Review Summary: Not bad for a bunch of lads from Longsight.
Fame is a funny thing. Most artists never get to achieve or taste it at all; others manage to attain a moderate amount over a long period of time; others still experience nearly immediate superstardom, but burn out as quickly as they ascended. It is only the rare individual or act, however, that is able to combine the best of both worlds, and keep some degree of relevancy years or even decades after their star has faded - usually through a fluke combination of actual talent and hard work, and just being at the right place at the right time to capture the cultural zeitgeist.
Perhaps the poster child for this phenomenon is Oasis. First rising to prominence in the mid-90s, when they helped launch the Britpop genre into public consciousness, the Mancunians remain phenomenally well-known and successful in their own country a full quarter of a century later - even after a string of poorly-received albums sunk their star, and the umpteenth blazing row between the founding Gallagher brothers sunk the group as a whole. And while the effect is not quite as pronounced in countries outside the UK (where three out of any five songs on certain radio stations are likely to be by Oasis) the band's name does remain instantly recognisable pretty much anywhere in the Western world.
Before all that, however – before the rise and the rockstar antics and the drug-fuelled tensions – Oasis were just another group of working-class likely lads from South Manchester, trying to make a name for themselves off the back of their first proper album. And the least that can be said from three decades in the future is that they certainly achieved their goal – and then some.
In fact, even at a time when Oasis are derided as an overhyped and overplayed nuisance,
Definitely Maybe is still rightfully classed as one of the great debut albums from that particular generation of music, with a solid half of its setlist still finding its way into any list of Oasis' greatest hits. More interestingly, however, it also stands as something of an anomaly in the Oasis catalogue, displaying sporadic blues and hard rock leanings which the band would seldom, if ever, revisit for the remainder of their career – compare and contrast the pure blues-rock riffs in
Bring It On Down or
Cigarettes and Alcohol with anything from their breakthrough sophomore effort.
Make no mistake, however –
Definitely Maybe still does very much sound like an Oasis album. The vast majority of the tracks contained here do an admirable job of introducing and cementing the 'Oasis sound' – that particular mixture of jingly-jangly indie-pop instrumentation, jaunty percussion, rocking guitar solos, and of course, Liam Gallagher's trademark vocals. Often imitated, never duplicated, Noel Gallagher's tambourine player puts in a veritable tour-de-force performance, instantly staking a claim for himself as one of the most distinctive singers in modern British rock. More John Lydon than Damon Albarn, he gleefully snarls his way through lyrics about being young, working-class, broke and having no hope for the future, helping give Oasis a harder edge than most of their first-generation Britpop contemporaries. And while this bratty, confrontational side would be toned down once fame came calling – at least outside of a live setting – it arguably factors into why
Definitely Maybe has managed to hold on to its indie cred even after its interpreters became world-famous megastars.
Not that Liam is in any way alone. Much to the contrary, actually – the whole band is in fine form here. The centre of attention is, predictably, older brother Noel, who even at this early stage was showing a distinctive knack for seamlessly fusing together elements from the rock and pop world; most notably, however, the group's rhythm section stands out at several points during the album, an occurrence which would become increasingly rare with each successive concession to a commercial, radio-friendly style. In a scant year or two, the sort of spotlight Paul McGuigan and Tony McCarroll enjoy on songs like
Live Forever, Supersonic or
Bring It On Down would be but a distant pipe dream; here, however, the two make the most of what they're given, helping set the groove for the aforementioned songs and providing the rest with a steady, yet still interesting backbone.
Good interpreters are, however, nothing without good songs – and here, too, Oasis' debut shines. Opener
Rock'n'Roll Star bursts forth with a brutish swagger, leading the way for a parade of fan-favourites, from live mainstays
Shakermaker, Live Forever and
Supersonic to slightly deeper cuts like
Up In the Sky or
Cigarettes and Alcohol. Elsewhere,
Married With Children and
Slide Away somewhat forgotten gems in the band's discography, further helping the tracklist to
Definitely Maybe read like a fan-favourite hits compilation.
As good as said tracklist is, however, it is not quite perfect.
Definitely Maybe certainly comes close to being all-killer-no-filler, but falters at the finish line, mainly due to a couple of uninspired late-album tracks.
Digsy's Dinner and particularly
Bring It On Down cannot be considered outright
bad (each is harmlessly pleasant in their own right) but they certainly do pale in comparison with anything surrounding them. The latter, in particular, suffers from its acute lack of a strong chorus to lend it any kind of memorable, lasting impact - a problem which, albeit to a lesser extent, also affects
Shakermaker (this was a single?) Even earlier in the album, however, a track like
Columbia came across as a little pedestrian after the rip-roaring first four tracks. In each case, however, the follow-up tracks do a lot to mitigate the effects of these weaker cuts, ensuring
Definitely Maybe retains the same high standard of songwriting quality all the way through.
In the end, then, it is easy to see why
Definitely Maybe made the splash it did on the alt-rock friendly mid-90s music scene. This is a vibrant, urgent, youthfully defiant debut by a vibrant, urgent, youthfully defiant band, who wanted a way out of their drab milieu and bleak future prospects, and made no attempt to hide it. And while the heavy-rock riffage and sardonic, almost punk-rock lyrics would wash away with the tide of superstardom, this album's impact and reputation would not – a fact well evidenced by the fact that, twenty-six years on from its release, it is still getting a review on a music website. Not bad for a bunch of lads from Longsight.
Recommended Tracks
Rock'n'Roll Star
Up In the Sky
Live Forever
Supersonic
Cigarettes & Alcohol
