In my opinion Definitely Maybe is undoubtedly one of the best and most influential albums of all time. In the early 1990s the grunge movement from America was in full effect but when Oasis released their debut album it changed the sound of music at the time and launched the beginning of an exciting, new era of music known as Britpop. Britpop was said to be a genre of music that was influenced by guitar bands of the 60s and 70s. Definintely Maybe has clear influences from bands like The Beatles and The Kinks with Liam Gallagher’s Lennon-esque vocals echoing throughout the album.
Definitely Maybe kick-starts with the track ‘Rock n’ Rollstar’ with Noel Gallagher’s famous guitar riffs starting the song, which is a look at the Gallagher brothers outlook on life and also references the people who told them not to pursue a career in music stating “You’re not down with who I am/Look at you now, you’re all in my hand”. This is a great way to start off the album with Liam singing showing their confident, brash attitude which they became renowned for. Another great track from the album is ‘Live Forever’. The more melodic song refutes the pessimistic nature grunge music held and Noel Gallagher said “the song was written in the middle of grunge and all that, and I remember Nirvana had a tune called ‘I Hate Myself and I want to Die’ and I was like…well, I’m not fucking having that” which is where the idea for Live Forever came from, showing Noel’s true song writing skills in the bands most well known song from the album. Definitely Maybe has some aggressive loud tracks so to choose the acoustic ballad, ‘Married with Children’ as the closing track on the album was quite a brave choice. This song sounds like nothing else on the album and has a distinct, quiet tone to it which leaves you wanting more.
Other exceptional tracks from the record include ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’, ‘Digsby’s Dinner’ and ‘Columbia’. Each song is reflective of the generation of the time and many people could relate to the lyrics which is a reason why they became such a popular band. Although their second album (Whats the story?)Morning Glory had a lot more commercial success and sold more copies, I believe Oasis’ debut has a certain rawness and energy to it and shows the confidence and self belief the band possessed in the album, and the passion of Noel’s lyrics combined with Liam’s vocals make this one of the most significant albums of all time. Not only did has it been said to have influenced bands such as the Arctic Monkeys, The Killers and The Libertines but the lyrics represented hope and escape for a lot of people. Although, Oasis made many other great albums, this one is truly brilliant and not only lyrically captures the spirit of Oasis but shows just what good musicians they were.
