Oasis
Definitely Maybe

THE REVIEW

Hello everyone, 

this is the first review I've ever written, and I willingly expose myself, based on everything I've read on this wonderful and brilliant site, to any type of insult/blasphemy/ignominy that you esteemed gentlemen will certainly reserve for me as you have kindly and affectionately done for every review regarding the much-hated Oasis. The Gallagher brothers, for the delight of you illustrious users, will soon return with a new work, after more than three years of absence from the music scene. Terrible news for those who have never tolerated the two Manchester siblings and after almost 15 years can no longer stand that agonizing voice and that anachronistic rock'n roll. That crooked stance. Those few basic guitar riffs. That tendency to plagiarism, to recycling, to artistic theft. That presumptuous arrogance, that immense lack of respect towards fans, that pumped-up air of a super star from another time.

If all this is true, it is also true that the Oasis is a band that, like it or not, has helped to write a part (although minimal) of musical history in recent years. They emerged from anonymity, developed their own well-defined style and personality, produced a couple of excellent albums, launched successful international hits, and undoubtedly have talent. They have charm. They have style. And while awaiting their next album, it's nice to return in memory to the lavish beginnings dated August 30, 1994, the day "Definitely Maybe" was released. The band's debut sold 10 million copies worldwide and catapulted a couple of provincial scrappers into absolute stars of the 90s music scene.

The album is at times dull and imprecise in its execution, and shows in some points the haste and inexperience of those who recorded it. If you go through the tracklist, you can identify some insignificant and almost annoyingly irritating pieces: "Digsy's Dinner", an easy, catchy song with pathetic lyrics, "Shakermaker", where the search for psychedelia borders on the ridiculous and embarrassing, "Up in the Sky" and "Married with Children" which are transition songs that leave no memory of themselves. Obviously, not everything is so pathetic: there is a group of very rock, fast, distorted, and abrasive tracks ("Rock'n' Roll Star", "Bring it on Down" "Columbia" "Cigarettes and Alcohol") that reveal the soul that permeates the entire album, the very rockish trait that forms the core and true identity of their work. And finally, there are the three main songs of the album, which are still among the best of their entire production: "Supersonic", with its captivating riff and its sound reminiscent of old-school rock, "Slide Away", a splendid sentimental ballad, and, above all, "Live Forever", the quintessential Oasis song, brilliant and original, perfect in its simplicity and magical in its dreamy lyrics.

Reviewing this album may seem perhaps useless and anachronistic, but it can help to reevaluate and reconsider this group's experience in the right way, providing an objective and competent judgment that represents a middle ground between the unconditionally exalted rock'n'roll teenagers who fantasize about Liam Gallagher and the experts steeped in the '70s and alternative music who condemn and belittle everything that succeeds a priori.