John Frusciante 2009) 
09 The Whale Song (from 'No One's First, And You're Next' by Modest Mouse 2009)
10 Ordinary Millionaire (from 'Propellor Time' by Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 2010) 

Thanks to the Anonymous comment just before Christmas for suggesting this one.