Review #217: Definitely Maybe, Oasis
#217: Definitely Maybe, Oasis
Two wishy-washy album titles, one after the other. “Karla, which do you like better: Elliott Smith or Oasis?” Oh, I don’t know, either/or, definitely maybe.
If you’ve read my last Oasis review then you know that I’m Team Oasis all the way. It’s a bit of a personality contradiction, because my other favorite band is Nirvana, and Oasis is pretty much as anti-Nirvana as you can get without being Axl Rose. Half of these songs are about how awesome being famous would be, and how much they deserve to be famous. Meanwhile, Kurt Cobain spent his post-Nevermind career hating how famous “Smells Like Teen Spirit” made him.
At the same time, they’re both furious, fuzzy-guitar rock bands. So maybe Seattle isn’t so far from Manchester after all.
FAVORITE SONGS:
“Rock ’n’ Roll Star” — See, this is what I mean about being the anti-Nirvana. Nirvana is basically dark poetry set to pissed-off guitars. Oasis is all “I’m a rock star, dammit! I don’t care what you people say!”
“Shakermaker” — Oasis was successfully sued by Coca Cola over this song! If you give it a listen, you can hear that the melody is pretty much completely ripped off from “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony).” Said Noel: “We drink Pepsi now.”
“Live Forever” — Simple and singable. I like to think this is about the Gallagher brothers’ volatile partnership.
“Up In The Sky” — Noel has said that this song is about songwriters that get too big for their britches and start to think that they’re the “voice of a generation,” which makes the song 100% better.
“Columbia” — This is secretly the best song on the album. The guitar riff sounds like it’s ringing through all of outer space. I can’t tell you the way I feel/’Cause the way I feel is oh-so new to me.
“Supersonic” — Oh, but this is a close second! I’m feeling supersonic/Give me gin and tonic! Plus it includes a Beatles reference (to “Yellow Submarine”), which is pretty much an Oasis signature move.
“Bring It On Down” — Oasis at their most anthemic. Love how every single song is over four minutes long.
“Cigarettes & Alcohol” — This song makes me wish I was a real degenerate.
“Digsy’s Dinner” — An underrated jam.
“Slide Away” — Noel says that this song “wrote itself” after he received a guitar from the Smiths’ Johnny Marr, which is what I think Noel says about every song. Paul McCartney’s favorite Oasis song!
“Married With Children” — The only acoustic song on this album, but not boring at all, mainly because of the hilarious lyrics. I hate the books you read and all your friends/Your music’s shite/It keeps me up all night.
LEAST FAVORITE SONGS:
Is the album over already? Play it again!
IS RS FULL OF IT?
The only thing wrong with this album is that I had to remember that the Smiths’ exist.
