Stop the clocks

Oasis tienen el merito de tener la mejor canción que jamás nadie ha escuchado. Literalmente. Porque solo unos pocos afortunados has podido escucharla. Solo en una ocasión, allá por el año 2003, ha sido interpretada en directo y solo un avispado asistente al evento tuvo la ocasión de grabarla. Eso sí, no la mostrará al mundo hasta que la canción sea editada por los propios Gallagher. Stop the clocks más que una canción comienza a ser una leyenda.

Fuente: Live4ever.

It was a moment in life which I will never forget, when I first popped that CD in and pressed play, especially after the half decade of torment waiting to hear it. Noel counted it off: "One.. two... three... four," and then there it was. Yes, it was really true, I was listening to "Stop the Clocks" for the first time ever. As other fans learned of my dream being realized, they had questions, such as: "Were your huge expectations met?" and "What do you think of the song?" I will try to answer those questions and others as I share with you a brief glimpse into the song of legend.

The first time you listen to "Stop the Clocks", you may think it is simply a better realized "Who Feels Love?". But, by about the fifth listen, you come to understand that this is a song unlike anything Noel or Oasis has ever done before. It is a song of such depth and complexity that perhaps a thousand listens would be needed to study and appreciate it fully. As one of the press reviews stated, the chords are very well constructed, but "Stop the Clocks" is all about the vocals. Noel effortlessly guides his voice from high notes to low notes and back, weaving a powerful spell on a listener’s ears for four and a half minutes in this live version. Both guitar solos- the short and long- create a psychedelic world for which Oasis fans can come in and play. And of all the songs from my Zanzibar bootleg-- this song is mixed the most perfectly. There is a perfect balance between the acoustic guitar, the vocals, Gem’s backwards guitar, and Terry’s bongos. It has been suggested by some that this song could never live up to the hype which now surrounds it. Well, friends, I have to politely disagree. This is instantly one of the five best Oasis songs of the past decade. Only now can I see so clearly why Noel has taken to such great pains to record the perfect version. Anything less would be unworthy of this classic-to-be. And we can only hope that Noel has done just that, so the world can finally hear this masterpiece.

You will be happy to know that 4 of the 5 songs from Noel’s May 3, 2003 concert at the Zanzibar Club in Liverpool have now been made available to all fans on the Live4ever Forum . These new live versions are so good that you will indeed be listening to them for years to come. The final song, "Stop the Clocks", will remain locked up until a studio track is released. During the past couple of weeks, both offers and threats have come my way from the community of Oasis fans. You can be sure of one thing-- no amount of money, no offer of trading for other rare material, no invasion of my private life, and no level of threats brought forth could cause me to post the song. Also, I have promised not to give away a detailed description of the song, which is why I would never post any of the chords, the lyrics, or a minute by minute analysis of what happens in each part of the song. However, I am happy to tell you what I think of the song, that’s why posted what I did above.

Note regarding the songs:

For the record, Trent Harrington recorded the gig by standing away from the audience as much as he could, and standing close to one of the speakers. I'm not sure what he used to record it, but it sure sounds good. He said that security was actually checking people at the door that night, patting them down, etc., but he snuck his recorder in one of his boots. Trent now lives in London, but he would prefer not to be contacted. He has entrusted me with the first live performance of "Stop the Clocks", and asked me to share it with the fans immediately upon the release of a studio version of the song.