In the final part of our Oasis history, we recall the departures of Bonehead and Guigsy and look forward to 'Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants'.

Then, after the storm, some calm. After the split wrangle, the drugs scandal and being put right through the political mangle, Oasis managed to disappear into the summer of'98 in peace, rather than in pieces. There were occasional appearances, of course: Noel out at parties with chums Goldie and Kate Moss; Liam calmly attending the odd footie match, resolutely not mowing down the entire crowd with a machine gun or pulling his face off to reveal a-rodent guzzling lizard. Quiet times for Oasis. Quiet after so much noise.

So it was appropriate that their comeback album November's B-sides collection, 'The Masterplan' - should trade both on former glories and somewhat undiscovered ones. "Everything we do is a classic", said Noel, humbly. "Other bands could make careers out of the stuff we use for B-sides. I don't think there's ever been a song we've put out that I'm ashamed of.'

And he had a point. Featuring songs like the sublimely tuneful "Acquiesce" and Noel's own favourite, the title track, "The Masterplan" proved a timely reminder that Oasis weren't quite as dreary as many had chosen to believe after 'Be Here Now'. And, with songs like "Talk Tonight", Oasis even proved themselves capable of emotions beyond the arrogance and rage which dominated their public image.

"Because of all the things that were going on when it ["Talk Tonight"] was written, it was always going to be very personal," noted Noel, "but I don't know if I'll ever write anything as direct again." Liam's witty rejoinder? "It's shit and depressing." Perfect.

But, while we were reflecting upon that, Oasis were already busying themselves away in various studios, preparing their fourth - and as yet unreleased - album. Liam, now somewhat tamed by the frankly heroic Patsy, even started behaving himself; while Noel, now drug-free, found keeping his nose (ahem) clean surprisingly easy [see below left]. It was a honeymoon period, for sure, but no honeymoon lasts forever and, by February'99, big-time trouble returned, as Bonehead and Liam boozily kicked up trouble at the launch party for Tommy Hilfiger's new London flagship store.

Other old demons reared their heads too around that time, ex-drummer Tony McCarroll finally winning a reported half a million off the band for unpaid royalties, while both sides claimed a victory.

Then, only a month later, Liam and Patsy found themselves on the receiving end of trouble, when a mob of footbasll fans, on their way to see the England vs Poland Euro 2000 qualifier at Wembley, threw bottles at their car and a brick through their window. Fleeing the scene on foot Liam appeared to have left his hard-man image in the glovebox, possibly along with some booties for the baby he and his wife were now expecting. But show Liam your trouble and he'll show you his and, come April, he appeared to have bounded right off the wagon in rural France, where Oasis were recording, once again titillating the tabloids with his boozy, sweary antics.

None of that, however, could compare with the crisis of August 1999. Bonehead, the intermediary member everyone had credited with keeping Noel and Liam together for so long, decided to quit. "I'm really not happy about it," lamented Liam. "None of us are. Bonehead's my mate and it come pretty much out of the blue." Noel was rather less sympathetic, possibly through hurt, and sneered: "it's not exactly Paul McCartney leaving The Beatles!" Speaking exclusively to The Maker at his home in Bowdon, near Manchester, Bonehead said: "I've got no plans, I'm just taking some time out. Right now, I'm having sausage, chips, beans and egg with my kids. There's no animosity and there was no fight with the band, it was just the decision I came to. I wish them all the best." But all the best was not to come and - as Noel himself was reported to be veering away from the band, drumming with ex-producer Mark Coyle's new band, Tailgunner - Paul 'Guigsy' McGuigan veered away entirely, quitting just weeks after Bonehead.

Back in 1995, when the bassist had returned early from a US tour suffering from nervous exhaustion, Noel had said: "Paul is Oasis. If he leaves, the band's finished, It's that simple." But, at the London press conference Oasis hastily called to announce the news, Noel was forced to relent, jesting: "We've got to go on cos I, personally, haven't got any money left. We've been left holding the shit sandwich here. But there you go, we'll just get on with it."

Talking to The Maker at a London studio later that week, Noel added: "We're not panicking yet. But of course it's going to be different now. We toyed with the idea of changing the name, but we didn't spend eight years together just to break up, restart under a new name and still sound the same." And, when we asked him whether he too might quit now that his wife, like Liam's, was expecting, Noel replied: "I can't say. I love my family. I've got a record coming out and I've got a baby coming out. We're still together, the three of us. The music will still go on."

But first a band had to be found. Of all the rumours which gradually surfaced, one proved to be correct: ex-Heavy Stereo singer Gem would take over Bonehead's role on guitar. Back in 1995, Gem had said: 'Oasis are an absolute flagship. When they got to Number One, it was brilliant. You felt proud waiting at the school bus stop, especially if you were stood next to Meatloaf. His appointment come as little surprise But the appointment of ex-Ride and Hurricane #1 man Andy Bell on bass knocked everyone sideways, not least Monaca's singer David Potts - who'd been sure he'd got the job - and Cliff Jones who, only weeks before, had been crowing about securing Bell for Gay Dad's forthcoming German tour. Ha ha.

On September 13, 1999, Lennon Gallagher was born to Liam and Patsy. The end, some believed, of an era. On September 17, 1999, new emerged that Noel and Meg's London home, Supernova Heights, was being sold. Another era bit the dust. But neither of these could compare to the collapse of Creation Records in November, Alan McGee announcing he'd had enough and was leaving to set up an lnternet-based multimedia company instead.

Noel was magnanimous, but adamant that if Oasis forthcoming album ('Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants', named after on lsaac Newton misquote, nabbed from the side of the £2 coin) wasn't going to receive a 100 per cent push from the thoroughly demoralised Creation workforce, it would be coming out on the band's own label, Big Brother, instead. Liam, meanwhile, opted to go on a humungous bender, disappearing for days with Huey from Fun Lovin' Criminals, an acoustic guitar and, as it turned out, a tabloid reporter.

"Liam is in the f***ing shit when I see him," yelled Noel. "He's got to face up to his responsibilities. I think it's disgusting, to be honest with you. The band's not going to be around for ever, but his little kid is going to be around until the day [Liam] dies. The relationship with him starts now, the relationship with the band is what it is. It's only a shitty, little bond making a bunch of songs."

Officially, we're still yet to hear the new songs this shitty, little band have produced. Playing only four oldies and a cover of The Beatles' 'Helter Skelter' at their short US festival tour last December, the world was left infuriatingly in the dark, if generally encouraged by the new members' apparent ease onstage. We've all heard "Go Let It Out" though, a somewhat lacklustre return and an altogether 1991-ish concept of what constitutes exciting modernity. Previews of the album, meanwhile, are damning, accusing the band of lagging years behind their contemporaries (not least, ironically, Embrace); while pre-sales of the album look set to make it a disappointment, if not a resounding flop.

Turning the nation's general shrug into an air-punching fist will prove to be Oasis' biggest ever challenge, it seems. But who knows, by the time this album's second single, "Who Feels Love?", is released in April, maybe a Part Five to The Oasis Story will be a more viable proposition than it seems right now.

"I was coming out of the biggest hangover I've ever had - 14 years," Noel told us, commenting on writing that song in Thailand last year. "I'd look up and down the beach and think: 'Yeah! I do love my wife. I do love meself and life is f***ing good, man. It's not all about sex and drugs and rock'n'roll." Not all about sex and drugs and rock'n'roll? Ah, but it was. It really always was...And maybe it will be again.

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c 2000 Andrew Turner

aturner@interalpha.co.uk

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