Shane’s Music Challenge: OASIS – 1994 – Definitely Maybe

Shane | 28 March 2014 | Reply

Shane’s Music Challenge: OASIS – 1994 – Definitely Maybe
8/10

“I didn’t think you’d like someone like Oasis,” said my workmate Kat yesterday when I slipped the Mancunian troublemakers’ debut album on.

Which raises the question – why can’t someone like heavy metal, thrash, pop, punk, blues, rock, indie, soul, rhythm n’ blues and whatever the hell else? There’s only two types of music, in essence – good, and bad, and mostly that’s determined by our own personal tastes (except Coldplay, which is shit, no matter who, what, where or why you are).

Anyway… Oasis. We all know the Gallagher bro’s and their dysfunctional bullshit. So much so that after their second album it completely over-rode the music, no matter how much they tried to make it otherwise (which wasn’t much, generally)

Definitely Maybe, however, with all it’s Brit pop cultural references (on the cover as well as in the music & lyrics), is awesome – a great rock n’ roll band full of arrogant swagger, cheap drugs n’ bad booze.

The sheer bolshyness of the bastards to kick their first album with Rock n’ Roll Star – “toniiiiiiiiiiight, I’m a rock n’ rollllllll starrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr”. They only went and got away with it ‘cos after this album dropped – they WERE rock n’ roll stars!

The whole album hums with a maniacally absurd level of aggression – they were out to rub the world’s face in it, and weren’t afraid of a ruck along the way, especially with each other.

Live Forever, Supersonic, Cigarettes & Alcohol (“I finally found something worth living for”) and Slide Away are all superior but there’s nary a mis-step from start to finish (unlike some latter albums which can’t hold a candle to this)

Shane Pinnegar