Definitely Maybe the best debut album of all time
I got into Oasis while backpacking in Bali in the summer of 1996. I bought a dodgy cassette of Definitely Maybe from a street seller, stuck it in my walkman and my musical tastes were almost instantly changed forever. When I got back to the UK, I even bought a guitar, got into rock and roll and never looked back. Like many around that time, I was Oasis mad and still today, the very few songs I can play are Oasis tracks.
I didn’t actually see them live until about 10 years later in Barcelona when they were long past their best. The stage strutting, attitude and even the snarling voice of Liam looked and sounded forced and he spent half of his time either striking Chris Eubank-esque poses or leaning against the wall smoking.
Oasis were often criticized by rock purists for their “pop-rock” sound famously being referred to as “Quo-asis” by rivals Blur. But they were no more guilty than The Beatles (although nowhere near the same level) for making a certain genre of music more accessible to musically sheltered idiots like me. And the genius behind the melodies and tunes that sold millions of albums was and will always continue to be Noel.
The Times suggests today that Liam may well come-off the better from this split due to his recent song writing forays such as “I’m Outta Time” on their last album. But with all due respect to Liam, I think anyone can string a load of words together to make a song. It’s the music and melody that sells it and that’s Noel’s department. It’s also obvious that Liam is more concerned with developing and promoting his clothing label Pretty Green than making music.
Noel has admitted himself that he put all of his best tunes on Definitely Maybe, the rest in What’s The Story Morning Glory and then since then, the rest has been dregs. It’s unlikely then that he’s going to go on and have a stunning solo career but as with recent tracks such as “Falling Down“, there will be the odd gem along the way.
By the way, there’s quite an amusing previously unpublished interview in The Guardian today with Noel from 1994 when they were just starting out. Quite prophetic some of it. I quite like:
I’m ambidextrous, I write with my left hand and I play guitar with my right. I’m right-footed, I’m double-jointed in one elbow: I’m the most bizarre character ever. So nothing amazes me. If I see a spaceship land I won’t get freaked out. I’ll just say, “What kept ya?”
