It was back in 1993/94 when I first heard of Oasis. I was an 18-year-old lad who had just read a copy of the lad’s magazine Loaded. It had an article about this new band with these feuding Gallagher brothers being the stars of the show and full of attitude.
Anyway, not long after, I bought a copy of their debut album ‘ Definitely Maybe ‘ and was instantly a fan. I wasn’t one of those fans that follow them around the country and shout “Liam, Liam, Liam….” at all their gigs and I didn’t have pictures of them tattooed everywhere but just one that appreciated a good tune(or 10) when I heard it.
It’s not that often that you hear an album where all the tracks are not only timeless classics but also relatable to both the upbeat feeling of the nation at the time (and its misplaced notion that ‘things can only get better ‘ ) and the lads on the street, the lads from the council estates, that wanted to be, just like them. They were living our dreams. The money, the booze, the drugs, the women and the clobber, and all the other stuff that came with being a rock and roll star. We wanted to be like them so badly!
Of course, they weren’t the only great band out at the time. It was a great time for music and there were plenty of great bands around such as The Verve, The Charlatans, Ocean Colour Scene, The Stone Roses, etc to name just a few. Oasis, however was just, that little bit better! Although some would argue, quite a lot better!
Starting with the track Rock ‘n’ Roll Star, the sheer audacity of it, f**king great! The great thing about the man singing it, the legendary front man Liam Gallagher (and the one who wrote it, Noel Gallagher) was that he/they meant it and you knew it. They knew they were going to be big and so did we. The sound was unique, raw, and f**king awesome! I played it to death and then made the mistake of lending it to one of my mates, saying ” this band is going to be massive! ” I didn’t see it again for about a year.
Of course, not long after they released their 2nd album, another classic (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?) which although great as it was, just wasn’t as great as the first!
