Familiar to Millions - Oasis

Fed up with the Gallagher brothers? Believe they long ago grew too big for their (Beatle) boots? Be that as it may, here's a pointed reminder of just why the siblings' heads and egos became so outsized. Familiar to Millions Highlights slims down the band's double-live CD Familiar to Millions to one disc, which also makes for a handy-dandy greatest-hits set. Recorded at London's Wembley Stadium across two nights at the end of their 2000 grand world tour, Oasis were more than at the top of their game, they were gods. The band sound omnipotent, and were met by a crowd of adoring worshippers whom they drove to a screaming frenzy. One of the many highlights of the show was a seething "Shakermaker," and behind the group you can hear the whole stadium singing along in ecstasy. For all the comparisons with the Fab Four (and on record there was no denying them), live the band brought a power to their music that even the Mop Tops at their early Hamburg heights could never equal. The thundering sound of "Who Feels Love" is a case in point, both brothers' emotive performances across "Gas Panic" is another, and when they burst into "Roll with It," Oasis would have brought the walls down if they'd been indoors. But it's the one, two, three sucker punches of "Wonderwall," a hard rocking "Cigarettes and Alcohol," and the wave your lighters in the air "Don't Look Back in Anger" that brings the entire arena to their feet. A strutting "Rock 'N' Roll Star" hauls the set to a suitable close with all the insouciance of the early Small Faces and bad boy attitude of the '60s Rolling Stones. If ever a band wanted to go out on a high, this was the chance; nothing Oasis have done before or since has equaled this show, and having heard the Highlights, you'd be a fool not to go and hear the entire set in all its glory. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide