Oasis are on the comeback trail with the release of their first new material for more than two years.

More than 250,000 copies of their new single Go Let It Out have been ordered by record stores and it's expected to shoot straight to number one next weekend.

"It is a big release for the music industry and the expectations are high," said Gennaro Castaldo of the HMV chain. "Record retailers are welcoming them back with open arms."

The track also marks the band's debut release on their own Big Brother label, following their split with Creation Records.

Go Let It Out is the first taster for Oasis's fourth album Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants, which hits record shops on 28 February.

Critics divided

Reaction to the single has been mixed, with many dismissing it as overhyped and nothing new.

The NME describes it as a "so-so single from a so-so album", while Melody Maker says it's a "real singalong" and "sure to become a classic Oasis stomp".

The Mirror newspaper calls it a "classic singalongaliam with a delicate intro building to a grandstanding crash, bang, wallop riff as Noel noodles away in George Harrison fashion".

And the BBC's Nigel Packer sums it up as "more a case of Still Here Now than a return to the Morning Glory days".

World tour

The band kick off their biggest world tour on 29 February in Japan, before moving on to South America, the US and Europe.

Although the group's last album Be Here Now was poorly received by critics, it still became the fastest selling album of all time, shifting more than 600,000 copies in three days.

However, its sales were way behind its predecessor (What's The Story) Morning Glory?, one of the biggest selling releases of the 90s.

When D'You Know What I Mean? - the first single from Be Here Now - was issued in July 1997 it sold 160,000 copies in one day.

Oasis's last single, All Around the World, was released in January 1998, one of four number ones for the band.

The Oasis line-up has changed markedly since the new album was recorded during last year's sessions in a French chateau.

Within weeks of work being completed, long-time members Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs quit the band, to be replaced by Andy Bell on bass and Gem Archer on guitar.

The Gallagher brothers have also undergone major life-changes since they were last plugging a new release - both have become fathers.