Oasis

Definitely Maybe

The best British debut album ever!

Review Score:

(10/10)
Up until 1994, mainstream music in Britain consisted of manufactured boybands and forgettable dance songs. Oasis changed all that when they released their debut album "Definitely, Maybe." The critics grabbed Oasis with both hands and they were soon the most significant and popular British rock band since the Beatles. Definitely Maybe isn't my favourite Oasis album, but it's probably my second.

"(What's The Story) Morning Glory?" is easily Oasis' finest hour, but we owe a lot to Definitely Maybe because it's the album that made Liam and Noel the icons they are today! Definitely Maybe soon became one of the fastest selling albums in the UK of all time. Fuelled by critical praise and fantastic songs, they ripped the charts apart. It was just what Britain needed. The 1990's was my favourite decade for a number of reasons. Oasis are definitely one of them - maybe the main reason.

"Rock 'N' Roll Star" opens the album spectacularly. With hard drums and loud guitars, this represents everything that Oasis are about. It's the first song on the first Oasis album, and it's where it all began. Sit back and soak up the nostalgia. "Shakermaker" was Oasis' second single and charted at No.11 in the UK in July 1994. Guitars and drums roll around the arrangement perfectly here, clapping adds rhythm and Liam's vocals are so zesty and full of life. "Live Forever" was the best single to be released in 1994, easily. The classic guitar solo, the high vocals, the memorable chorus, the lyrics, the simple yet effective video. It's everything you could ever want from Britain's top band.

"Up In The Sky" maintains the album's upbeat tempo and live-life-to-the-full statement. This was the song to listen to in your car in the summer of 1994, booming it out from the speakers, driving like a loony! Absolutely fantastic! "Columbia" is a monster rock anthem that begins wonderfully driving its force into the brains of everyone it encounters, forever etching the guitars on their memories. The singing is kept to a minimum, focusing on wonderful brash guitars and "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" screams towards the end. "Supersonic" was Oasis' first-ever single in the UK and peaked at No.31 in April 1994. A catchy guitar starts off the song before the song rocks out with "I need to be myself! I can be no one else!" The lyrics are just awesome and the chorus is just so full of energy and an attitude that represented Britain in the decade.

"Bring It On Down" starts wonderfully like someone running in a race, and soon fires up to became yet another rock anthem. It's not really one of my favourites, however. "Cigarettes And Alcohol" has some rather poor lyrical content, but if you can get past this and focus on the brilliant guitar riffs then you might see it in a totally different light as one of the best songs on the album. "Digsy's Dinner" is the most uplifting and happy song on the album. It uses Beatlesque styles in both its lyrics and the melodies. It's a good song, plain and simple. It's not hard rock by any means. "Slide Away" runs for almost six and a half minutes and is pure Gallagher excellence. The lyrics are good, and they have a certain catchiness to them that makes this a particular standout. The album closes with the fantastic "Married With Children." It's a wonderful acoustic song with some rather comical lyrics. The acoustic style of the song makes it totally different to everything else on the album, and separates it from the razor-sharp edge of the other ten tracks.

I heard some people moaning about how the songs from this album did rather poorly in the UK charts, but you only have to look at how many times they re-entered the charts over the course of almost three years: Supersonic peaked at No.31 in the UK, re-entered the charts 5 times and spent a total of 14 weeks on the chart. Shakermaker peaked at No.11 in the UK, re-entered the charts 5 times and spent a total of 15 weeks on the chart. Live Forever peaked at No.10 in the UK, re-entered the charts 6 times and spent a total of 18 weeks on the chart. Cigarettes And Alcohol peaked at No.7 in the UK, re-entered the charts 9 times and spent a total of 35 weeks on the chart.

OVERALL GRADE: 9/10

Definitely Maybe is an album for anyone's collection, whether you are simply looking for great music or a fantastic rock band. At the time, this was the fastest selling debut album in the UK ever. This record was soon broken by Oasis' "Be Here Now" in 1997 which sold a staggering 700,000 copies in its first week of release - incredible if you remember that the UK has five times less than America in population terms! Could you really imagine an album selling 3.5 million in seven days in the States?! I know I couldn't! Of course, Be Here Now, sold so many copies as it was the follow-up to the second biggest selling album in the UK ever, "(What's The Story) Morning Glory?" with sales of almost 4 million in Britain since 1995. All in all, Definitely Maybe is essential Oasis. Ignore it at your peril!

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