Noel Gallagher & The 'Masterplan' Conspiracy: An Incredible Secret Hidden In Plain View 

James, you’re such a good storyteller that it actually doesn’t matter if it’s a correct or not. It’s a bloody good tale. I think you’ve inadvertently birthed a NEW GENRE of entertainment. Is there anyone else doing what you’re doing?

I bet Noel is watching this thinking "Fucking hell, he's figured it out"

Noel in Select magazine just before WTSMG came out: “The album title? Well, the thing is, what is the story? We know it. All the songs are connected, by the way. You didn’t know that, did you? The lyrics are all gonna be printed, so people’ll have to work it out for themselves.”

It‘s beautiful that even Liam had no clue what he was singing about. In an interview he suggested that all songs might be about him. He was basically the narrator.

James also had a masterplan: all his lyrical explanations of Oasis were leading to this masterpiece of a video. Incredible job.

The self doubt you would have felt about your theories must have been huge. Well done for having the balls to share them. A really great video James. I'm looking forward to more!

Noel has always played down what the words mean. He says they don't actually mean anything. You don't write Morning Glory and Masterplan by accident. They do mean something but who would want to go on national TV and drag up the broken hearted part of your life? This makes perfect sense to me. Noel always says, slightly tongue in cheek that he is a genius. Imagine doing this body of work and know one actually works out what it is all about. You would feel a bit of a genius, wouldn't you?

I've listened to that album over a dozen times and it never occurred to me that it was an actual story of Gallagher's life for one year. I'm going to listen to it again. This documentary made me appreciate the album more. Thanks for your work.

No wonder the album still resonates today- this shit is about the depths of the human condition! Honestly James this is unreal. I can’t imagine the amount of time and effort it took to create this. It was an absolute pleasure to watch and I’m thankful that you made it. Gives me so much respect for Noel and his songwriting, vision and creativity. More than he will ever let on, and more than most people will ever appreciate. Keep it up James, you have the best Oasis content anywhere ✊

Cast No Shadow also aligns with why Noel dedicated it to Richard Ashcroft too. Noel said that Richard was in a dark place and this is him actually showing everyone he was in as bad a place as Richard without actually telling anyone.

Conspiracy or not, I'm glad I watched this. Just having in mind how Noel may have been feeling while writing each song makes listening much more special.

James, this is one of the most meticulously produced and most passionately presented Rock docs I have ever seen. Hugely enjoyable and massively insightful. Deserving of the largest possible audience, it is an analytical triumph. As a 52 yr old singer-songwriter and Oasis fan I take my hat off to you. Seriously well done mate 👏

You're a genius for putting all of this together, and Noel is a genius for creating it!

I think we need to crowd-fund a DVD commentary track from Noel for this video! I would love to hear Noel’s extended reactions to all these theories. My guess is he would say they were all complete nonsense, but still accept them as possibly true, accepting that he is such a genius he may have subconsciously done it all, just as James describes. This was a lot of fun to listen to, James! Thanks!

This is, quite frankly, a masterpiece of a video. Not just because of the 'Morning Glory Rock Opera Confirmed' stuff. But because Oasis don't normally lend themselves to the kind of analysis that's done for example in Revolution In The Head by Ian MacDonald regarding The Beatles, or any manner of more visceral Nick Kent work on other bands. For precisely the reason that Noel and Liam are soundbite factories and otherwise quite guarded. It's not hard to imagine that being too open about emotions wouldn't have been looked on too well by Noel and Liam's Dad back in the day, so they just brush anything too in-depth off by default in their adult life. Noel found a safe-feeling way to express himself nonetheless, Liam escaped into fantasy and plays a character which should probably be called Johnny Rotlennon. Ironically, now that social sensibilities have changed, and music has changed, it's likely true that being less faux macho and more emotionally honest would probably find their music a new younger audience to add to their current one, individually or should they ever return together. But Noel kind of got into a zone where making the lyrics seem like they were about just kind of whatever nebulous thing he'd seen or read somewhere, as opposed to about himself and his social interactions, made him feel comfortable while still paying for swimming pools. So I'm not sure that it will change now.

That is absolutely incredible. It makes perfect sense and actually contains so many aspects that line up so well that it would be far-fetched to believe they were all coincidences. Another point which this reveals is that this album was actually so powerful to people that they were feeling a depth of meaning without knowing what it was. Remarkable. Brilliant work James.

I hate myself for having watched this whole video but it‘s just pure brilliance by Noel and honestly just the autobiographical part makes this musically amazing album a whole level better. Not too sure about the beatles part but possible, at least as a big influence etc. And to you: I miss people genuinely liking their work, I mean you should be a historian or something. You like something so you do research, not any simple assumptions but real research well done great video!

James, Get a patrion in your description lad! Many of us appreciate this content more than you know. I know you don't do this for the money but I'm sure it would help you out with cameras and mic's etc. As a musician myself these videos inspire me greatly. Big Love. Keep up the great work!

I wouldn't call it a conspiracy theory, but more like an interpretation - and a damn good one, too! Congrats to that! It makes sense that Noel wrote many songs about someone who, at least at that time, was probably the love of his life, and even referred to that in lyrics that weren't directly about her. Haven't we all been there at some point, at least the songwriters among us? With regard to the Beatles homages, Noel probably might also have come up with the idea of making a concept album like "Sgt. Pepper's..." (or its original idea about the Beatles' Liverpool childhood). I wouldn't go as far as widening this concept to Oasis' whole career, because interpretations like that inevitably lead to the tiresome "Will the reunion happen?" question, but I'll have a think about that after taking a look at Part 2. And is anyone else also interested in Meg Matthews statement about "If the Supernova Heights mansion could speak..."?

For Noel to admit any of this is true, he’d be confessing to his current wife just how much he loved an ex-girlfriend - at least 24 songs worth. Plus, Noel has his walls up around him except those moments recording a song he had written. So.. It won’t ever happen. He’ll say the songs mean nothing.

Guaranteed to see an Oasis documentary on tv in the future featuring James Hargreaves ‘Oasis Biographer and musician’. Top content as always mate

This is some seriously entertaining content. The amount of work you put into this is unreal... fair play, please keep them coming.

I’ve had to watch this twice as I am so blown away by how much effort you’ve put into this James, which has left me with no doubt that your conspiracy theory has real plausibility. It makes one of the best albums (and I love the double album, with the b sides concept) even more genius and spine tingling! Thank you so much.

This is easily my favourite video on RU-vid! Absolute genius! Keep up the amazing work James!

I wasn't intending on watching this from start to finish but found it so compelling I couldn't stop myself! I must also admit that at the start I was thinking that you're probably looking for something that isn't there, but as the video went on I found myself going along with it and by the end I had found myself converted to your conspiracy theory 😂 it would be absolutely awesome if one day you could interview Melissa and ask her all the questions you've raised in your videos. But maybe it's better to have the mystery instead. Keep up the good work mate 👍🏻

With the theme of three, I noticed it appears in a few songs: Cast No Shadow repeats ‘As they took his soul they stole his pride’ three times in each chorus, Morning Glory repeats ‘Need a little time to wake up’ three times each pre-chorus, Champagne Supernova’s first three lines are all questions. Could be a rabbit hole, but is interesting to think about

Amazing level of analysis and attention to detail, it's given me a new level of appreciation for those songs. Your accompanying spotify playlist has been on repeat all day. I'd love to hear Noels reaction to your theories. Liam would probably say "It's a load of bollocks, r kid aint that clever"

Well, that blew my brains, James!:) You are obviously a true fan of the band. Actually, as I listened to your amazing analysis, it made me think back to what an impact that second album had. It affected a lot of people so deeply. Everything about it brings back memories of that time which was a pleasure to live through. Please keep your vids coming, they are seriously entertaining for fans like me and millions of others I'm sure.

James, this was wildly entertaining! Thanks for putting in all the time and effort and thought. If you haven't already, you've got to try to get Melissa on your channel! If even part of what you think is true she's had an incredible influence on one of the biggest British albums of all time. It would be beyond fascinating to hear her thoughts and opinions. It's mad to think that you're the person that just one of Wonderwall or Don't look back in anger is about, let alone both, let alone the whole album, let alone the whole album and some of the greatest b-sides of all time too! I'm not 100% convinced you've hit the nail directly on the head with everything but there's plenty of food for thought there and it was a lot of fun delving into it. Thank you again for putting in all that time, effort and thought. Great work!

My parents are from Manchester, and are about 10 years older than Noel Gallagher. According to them, "not behind the door" is slang for being forthright and not being shy. So if you strolled up to someone and asked them out on a date or whatever, they might say "Oh, you're not behind the door, are you?" I don't think this contradicts your interpretation of the song, as it could be a reference to Melissa Lim being forthright with Noel.

What a brilliant video. Seriously, I've watched most of your content, but this was fantastic. Kudos to you for putting in all that effort.

This was phenomenal. It gave even more meaning to an album that i already love dearly. Thx James you outdid yourself here!

Wow James what a video, you have turned my perception of morning glory completely upside down! The Masterplan arc blew my mind, I’m going to sequence the songs, merge them into a playlist. Someone needs to get in touch with Melissa! Big well done again James

Great video James - it’s amazing the work you’ve put in to figure out all this. Something you didn’t mention is how at the end of The Masterplan you can faintly hear Liam jokingly singing ‘Octopus’s Garden’, from Abbey Road, which once again perfectly matches up even further to the whole theory since you used The End for that single which comes from the very same album.

Thanks for putting this together! I love hearing your insight on this and now it's never going to be the same when I listen to these songs and this album again 😂. Keep the amazing content coming, I absolutely love your channel!! ❤️

Watching this for the umpteenth time this afternoon, James. Love your work. I work at a university and we held our open day today - was chatting to a couple of young lads about Oasis and your channel came up in conversation. "Oh yeah, the guy's doing the things we all want to do, and finds the things we all want to know". Cheers.

Fantastic video once again James. This is my favourite album of all time and this is such an interesting concept. I have written down the timeline as it is in the video and I have made a playlist set out the way it is here too and I'm going to listen to it when I've finished watching the video. The research you have done is incredible and thanks for putting this video together. Is there any chance you will make the acoustic snippets in the video available to download? They would be brilliant to listen to while driving.

That was a truly epic adventure down the rabbit hole. I really enjoyed it as much as I love this channel. Well done. Thank you Rikkioke ☮️ 💕

My favourite album of all time. Absolutely love this review of the album - I think it’s hard to find any other explanations. Well done mate! Great vid

Love your videos. As the years go as an oasis fan you lose this sense that it was 100% pure talent and self belief and really appreciate the colossal amount of work and effort they all put in. They were amazing.

I grew up with Oasis and this is some of the best content I have ever seen. It also explains why those early songs were so powerful and strong because they were relatable and about real life. Great job!

This is literally genius, didn't think it was possible to love this album more than I already do but I look at it completely differently now! You should try get in touch with her for an interview and get her thoughts, unreal video man keep up the good work can't wait for the next vid

This is brilliant mate. Thoroughly enjoyable and even if it's close to being correct it makes you realize what a sheer act of brilliance the album is even more. I'm gonna make it into a playlist with the bsides as you've suggested for sure. :)

Hi James, new to the channel. This is the first video of yours I've watched, it's just simply incredible, thank you so much!

Amazing! I completely buy part 1 and 2 of your theory. If not counciously, then in a subconscious level. Songs have to come out from somewhere, even if the author says lyrics are just nonsense. It cannot be just that. Great storytelling! Keep doing more of this!

Fantastic work James and I reckon every one of us who watched this listened to WTSMG in a total different way right after! On the Cast No Shadow theory I remember Noel saying in an interview that the meaning of someone not casting a shadow was they wished to be invisible.

Brilliant video James and putting together the playlist was also a great touch

Can I add something? “Paul’s sun” and “John’s star”…. “Here Comes the Sun” is perhaps George Harrison’s best known Beatles’ tune. And “Star” could be referring to Ringo. So then you’d have all four Beatles mentioned in that riddle.

Man, this documentary is absolutely brilliant! Your work makes me want to take my guitar out of its case and do something with it. That beer at the end is very well deserved.

Well done James for putting this all together. I think your bang on! I had noticed some of the "nods" to the beatles song names. But as a Graphic Artist I have been also drawn to the album covers. There is also something very "dark" about Oasis. I think "The masterplan" is much bigger than the band. Loved the video. ❤️

This was a fantastic post!! I watched it yesterday, and my mind was 🤯 After watching this, I made a Spotify playlist mixing in the B-sides w the album tracks and now I see you did the exact same thing. LOL It never occurred to me that WTSMG could very well be a concept album. And with the B-sides included to fill in the gaps... well, that's just genius! I loved your "conspiracy theory" as you put it; it gave a new perspective to these songs and breathed new life into em. Since Noel was and still is notorious for never explaining his songs, it's not out of the realm of possibility that this is what he intended.

I have to say mate, that was absolutely superb. I was along for that journey one release at a time, from the start, across the waves over here in Australia. I was a stickler for having every UK release at a minimum, vinyl and CD, so yeah, any bastardised local releases with fudged tracklistings were adjuncts to how ‘the artist intended it’ in my book. There were clear insights into that ‘lost weekend’ but oh my, haven’t you just stitched together a triplet of narratives that reinforce and strengthen each other. And yeah, you might have if all wrong, but even if you are wrong compared to NG’s intent, it doesn’t matter a jot - you have added wonderful texture to an album that, whilst superb, felt (to me) like there was texture and context to be found, but it was elusive. Thank feck you brought ‘Step Out’ into it. I was hanging, thinking ‘oh no, oh no, oh no, he’s not going to forget that promo release track and bollocks this up is he?’ Oh ye of little faith Michael, because you had it covered. You’ve breathed new life into this album and all of its phenomenal b-sides for me mate. Cheers! Top bombing!

I put together a Spotify playlist (which you should do too) and am now going to listen to it and cry my heart out (pun). I have to say that this story / interpretation might make this album 10x better. It really makes it a masterpiece (not that it already wasn’t). Thanks James!

you’ve absolutely outdone yourself on this one, amazing job

James this is just fantastic, I've been listening to your stuff for a long time but the but this it another level. The acoustic playing is amazing you should consider putting the tracks out acoustically it would make great Sunday morning listening.

I am seriously shook that I need a lot of time to process this like weeks. Why does this sound so crazy and so logical at the same time? I mean right now I'd literally die to find out if this is true or not. Btw I admire your work so much. You rock and I'm sure that this channel will get the credit it deserves soon. It almost felt like you were there when they were getting high. 😅

I have to say, I barely comment on videos in general but wow. The level of research in this video is incredible. I've been listening to Oasis since I was a teenager and I always just believed Noel when he said that his songs were just whatever lyrically. This video has changed my entire perspective on one of my favorite albums.

This actually a genius analysis and I can only say thank you for your diligence and perfect narrative construction and presentation. You've revealed a deeper meaning that I think we all felt when we heard Oasis, but now we will access even more fully. Thank you James.

One of the most insightful and fascinating videos I've seen from this particular series. WTSMG Album compiled in the way the songs were compiled all falls into place when deconstructed and explained. This was the way Noel channeled through and out into the open what he felt. I do feel though Liam deserves so much credit for his commitment to singing these songs.

I'm only halfway through thus, but I'm mesmerised by the interpretation of this album and the lyrics. What a fantastic piece of work. I hope one day you receive a knowing nod from Noel.

This is an incredible video that has totally recontextualised how I think about this album. Something fun I noticed when playing these tracks in the new order is that after the drunken rambling on Bonehead's Bank Holiday, the very next thing you hear is Noel telling them to "Shut up" at the beginning of You've Got To Hide Your Love Away

You may well of surpassed yourself and countless others with this one James. Mind has been blown away by this and as another commented earlier, if Noel was aware of this, the advertising and interviews connecting these stories would be epic. I do wonder if Morris, Cannon and Noel really had this in mind, if so they really should release that "Secret" album of B-Sides would make a fortune or perhaps this is for the next "act". Stunning work James

You had me until the bit at 38:00 about "The sink is full of fishes" being a metaphorical pun with the name of a type of fish (sole) being a reference to his soul which is sinking. Sorry but that's just a massive reach, I think you are trying to jump to links that aren't there with some of these. Sometimes a sink full of fish is just a sink full of fishes because it happens to ryhme with dishes.

duuuuuuude, this might be the most mindblowing thing I've seen on youtube. Absolutely brilliant job. The album is top 3 for me all time of any band, but to hear this breakdown of the lyrics..........seriously man, WTF?!? this blew my mind

Wow, this amazingly put together! It doesn't matter if it's only a theory or not. A lot of things line up with, and to me it would explain why the music of that era meant so much and felt so special. There was a story to it all and it wasn't just lyrics without meaning, like Noel likes to pretend sometime. That he's such an introvert, and defensive about showing his feelings, reinforces that he would look for such a way as an outlet. Thank you for this video!

This is so mindblowing mate! I don‘t even have words to describe how good that Video is! Thanks a lot, unbelievable!

Please never stop posting videos!!! You’re an excellent fan and analytical.

noel's discography is fascinating and I think there's so much more to explore in his lyrics in his solo career also, love your videos 🤎

This was just brilliant! I’m not sure if it’s the truth but I do know it was brilliant argument. Really love your work James. From one fan to another…keep it going! Paul Krason, Colorado

Congrats, this youtube video is the best ive seen in years. More please xxxx

Absolutely love your videos. Such a great voice for it and so much detail that everyone can understand. Even ordered myself an oasis book tony mcarrolls after your talks. Can’t wait to read now 😆😆

Kind of mind blowing if so many of these amazing songs were inspired by Melissa Lim. And if you're right, it transforms what I thought was a relatively upbeat album into a melancholy one.

I very much am enjoying you're acoustic playing of the songs as you're going through them.

This is one of my favorite RU-vid videos ever...

How many hours of quality content can you possibly put out? Everytime i think I've seen them all i find another jem. Thanks again James! 👍

Thanks so much for all you do James. This is *your* masterpiece. My intuition told me years ago there had to be links sort of like these, but couldn't quite piece it together as I'm pretty shit at lyrical analysis and deeper meanings. I reckon you're somewhere between 60 to 90pc accurate with most of this, and I don't think anyone could get closer if they tried. However, Noel would no doubt denounce you in a one line quip, no matter your accuracy. Haha

You're an artist for transforming this rock and roll album into a concept album. I love your version of it and I know all these tracks inside out. Noel don't need a therapist when he has you. Good job James!

Mind officially blown. The album and all of it's b-sides are a story of Noel's experiences - it's autobiographical, however much Noel would say that it isn't. This is truly fantastic James, congratulations!!!

Wow! Unbelievable how much you came up with. I knew there must be a lot to Noel’s lyrics but they sound so vague. That’s probably why it’s taken so long for someone to unearth it all. I appreciate your code breaking so much. Can’t wait to listen to my new triple album playlist from your revelations ☺️

Great video as always, James. Your research is incredible. Noel needs to see this video, so he can confirm all this although I'm sure he wouldn't lol. Great stuff anyway, look forward to your next one.

This is definitely a thought provoking video. I think many people, particularly the average person think Noel is just a yob and he's often criticized for nonsense lyrics & a foul mouth. A few yrs ago I had an argument with someone who knew Noel personally. He said that Noel basically didn't give a shit about his career and his attitude was 'take it or leave it'. But my thoughts were that someone that's had as much success as Noel is no mistake or accident. He's obviously someone who cares a lot and very detailed in his songs and career. He may give the appearance that he doesn't give a toss but that's just an image thing....... I really appreciate the amount of research and effort gone into this. Cheers

Superb James, (as always), so informative with stuff I never realised, or knew,,, This has me fascinated, and it all makes sense to me now,,,and I totally agree with what you think. now on to part 2!!!

THANK YOU for not only this video but for all the others as well. I have a day off, alone at home, its kind of a national holiday and everyone is somewhere with someone, family, friends, spouses or whatever, and I stayed cause I have a work tomorrow again. But by the noon I got bored, Im 37 already, I used to went on this day in the pub and having fun. Few days ago your video somehow showed up at my feed and I subscribed to you. I decided to get up from the bed, make my self a coffee, its a hot August day, and play some music. Was thinking about Oasis among other things and thought I might play their music, but then one your videos came to feed again and from then on it its just play on the next one. Thanks for making my day, although its still noon and I have more videos to go through. Cheers James.

Really enjoyed this documentary. Your best so far. Well done.

This blew my mind James. For a while I had just assumed that Noel Gallagher had built a career off of cracking simplicity and ultimately meaninglessness better than anybody else did. To think his whole process around this time could have been quite so calculated is fascinating, and something I'd definitely not given him credit for if true. I always thought there had to be more to Noel than just a lad with a guitar who constantly pulled amazing songs out his backside by fluke. I think masking that calculated introspectiveness and depth to his music was entirely deliberate and was part of 'playing the media' that Tony mentioned right at the beginning. If they were to be the band of the people, they had to be seen to shun all that, at least from the outside. Very well played all round from him. A great watch!

I was tanking notes to build the playlist and then saw the Spotify link, lol God bless you for that Such an interesting video, and even if the conspiracy turn to be a coincidence, is such an interesting story that have narrative value on its own. Cheers man, I enjoyed it a lot

My life is now divided by pre watching this essay and post watching this essay. Thank you.

This just gives me the excuse to listen to (What's The Story) Morning Glory as a double album. And for that, I thank you sir. This video was a blast.

This is the best hour n half I’ve ever spent on the World Wide Web! I bought all these albums and b sides ! I knew nothing about Malisa ! Absolutely well done for all your work.

Been watching your vids the past month. Was 28 in '96. You're a good uploader.

Absolutely brilliant video this , so insightful and very well put together , really enjoying it , thanks 👍🏻

Hey James and everyone. This is my favourite video of yours. Its genuious!!! I've always been obsessed over Noels songwriting and you have cracked it....its been uncoverd and revealed. Id be interested if you applied the same theory to DM and also BHN.....or maybe they have a whole new set of rules? And I love the idea that we are in a story now.....the masterplan..imagine if noel has another oasis album planned for 2024...2024 would be 33years since 1991 when they first got together...or could go 2025 30 years since the wtsmg....so many ideas 💡 😀 x

Brilliant watch mate, Don't know how long this took you but it must of took a while to plan out. It's definitely a masterplan shows you his brilliance when you start looking into stuff like this. I bet you've already started on another conspiracy on the next three albums after Be Here Now. ha ha. New sub. keep up the good work.

Great video James, I've always wondered about the connection between the songs on WTSMG and Masterplan, it's clear even in the lyrics theres more going on than meets the eye

What an absolutely fantastic video.. well done mate! 👍🏼🎸🔥

Noel upon watching this "Oooh, You clever bastard!"

This documentary deserves an award!

this was such a joy to watch. i'm such a huge fan and you had me glued to the screen. makes sense to me and i'm excited for the comeback someday! cheers!

Brilliant bud , cheers for the time you put into this

Really brilliant documentary. It all makes sense. Thanks pal. I went to watch Noel at the Eden sessions the other night. It was a good show but before it started I was chatting with my wife and I told her about how Liam had in the last few years really got his act together and the two of them were sort of traveling similar paths and gigs now. Also, the talk of Noel being genuinely angry about Liam playing Oasis songs had passed too. They seem to have shared the songbook out with both brothers always doing songs to finish their shows that don't cross over. It kind of cements some sort of agreement between them. I then said "You know...Noel is very crafty. For years people have kept asking about a reunion and I wouldn't put it past him to have told Liam that if "we play it right, a reunion would be the absolute biggest thing that music had ever seen" And he is not wrong. Not breaking America has always irked Noel and if they did reform it would be global and America would not be able to resist it. We are talking billions and the wife said "If they reformed, they would fill every massive stadium on the planet" and I said "Exactly" Don't be surprised if it happens....I think Noel has studied music and knows that Led Zeppelin were offered in excess of £1 Billion after their concert in 2007 and Robert said no. I firmly believe that both the brothers are doing lots of gigs in duality to build the fever and when Noel thinks the time is right, they will unveil it to the world. The songs are already written. The fan base is monstrously large globally. The split has only made it more wanted....and on the 2nd of October 2025, (What's The Story) will be 30 years old. Remember that date folks.. I think they are Gonna Make It Happen!