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The debut album with emotive crooning from the McNamara brothers and jingly-jangly guitars finally rolls into town and challenges The Verve and Oasis out to compare the size of their anthems and the sweetness of their ballads.

Highlights include last year's awesome Top 10 hit single All You Good Good People (familar to all Oasis fans - do y'know what I mean?) and the forthcoming smash hit Come Back To What You Know - out this week and A-listed by Radio One five weeks upfront.

Fans will know six of the 13 tracks from former EPs and B-sides, but they have all been re-recorded. The album emerges at a time when Oasis are on the ropes following the disappointing and hyped-to-death Be Here Now, and it will be lapped up by those disgusted by the Gallagher brothers' lazyitus.

The Verve, however, are still on a roll and while The Good Will Out sounds massively important, it lacks the soul of Ashcroft & co. Still, it's on course to become one of the biggest selling albums of the year, and all those summer festival appearances roll in won't do any harm.