By Mike Farragher

STOP the presses!

With Stop the Clocks, Oasis delivers a winning album! I know long time readers of this column will greet this proclamation as a hypocritical about face on my part, given the ranting I’ve done about the Gallagher brothers in the past. Like many of you, I have suffered through one too many middling Oasis albums over the last few years that moved them farther away from the unbridled promise of Definitely Maybe.

Who can blame a fan for tuning out when they got completely bloated with live CDs like Familiar to Millions? The effort one would have to expend to find a good song amidst the filler on discs like Heathen Chemistry and their last one, Don’t Believe the Truth, didn’t seem worth it.

Like all the best greatest hits packages out there, Stop the Clocks collects the best bits from those ho-hum albums for us, elevates the amazing songs to the front and center, and reminds you why you fell in love with this band all those years ago.

Lately, Noel and Liam Gallagher have made their fame from sound bites that rough up older rock stars like Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger. Am I the only one who feels like they’re biting the hand that fed them most of their ideas when they carry on like that? It’s refreshing to rave about their music once more.

When you absorb the cocksure swagger of “Rock n’ Roll Star,” the deliciously dirty shuffle of “Go Let it Out,” the bored punk snarl of “Cigarettes and Alcohol,” the epic brilliance of “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” or the pensive wisdom of “Champagne Supernova” in one sitting, you get reacquainted with what made these two famous to begin with. Even “Lyla,” the tepid single from their last studio album, has a renewed sense of purpose when framed around these classics.

Stop the Clocks marks their final CD committed to Sony, their record company. For the first time in the band’s storied career, they find themselves without a record deal, and Noel Gallagher’s recent concert might be an indication of the bleaker future ahead of him.

A fan of the band recently enjoyed “the best day of his life” when Noel popped by his house in Cheshire to play an intimate gig, according to BBC News. Ben Hayes won a Radio 1 competition to have the star play in his front room. About 15 people packed into his lounge for the tiny gig — with his mother on hand making cups of tea for the crew.

According to the news report, Gallagher played three songs, “Half the World Away,” “The Importance of Being Idle,” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger.”

“I’ve seen Noel playing a few times but today was so special,” said Hayes. “It was just absolutely amazing. It was just unreal. He was just sat in my lounge, playing three songs. It was just the best day of my life — so far.”

As well as playing the songs, Gallagher spent time in Ben’s house on Friday signing his guitar, Oasis artwork and CDs. It’s a long way from playing at Wembley Stadium!

Their star might have fallen, but the fantastic collection of songs on Stop the Clocks will burn bright for a lifetime. “Live Forever,” indeed!