Blur

THE BEST OF

(Virgin)

It's always been hard to tell what inspires Oasis live -- disdain for the audience or for one another. Familiar to Millions -- that's as close as the Gallaghers have ever come to understatement -- only muddies the waters by including a between-song bit where Noel lashes out colorfully at the "foocking" lighting guy. So maybe it's been the crew all along. Whatever Oasis lack in the way of liveliness and/or general ability or willingness to engage an audience, they still sound foocking great, and they have song after song studded with ringing hooks big and bold enough to fill the largest arena. Like, say, London's Wembley Stadium (cap. 80,000), the site of this recording last summer. Liam gets the ball rolling in the wrong direction by greeting the roaring crowd with a gracious "Hello, Manchester," an intentional gaffe that elicits the closest thing these guys have ever heard to British boos. All is forgiven within seconds as the lads plow headlong into "Go Let It Out" and a string of other hits ("Supersonic," "Wonderwall," etc.). Liam may have the most tuneful monotone ever. Or maybe Noel's guitar exerts some kind of magnetic-melodic force that eliminates the need for the singer to sing. But the effect is of voice, guitars, bass, and drums uniting as wave after solid wave of sonic pleasure washing over the crowd. Not being able to watch the band stand around looking disinterested takes nothing away from the experience.

Oasis's once-upon-a-time rivals for the Britpop crown can also fill Wembley (the somewhat smaller Wembley Arena, that is, cap. 12,000). What they can't fill is two CDs with bona fide "hits." So with the two-CD The Best Of, we get a one-disc career-spanning compilation of 18 tunes that probably were radio faves in England (three or four of them may have garnered some airplay here in the States) followed by a 10-song set recorded live at Wembley just a year ago. The first disc may come in handy for anyone under the impression that 1997's Blur (Virgin) was the band's debut, though you'll be disappointed to find that there's only one "Song 2" in the Blur repertoire. And there are those of us who traded in our copy of Leisure (SBK), the band's groovy 1991 debut, when that whole Manchester scene/sound dried up but who wouldn't mind hearing "There's No Other Way" now and again. Other than that, the live disc is really the only reason to own The Best Of. And unfortunately, Blur are a smarter, subtler, more intimate band than Oasis -- disadvantages all in a stadium setting. The neo-new-wavy "Girls and Boys," the jazzy Bowie-ish "To the End," with its warm sax soloing, and the pomo blues sing-along "Tender" are great songs that are just too complex to create the kind of surging momentum arena rock requires. In fact, "Song 2" is just about Blur's only true sports-stadium-conquering hit, and it says a lot that they don't even bother to play it here.

-- Matt Ashare