Oasis released Stop the Clocks EP in the UK on November 13, 2006. The four-track release previewed the compilation that followed a week later, putting “Acquiesce” and “The Masterplan” at the center of the campaign. Both songs had first reached listeners as B-sides in 1995.
“The Masterplan” also received a new animated music video for the release. Its setting drew on L. S. Lowry’s paintings, placing animated versions of Oasis in a landscape inspired by industrial Salford. NME reported in October 2006 that the filmmakers had the Lowry estate’s permission. A song originally issued alongside “Wonderwall” was getting a visual identity of its own more than a decade later.
“Acquiesce” had appeared on the “Some Might Say” single, alongside “Talk Tonight” and “Headshrinker.” That release gave Oasis their first UK No. 1 single in 1995, with a supporting track that featured both Gallagher brothers on lead vocals: Liam Gallagher sang the verses, while Noel Gallagher handled the choruses. The EP placed that exchange between their voices in its opening slot.
“The Masterplan,” sung by Noel, came from the same year’s supply of songs for singles. In a November 1998 Melody Maker interview preserved by Oasis Recording Information, Gallagher recalled writing it in a Japanese hotel room when the band needed more B-sides. Its arrangement received considerable attention in the studio. He described recording guitar notes with the tape reversed, then turning it back to hear the resulting solo. Most of it worked immediately, with only a few notes needing removal. Strings and brass took another couple of days. “I don’t mind thinking of it as being a B-side,” he said.
Those songs had already been given a larger platform before the 2006 EP. Oasis used “Acquiesce” to open their 1998 B-sides compilation, The Masterplan, and the title song to close it. The 14-track collection gathered material from their singles into an album-length sequence. Stop the Clocks EP reused that opening-and-closing pairing, with two alternate recordings between them.
“Cigarettes & Alcohol” appeared as a demo, while “Some Might Say” was represented by a live performance from 1995. Those versions gave the EP a distinct place beside the full compilation, which included the studio recordings of both songs. The physical release also had collectors in mind: its September announcement specified a one-off CD edition and a double seven-inch set in gatefold packaging, including a sheet of stickers. The smaller release combined familiar songs with different recordings and a dedicated physical package.
The full Stop the Clocks followed on November 20, 2006, spreading 18 songs across two CDs. “Acquiesce” and “The Masterplan” remained in the selection, alongside fellow former B-sides “Talk Tonight” and “Half the World Away.” All four had appeared on The Masterplan in 1998. In the 2006 collection, they shared the running order with singles including “Wonderwall,” “Live Forever” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger.”
