The one Oasis album Noel Gallagher called “perfect”
For either of the Gallagher brothers, it’s safe to say that almost anything that Oasis ever touched was gold. Even though the entire existence of the band’s 2000s material nullifies that argument, the band were more than happy to talk themselves up as the second coming of John Lennon, David Bowie, and Jimmy Page all at once when they first stormed onto the scene. While Noel Gallagher would eventually ease back on too much of the Oasis worship, he did admit that their debut album Definitely Maybe delivered on everything they set out to do.
When Liam Gallagher first started learning how to sing, there was a good chance that Noel wasn’t going to be anywhere near him. Having been serving as a roadie for indie favourites the Inspiral Carpets, Noel would eventually be coaxed into tagging along for a few rehearsals for his brother’s new band, ultimately taking charge as the group’s lead songwriter.
While the band were still fairly rough around the edges, their snide attitude onstage and off was enough for Alan McGee to get them a deal with Creation Records. Despite being on the same label that gave the world classics like Screamadelica by Primal Scream, they were in danger of floundering before they even started.
Although Noel would later boast that he created the song ‘Supersonic’ and recorded it in only a few hours in the studio, the rest of the album was a nightmare to make. Never having the right producer, the band went through multiple recording sessions, playing the album over and over again until Owen Morris was brought in.
Using his trademark ‘brick-walling’ technique, Morris took all of the energy that came from the band’s live show and translated it onto the final tape. Instead of that clean finesse from studio tampering, the band sounded exactly like Noel heard them in his head, playing the kind of classic rock hooks of The Beatles with the raw energy of Sex Pistols.
Looking back in the book Supersonic, Noel still considered Definitely Maybe to be untouchable in the group’s catalogue, saying, “The first album is the purest representation of what we were then…It’s perfect, that album. It is fucking ten out of ten, perfect. Thinking about it now, I don’t think I would change a single note or a single inflexion of any lyric or anything”.
Much of that perfection can also be attributed to the band capturing the zeitgeist immediately. After the aftermath of grunge sent everyone into a depressing haze, the sounds of five kids from Manchester singing about wanting to live forever and dreaming of being a rock and roll star was just what many rock fans needed to hear.
While the band would live up to every promise they made by becoming one of the biggest bands in England, the tipping point was to come. Fresh off the tour for the record, Noel doubled down on his dreams of being a rock god on What’s the Story Morning Glory, featuring massive anthems like ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’.
Noel may still get applauded for his later work with the band, but Definitely Maybe was a snapshot of the band ready to take on the entire world. They may have written great songs after their debut, but Oasis had never sounded hungrier.
