I got my box set last night in the mail... and it was a sort of sad moment as I finally realised that the band that has been a constant fixture in my life for 15 years may actually be no more. But in some sense, that fire that drove Noel and Liam is ultimately why we're here, looking back at the decade and a half of one of the most influential English bands ever.

You will have heard all these tracks before - the Live recordings on Disc 4 from the Roadhouse show in London last July, are worth the price of admission. It does 'exactly what it says on the tin' its a collection of the best music they put out, and they are all winners.

Buy it, remember the band and where you were when you first heard them, or when you first saw them live - they changed music, they changed me, and I'll miss em.

Music: 4 stars; Compilation: 3.5 stars; Economic value: 5 stars; Relevance: 3 stars

Oasis imploded last year after the umpteenth internal fighting and disbanded. Frankly, after a run of 15 years, it was time. The band by then had run out of musical ideas for a number of years, even if their live performances continued at times to fascinate. In 2006, when the label told the band it would issue a 'greatest hits' compilation whether the band liked it or not, Noel Gallagher stepped up and took matters in his own hands, resulting in the curious mess that was "Stop the Clocks", a compilation that left many people scratching their heads. Now comes this.

"Time Flies 1994-2009" (2CDs; 27 tracks; 136 min.) collects all of the band's 26 UK singles, plus "Champaigne Supernova", which was a US-only single. Let's state up front that is is not, and is not intended to be, a 'best of Oasis'. Indeed if that were the case, a lot more music of the band's essential 1994-1996 era (covering the first 2 albums and the numerous essential B sides from these albums' singles) would be included. So instead, you get all of the singles, nothing more, nothing less. That means a lot of music from the post-1997 era, when the band's musical genius started dropping off. There were still some great moments in the last 10 years or so ("Hindu Times" for example), but alas a lot of mediocre singles as well. Very annoyingly, this compilation is not chronological and the sequencing makes little or no sense ("Cigarettes and Alcohol" followed by "Song Bird"? "Champaigne Supernova" starting off CD2 instead of finishing CD1? etc. etc.). But at least you get 2 CDs worth of music here (unlike on "Stop the Clocks"). But no new tracks whatsoever.

For anyone truly wanting the best of Oasis, just buy the first 2 album and the odds-and-ends compilation of the early years "The Masterplan". I suppose that this compilation is aimed strictly at the casual fan of Oasis, if there is such a thing, and at that, this is not bad and it's certainly selling at a very fan-friendly price. Much more interesting is the "deluxe edition" of "Time Flies", which comes with an extra CD and DVD. The extra CD brings the band's last concert in its entirety (London, July 21, 2009, a pretty good show at that), and the extra DVD finally compiles, for the first time ever, all of the band's music videos (with commentary). I've seen Oasis multiple times over the years, my first time in 1996 on the "Morning Story" tour here in the US, and what a musical force they were back then. I'll be interested to see if either Liam or Noel will have anything relevant to bring in their upcoming music efforts.

This box set is packed! It has every single they've released. A live album previously only available on iTunes and a DVD with every video promo they've made and it comes with commentary from Noel and Liam Gallagher. It is really worth watch them all and hearing what they have to say about the songs and what was going on during the time each video was made. I'm "Mad Fer It!" Though I am biased, being a massive fan of Oasis.

The sound quality on these thick slabs of vinyl is unbelievable - a lot of care was put into their creation. It would have been nice to put them inside of plastic sleeves, but that's a small quibble - the grooves are wide, and the music contained therein is almost overwhelming. My son and I both agreed that it was like hearing the songs again for the first time.

Having already owned every OASIS album, I was hesitant to plunk down the cash for this set as there was quite a bit of confusion about what was actually in the box, compared to the "standard" CD edition (or for that matter, the "deluxe" iTunes version). After a bit of detective work, I think I got it figured out .....

AMAZON lists 27 tracks as the CD portion of the box set. That list of 27 mirrors the standard 2-CD set, with "Champagne Supernova" kicking off disc two. But that track is NOT on CD's in the box. That leaves 26 "titles" as shown on the cardboard sleeves housing the discs in the box. However, "Sunday Morning Call" is included at the end of disc two, but not listed (a "hidden track". MY, how original!), so, the bottom line is that you get the 27 UK singles. If you want to have "Champagne Supernova" on your copy of "Time Flies", you need to get the standard 2-CD US release, or the iTunes bundle. Speaking of iTunes, that bundle lists 27 titles, including "Champagne Supernova"; however, a quick look at the running time (approaching 12 minutes) on the set's last cut "Falling Down", makes it obvious that the "hidden" track is there as well, so you'd get 28 "songs".

Moving on to the DVD in the box set, AMAZON lists 35 titles. There are in fact 38 on the disc. Amazon doesn't list the US editions of "Live Forever" and "Supersonic", and (just a typo) includes "Wonderwall" at the trail end of "track 3" instead of listing it / numbering separately. So there's your 38. The aforementioned iTunes bundle offers 40 videos, with the base 38 plus two live cuts from the live show at the Roundhouse (the audio of which is on the "live disc" we'll now move on to ...)

The AMAZON track list for the 16 tracks on the live Roundhouse disc appears correct. The iTunes bundle offers and additional 4 tracks from that show -"F***ing In The Bushes", "Waiting For The Rapture", "My Big Mouth" and "I Am The Walrus".

I don't have the VINYL set, but the AMAZON track list appears to be the same as the CD, but omits "D'You Know What I Mean", thus clocking in at 26 cuts. Again, I don't have the actual disc, but just making that observation based on the track list.

WITH ALL THAT SORTED OUT ..... well, I pulled the trigger afterall. Fortunately the extra iTunes material (four live cuts, and let's face it, if you're reading this, you probably DON'T need to download "Champagne Supernova") is available for separate purchase. The music speaks for itself, there's the last recorded live show the band ever did, and box is nicely done, but a few minor quibbles leave it just short of a 5-star rating:

1 - OK, by now you've read it's NOT a "greatest hits" or "best of" set. It's a SINGLES collection. That said, presenting the tracks chronologically would have made a lot more sense.

2 - it's a collection / anthology / retrospective. List all the tracks for crying out loud (the hidden track thing, when applied to a a previously released song, comes off as worse than gimmicky).

3 - a neat "bonus disc" with the "Wibbling Rivalry" single would have been a nice touch (just kidding ... but it did in fact chart in the UK)

4 - speaking of the UK catalog, Oasis were a DECIDEDLY British commodity. They only had minor success in the US, from a chart singles perspective. That said, the content should have stuck strictly to the UK market. Or was the "Champagne Supernova" saga (for the US market) just their latest nod to another British band from the 60's whose catalog got sliced and diced at will here in the US ?

5 - the booklet is really a waste. No lyrics, history, credits, or even a single photo of the band. Instead, we get some random thoughts on the tracks from Noel, but more so from Oasis' fans. Nothing terribly revelatory.

All in, it does wrap up the whole sordid Gallagher Brothers Band saga. One final observation: the "1" disc by the Beatles (whom Oasis have emulated more than just a little) clocked in at (you guessed it) 27 tracks. A very fitting farewell.