Since Manchester City are in Columbus this weekend for a preseason exhibition match against Chelsea, I thought I could extrapolate on a far better squad to come from the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. On this occasion I am not here to profess my Manchester United fandom, but my love for the best damn nineties band in the land: Oasis.

I want to go into the hypothetical here, because while they broke through in the United States with two big hit singles, ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Champagne Supernova’ they did not enjoy the same Oasis mania as they did in the United Kingdom. Their first two albums remain mainstays on best of the decade lists, but it was the cocaine fueled lunacy of the third album and band turmoil in general that kept them from the same success here.

Don’t get me wrong, ‘Be Here Now’ has some massive songs on it. However when you consider that just a year later in 1998 they released a collection of 14 b-sides from the era, I can’t help but wonder what might have been with a more coherent track list for the third album. This is nothing people haven’t discussed before about the band during that period, but here is why they would have owned America with a third salvo of Noel Gallagher gems.

I have never played, ‘Talk Tonight’ to someone who didn’t like it upon the first listen, and I have annoyed a lot of people in my time with Oasis propaganda. The guitar is in the same vein as, ‘Wonderwall’ and the lyrics are arguably more passionate which is like following a Super Bowl ring with another Super Bowl ring. The prolific nature of great songwriting during this time from Noel really shines on this one, and I’m only going to mention one other so you can enjoy the rest for yourself in your own way.

They recorded part of Be Here Now at Abbey Road Studios, before they got kicked out. Production value and string sections abound, and are beautiful and ascendant. For arrangements though, you haven’t heard a Noel Gallagher signature composition until you hear, ‘The Masterplan.’ ‘Take the time to make some sense of what you want to say, and cast your words away upon the waves.’ It goes on and on, getting bigger and bigger, and in a way it never ends for me.

Below is the album that could have been the third leg in the triumvirate, people would know Noel Gallagher in America like they know Simon Cowell. Any way that you slice it, that is so much more fucking palatable. Here is my pipe dream third album, it will make your day much more enchanting:

1. D’yer Know What I Mean

2. Acquiesce

3. Talk Tonight

4. Don’t Go Away

5. Stay Young

6. All Around the World

7. Rocking Chair

8. Half the World Away

9. Going Nowhere

10. Stand By Me

11. Fade Away

12. Magic Pie

13. (It’s Good) To Be Free

14. The Masterplan