-What's the Story- Morning Glory?

Definitely Maybe With the swaggering chords of the opening "Rock'N'Roll Star," Oasis announced that big, brash Brit rock was here to stay--at least for a few years. They wore their rock & roll with an angry young sneer, a Mancunian petulance wedded to a vision of cathartic release. Their superson...	Be Here Now Limited Edition Japanese pressing of their third album, originally released in 1997, comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. 12 tracks including 'All Around The World', 'D'You Know What I Mean' and 'Don't Go Away'. Sony. 2006.	The Masterplan Following a British rock tradition initiated by the Beatles and lovingly inherited by the Jam and the Clash, Oasis is the only band of the CD era to offer fans extra tracks on their singles that are often as good as, if not better than, the hits. Rather than saving his new songs ...	Standing on the Shoulder of Giants With Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, the self-professed "biggest rock & roll band in the world" continue their exploration of great British rock of the late '60s. Paying homage to heroes is one thing, but many of Standing's best moments sound like their icons' low points. Thi...	Heathen Chemistry At their career zenith, Oasis were lauded as the best band in the world. They were actually never the greatest rock & roll band at any time, but for a few years they were the biggest. While they offered the '90s two of its most defining albums, and a resurgence of '60s-influenced...
Don't Believe the Truth Oasis albums have always prompted flashbacks--Was that a Beatles melody? Is that chorus on loan from T. Rex? Wait, wasn't that a Crowded House song once? But the mouthy British group's latest really sounds like a pop artifact. Both in production and execution, Don't Believe The T...	OK Computer Radiohead's third album got compared to Pink Floyd a lot when it came out, and its slow drama and conceptual sweep certainly put it in that category. OK Computer, though, is a complicated and difficult record: an album about the way machines dehumanize people that's almost entire...	Nevermind If Nevermind's sound is familiar now, it's only because thousands of rock records that followed it were trying very hard to cop its style. It tears out of the speakers like a cannonball, from the punk-turbo-charged riff of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" onward, magnifying and distill...	Viva La Vida To say there has been a lot of anticipation for Coldplay's fourth album, Viva La Vida, is an understatement. Having enlisted legendary leftfield producer Brian Eno, borrowed their album title from a painting by renowned Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and made tantalising remarks abou...	Urban Hymns Perhaps you weren't convinced of the Verve's staying power until recently. Before the release of Urban Hymns, skeptics wondered if they could ever match the explosive power of their earlier dedications. In 1995, most critics dismissed their offerings of the time as vapid, romanti...

One of the best the 90's had to offer.
The debut album by Oasis was a worldwide success - 2.1 million in sales in the UK, 6 million in the rest of the world, but only a million or so of that in the US. The follow up was a whole different story altogether - 23+ million worldwide with over 4 million in each of the US and the UK (3rd best selling LP of all time there). For most fans the next five releases haven't come close to reaching the great heights of these first two. Accordingly, I thought that I'd give them each a re-listen in order to see how they've stood up to the passage of a decade and a half. First off, the obvious, the 23 million who bought this cd weren't wrong - this is a spectacularly good album. One brilliantly infectious song follows another for about forty exciting minutes. Wonderwall, Don't look Back in Anger, Hey Now!, Some Might Say, Morning Glory and Champagne Supernova - each song possesses the kind of quality that by itself would form the cornerstone of any other cd. Indeed, as I listen I have to remind myself that I'm not listening to a greatest hits collection. In the music biz it is unusual for an artist to begin a career with a really first class record and then surpass that effort with the follow-up. It was fourteen years ago that Oasis hit the ground running with their debut, Definitely Maybe. A year later the band delivered its sophomore effort, (What's the Story) Morning Glory. They are both five star offerings. The relative mediocrity of the other cds in their catalogue should not in any way diminish the greatness of their earlier music. If, like me, you have allowed these cds to sit on the shelf, unplayed, for the last decade, I'd suggest that you clean of the dust and give them a spin. You will be rewarded with some of the best music of the past twenty years.

A Rock Masterpiece And Oasis' Greatest Album
If you're new to Oasis, then there's no better place to start than with(What's the Story) Morning Glory?, one of the best rock albums of the 1990s. Note by note, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? is musical perfection. 'Wonderwall' is perhaps the greatest Beatles-inspired ballad ever written, it's name taken from the title of George Harrison's first solo album Wonderwall Music. 'Don't Look Back In Anger' is equally fantastic. Even the lesser known songs are brilliant, 'Cast No Shadow' in particular. Then there's 'Champagne Supernova,' an epic in every sense of the word. (What's the Story) Morning Glory? is a rock 'n' roll masterpiece and when the last song has finished it is sure to leave you wanting more.

The best from Oasis.
Noisy britpop from the 90s, an alternative to US Grunge from the same era, ill-bred children and, of course, a very british Beatlesque touch contribute to build up a good modern rock album supposedly meant to last and remain as one of the classics forever along with releases from Rolling Stones, Beatles or Led Zeppelin. Actually it includes the so-called 'best rock and roll song of all times' (based on a local radio survey), "Wonderwall", which just makes it worth listening. Trivia: even Coca Cola did not wanted to detach from the album's success by suing the band for plagiarism, claiming that one of the songs was very similar to a famous 80's jingle they had... which was it? A bit overexposed it still represents the best of Oasis ever, apart from the 'curious' personality of the band members or, better said, their idiocy. Someone once said this is how beatles would sound in the 90's if they'd continued their career... Who knows? Who cares?

One of the 90's top albums
Music, like movies, tends to go into a lot of phases with many people latching onto a certain genre or artist deeming them the saviors that will rid the taste left in our mouth of the predecessors. With the drugs and excess and party-with-every-and-any-girl lyrics of the 80's metal bands, in comes the so-called "grunge" movement which was more introverted and coming from a place of hurt and angst. In comes Oasis during the so-called "Brit rock" movement which dealt with more uplifting matters like the love of rock and roll music. Sure it's derivative but who gives a you-know-what when it's a top record from top to bottom. Hello: Fading in with the Wonderwall chord progression, the song then transforms into a big rousing rock track with loud guitar chords, Liam's trademark vocals and while it's not really single material, it gets the album to a big start. 8/10 Roll With It: One of the catchiest tracks on the album and one of my favorites. What makes it standout is just that it's one of the more upbeat and livelier tracks to listen to and one can imagine doing a road trip with this blasting. 9/10 Wonderwall: Let's face it: you're bound to have heard this at some point. From its memorable chord progression to its tasteful use of piano at the end and cello during the verses, this is definately one of the 90's best songs. Small but irrevelant complaint: it does that typical Oasis outro of repeating the chorus then repeating it again then again but without lyrics. But again, no harm done. 9.5/10 Don't Look Back in Anger: Well they always said they were just as good as them and so we have an "Imagine"-esque piano intro before the song starts. Sung this time by Noel, he showcases his more range-y vocals which are different than Liam's more emotive ones. All in all another great song and the chorus soars. 9.5/10 Hey Now!: Not really a big fan of this one, it just sort of plods along and even though it's loud, it doesn't have the fun qualities of Roll With It or even rock-with-your-****-out quality of Rock N' Roll Star from Definately Maybe. But I guess every classic has a dud now and then. 6/10 Untitled Track(The Swamp Song): It's basically a really quick (44 seconds) ditty of a distorted riff over a solo. An alright piece on its own but in the context of the album, it's kind of useless so I can't really rate something this short. n/a Some Might Say: A big loud rock song and another one that's uplifting and sing-along ready and even though the lyrics are kind of wtf? ("sink's full of dirty fishes, she's got dirty dishes on the brain") it's still a great tune. But then again that repetitive outro curse happens again which lasts well over a minute. 8/10 Cast No Shadow: It's strange to say a song's by Oasis is "beautiful" but it's a great ballad with some wonderful use of background vocals, Liam's vocals and I don't think it was a single but radio would've killed it anyway so it worked out in a weird way. 8.5/10 She's Electric: A weird country rock feel with a more stomping beat and it's one of those weird cases where a song sounds fun to listen to only it doesn't really stay in your head. It's another Hey Now!-type song so meh. 6/10 Morning Glory: One of the most underrated songs on the album. While I don't like the rather noisy mix, it's hard not to get swept up in the energy and dare you not to belt out that chorus along with Liam. That siren sounding guitar line kind of ruins it halfway though. 9/10 (Untitled Track): Another rather useless track with sounds of running water and faint rock riffs and solos in the background. Meh. N/A Champagne Supernova: I think I can safely say this song is simply one, if not their absolute best and while other tracks might hold your attention for awhile, it doesn't have the staying power this one has. Sure lyrically it's kind of nonsensical but musically and vocally this is an absolute classic for sure. 10/10 Couple of duds and iffy tracks but what's surprising is that the hits just seem to keep coming and arrogance aside and criticisms (some of them warranted mind you), can't deny they are a good band and this album proves it.

The Classic Album of the 90's
Very few bands are able to create an album that defines a moment (the Britpop era) in the way that Oasis did with this 1995 near-masterpiece. While it may not be one of the greatest albums of the Rock era, it's hard to imagine how it could not be counted in the top 50!