Definitely Maybe is the debut studio album by English rock band Oasis, released by Creation Records on 29 August 1994. Oasis booked Monnow Valley Studio near Rockfield in late 1993 to record the album and worked with producer Dave Batchelor, whom band member Noel Gallagher knew from his days working as a roadie for the Inspiral Carpets, though sessions were unsatisfactory and Batchelor was subsequently fired. It is the last and only studio album to feature all five original members, as founding member drummer Tony McCarroll was fired from the band in 1995. In January 1994, the group set about re-recording the album at Sawmills Studio in Cornwall, where sessions were produced by Noel alongside Mark Coyle. The results were still deemed unsatisfactory; in desperation, Creation's Marcus Russell contacted engineer and producer Owen Morris, who eventually worked on mastering the album at Johnny Marr's studio in Manchester. Definitely Maybe was an immediate commercial and critical success in the United Kingdom, having followed on the heels of the singles "Supersonic", "Shakermaker", and the UK top-ten hit "Live Forever", which was also a success on US Rock Airplay. The album went on to sell over 8 million copies worldwide and brought widespread critical acclaim. It went straight to number one in the UK Albums Chart and became the fastest-selling debut album in the UK at the time; it went on to be certified 8× platinum by the BPI for sales of over 2.4 million units. It also was successful in the United States, being certified platinum. The album helped to spur a revitalisation in British pop music in the 1990s, and was embraced by critics for its optimistic themes and rejection of the negative outlook of the grunge music of the time. The album is regarded as a seminal entry of the Britpop scene, and has appeared in many publications' lists of the greatest albums of all time. In 2006, the NME conducted a readers' poll in which Definitely Maybe was voted the greatest album of all time. In 2015, Spin included the album in their list of "The 300 Best Albums of 1985–2014". Rolling Stone ranked the album at No. 217 on its 2020 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Basic musicianship. Nonsensical lyrics. Derivative. Guitars are mud. Absolute masterpiece
summer of '94. I'm 17 years old. Word is out that there is a party in some blokes house down the road. I rob a bottle of vodka from my parents liqour cabinet. I go to the party and scoff the vodka in an hour and wash it down with a couple of cans of Linden Village. I go to the toilet but smash the whole toilet bowl (I'm still not sure how) and it floods the entire floor of the house. The cops are called and everyone flees. Some cop shines a flashlight in my face and I kick it out of his hand. He punches me to the ground and then he asks my name. I say "Mise Eire". He takes me down to my parents house and my parents put me to bed. I jump out my bedroom window (two stories up and I have a scar in the side of my arse too) and run up the village looking for a botle of vodka I've already drank wearing a baseball cap, a string vest and a pair of y-fronts. I thump the door of the house screaming "WHERES MY VODKA!!" at the top of my voice until my brother comes to my rescue. The day after I watched Oasis on Top of The Pops play "Live Forever" and I thought it was amazing. I'd seen them on The Word a week before play "Shakermaker" and I thought it was a bit shit. Got the album on a shopping trip with my mum a few days earlier and it became the soundtrack to that fortnight that I was grounded. Still holds up, definitely (maybe) their best
I haven't had an erection like that since Michael Owen scored against Argentina in 1998.
Just find this boring, don't like Liam's nasal voice, don't like the stones meets beatles schlep. Can't even give it a nostalgia score bump cos this album doesn't have the hits.
Stop being a snob. This album fucking rocks. One of the best debuts of all time. BT: Rock n Roll Star, Live Forever, Cigarettes and Alcohol
What a stinking pile of shit. Vapid lyrics, no clear single, and boring musically. The way the vocalist holds out the end of every damned line... its just awful. I listened to the album 3.5 times, once reading the lyrics. The band is muddy sounding and uninspiring. I know that they have good songs like wonderwall and don't look back in anger, but they are missing from this album. About the only thing good on this album is that they sampled Get it On by t rex on "cigarettes and alcohol." ...I took 5 mins just now to look it up and they are claiming this as their riff - so plagiarism. great. drops it from a 3/10 to a 2/10 - No good songs on the album, but some songs don't actively offend me. Maybe they meant to put their other album on this list and this was a typo?
Class-A assholes that are just the worst, but they sure could rock
Completely mediocre. Nothing to write about it. Quite a waste of time.
I've been trying to come up with something in regards to Definitely Maybe but, what more can be said about this? A perfect storm of Mancunian circumstances that was ready to torpedo any and everything that moved, regardless of whether or not one was ready. A vastly different facet of Britpop that cared less about post-punk/new wave reminiscing and more about pummeling, piledriving good old fashioned rock and roll, Oasis were ready to pick up a new baton for those who were more inclined to having a good time and forgetting your ills. One of the greatest albums of the 90s? Oh, definitely maybe.
Totally biased review as I love 90’s Oasis. And this is my favourite Oasis album and live forever one of my favourite songs. This album is so raw and generation defining so many great songs (mostly influenced/ripped off from British bands bands before them but hey it’s a fine line between influences and copying) , the only dud in my opinion is Digsy’s Dinner. A solid 5 star album which might upset some pretentious music snobs.
It's like eating, and then shitting out a metal belt.
I don’t think I’ve listened to any album more than I’ve listened to this one. (It was on my CD alarm clock almost the entirety of high school) thought I’d feel cooler on it having not listened to it in years, and having had no desire to, but I loved every minute of it and struggled not to sing along tunelessly throughout. An absolute masterpiece that comes close to justifying the complete and utter bellendry of the Gallaghers. I’m enough of a toss pot to honestly believe this is the second best Oasis album behind The Masterplan.
As revolutionary as this album sounded back when it was released, it sounds just as revolutionary today. With a lot of today's rock music overproduced and over-overdubbed, "Definitely Maybe" is still an outlier as a band that truly believes they are the greatest band in the world. This is a time portal back to the 90's when Blur and Oasis would fight over who could get the highest charting single. I heard "Morning Glory" before I heard this album, and though I still prefer it to "Definitely Maybe," you can feel Oasis had an even better album in them. This album is like a shot of adrenaline.
Some good songs here, but haven't necessarily stood the test of time. Surprised to read how well receipted it was when it came out. Highlights: Live Forever
With this album it will forever be 21/22 year old me drunk on the dance floor of an indie club at 3am, a gin and tonic in one hand, a cigarette hanging from my lips, ready to take on the world. Forget the Britpop hype and all the other BS, this is a powerful band in its raw form. Listening back to it after such a long time I am struck by the fact it still gives me tingles up the spine. To me it really is a good album. Later one the may have disappeared in a pile of white powder and too much borrowed Beatles riffs but this a solid debut
Though not as coherent as ‘What’s the Story Morning Glory’ Oasis’ debut is energetic and full of memorable songs. This band came on the scene knowing exactly who they were. Their sound is developed and their delivery is spot on
I think an apt comparison to this album is Pablo Honey. A young group still figuring out their sound and letting their influences shine a bit too much. There's a charm and the wall of sound guitar makes me feel as if I should be wearing my acid wash jeans. A good time for sure.
The 90s - GenX's last opportunity to importantly whine at us. Considering how enormous the egos on the Gallagher numbers are, this comes off as boring.
Meh. Couldn’t get into it
1994 young beatles do rolling stones covers sooo... fucking irritating
5 It’s tough to put my feelings about Oasis into words. Like Luke, I want to save most of my thoughts for when (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? eventually shows up on here so I guess I’ll be brief. I love this album. This one grew on me over the years but songs like “Supersonic” and “Live Forever” have been permanent staples of my in-head jukebox since I first heard them. I still remember driving home from school and thinking “damn, I really like ‘Married with Children” or how I had the CD from the library for over 3 months past it’s due date (I’m still paying that fine off). Point is this is an important band and album to me. There are others that are more so by Oasis but this stands proudly amongst my all time faves.
pube brilliance. best album in the whole damn world
ok, this, this album right here is why I love Oasis. Morning glory, that album was fantastic, but it felt like top 100 songs over and over, THIS album though, is what i think of when I hear Oasis, this is rock, grungy, unapologetically harsh lyrics on some songs, and is fucking brilliant. I can't really find a bad song on this album, but some of my favorites are "Married with Children" "Slide Away" and "Up in the Air". fantastic album, it's one of my favorites that I can listen to at any time and feel good about it.
Biblical
Spent my life around Manchester, a lot of that trying to avoid hearing Oasis.
Whether greedily chewing vowels like the filthy lucre they so desperately wanted, or trying to raise the dead with zombie rock poses, this may not be the worst thing ever, but it's veryyyyyyy faaaaaahhhhhh awaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy from the best.
So many of these songs have been the soundtrack to my summers. Driving with the windows down and music loud. Good vibes Definitely (maybe) a 5 ⭐️ album
Generation defining awesomeness
Not the smartest or the most modest album by a mile in terms of lyrics and music, but it goes hard and strong full of great tunes. This and Morning Glory are near perfect albums, and their material afterwards was nowhere near good. Live Forever is probably my favourite song of theirs, though its hard when half of the songs on here match the same quality. Even the b sides on the delxue are really good, especially Sad Song, Fade Away and Whatever.
very cool album, made me horny tbh.
Such a strong album from the 90s. Liam’s voice is so unique and great. The song writing from Noel is fantastic. The best worst duo ever.
Better than sliced bread. Unreal!! I mean c’mon what a masterpiece. Spackman the loon probably won’t agree though. 5* all day long and thrice on a Sunday!!
One of my all time favourites. Defined a generation.
One of the greatest albums from one of the greatest bands.
Never really liked Oasis. The song writing is OK, but the stretching-out of the last syllables that are sung from the back of the nasal cavity just doesn't work for me. They are tight and Beatles-ish, but just not for me. 2/5
This is fucking horrible why is this so critically acclaimed
1/6 Repetitive 90’s wine rock A muddy mix. just trash overall
I happy to admit that this process has shown me that there are some albums that im not objective about. They are too interwoven into my own personal musical journey and as such my opinion is invalid and thats ok. I sang every word of this from start to finish.
Suspiciously timely (writing this just before 8am on 27.8.24) and all the better for it.
I gotta say, Definitely Maybe is a legitimately fantastic album that i loved listening to the whole way through. While the vocals and the other instruments are handled super well, Its pretty obvious that the guitars here steal the show. These guitars could be groovy, heavy, and mellow all at the same time. The songs all felt like they complimented each other throughout the album while still having their own identity. Forget Suede, this is britpop at it's finest. Best Song: Slide Away Worst Song: Married With Children
Phenomenal album made by a bunch of wankers. Soundtrack to my youth.
I’ve loved this his album since I first heard it in 1994.
7 stars
💚 I'd be 20 Forever...
Sounding as fresh today as 28 years ago. The album of my childhood. Played it to death. Like a lot of kids my age WTSMG had my curiosity but this record grabbed my attention like no other I can remember. Changed the course of music in the uk. Biblical. 5/5
Perfwct
Love it
Breath of fresh air in the 90's and still so today. Some anthems within a complete album that demands to be played on vinyl
Rock'n' Roll star ( best opening) Live Forever Columbia Supersonic Bring it on down Cigarettes and alcohol Masterpiece!
Perfect. Their best work by far.
This really is one of the great debut albums ever. Swirling, confident rock and roll laced with perfect pop melodies and some killer hooks. What's not to like about it? It's also just a really well crafted album that flows effortlessly. Starting out with a solid rocker like "Rock 'n' Roll Star" and ending up at the stripped down "Married with Children" is pretty brilliant. Fave Songs (All songs, from most to least favorite): Live Forever, Slide Away, Married with Children, Digsy's Dinner, Supersonic, Rock 'n' Roll Star, Cigarettes & Alcohol, Columbia, Shakermaker, Bring It on Down, Up in the Sky
Class album. Totally class. Brilliant debut album which perfectly encapsulates what oasis stand for and their presence. Great tracks and concise. Really enjoyed
Sound, our kid Soundtrack to my paper round. Apologies to everyone who heard me belting this out, pretending I was at a gig at 0630.
Classic
Plays like a greatest hits. Excellent.
It's the dogs
Perfection.
One of the best debut studio albums out there. Songs so nice I listened to them twice.
What happened to the Gallaghers but thank god they do what they do
More like definitely yes
amazing
digsy's dinner is the best song from this album hands down
One of those albums that anchors memories of the mid-90s for so many people. It's no masterpiece but never gets old.
Great album all the way through, such a great sound and composition
Up there amongst the greatest debuts of all. Cigarettes and alcohol indeed!!!
Oasis that matters
Excellent
i’m a rock n roll staaaaaah
Incredible album from front to back. There's something great about the raw sound to this record. Definitely has been in my rotation since it came out and I still listen to it to this day.
How can they make such nice songs, but be such miserable people.
favorite songs: Live Forever, Up in the Sky, Bring It on Down, Slide Away. very good album, I should really listen to more Oasis
Just sensational, regularly listen to this. Slide Away is a fantastic song.
well that was a lovely trip down memory lane. i can completely understand why they got so big so quickly. this album is huge and they backed it up with the live shows and the swagger. love em or hate em you have got to give this album its dues. it was fucking massive 30 years ago and it still stands up today. on the subject of rip offs (of which there are many), to take something and make it so different is still impressive and as much as Noel is a closet tory cunt it desreves respect that all of these tracks are so undeniably oasis.
Top debut
Wonderful album with some amazing songs. Columbia, Slide Away and Supersonic are as good as it gets from that era of music. Did I mention Shakermaker is shite?
Maybe 5? Definitely 5!
I'm an oasis fan and this is their best album. No brainer
Brit rock classic!!
Oasis was a big one growing up
WoW les guitares sont splendides, originales ça sonne comme rien d’autres. Je connaissais oasis comme tout le monde avec les gros hits, mais cet album la c’écoute comme du beurre dans la poêle de A à Z Je l’évite la dernière toune Est moyenne Je lévite l’album au complet pour ses guitares de l’espace , avec une cigarette et de l’alcool bien sûr
I hadn't heard this oasis album before but I really like them a lot. Great album
"We'll find a way of chasing the sun". Por fin me salió un álbum que ya conociste completo, aunque tenía tiempo que no lo escuchaba. ¿Y qué decir sino que no hay canción que me desagrade de él? Entre su sonido, las guitarras, los bajos, la voz (que no es bonita) de Liam, algunas letras. Fue bonito revisitarlo y escucharlo en orden, de su muy buena canción de apertura con ese toque de disco rayado hasta la grandiosa "Slide Away" que precede ese tranquilo final. "Up in the Sky" y "Supersonic" también son favs. No le doy el diez namás porque aunque me gusta, no me emociona al nivel para soltárselo. 9.5/10
Yisss
Solid from start to finish. A classic rock album.
One of my all time favorite albums.
Liam's voice was something else. This is an absolute classic now. We knew it was great at the time right enough. Britpop FTW! ;oP
One of the best rock albums ever.
The soundtrack of my youth. Hard to compare any album to the ones you had in your car when you first passed your test. Still one of my all-time favourites.
Masterpiece
-Incredible album
it's Oasis, it fuckin rocks. This and whats the story are just gold, plain gold.
I’m slightly embarrassed at how much I enjoy this.
Good. Not the hits but recognisable as Oasis and I liked it
Nr. 123/1001 Rock 'n' Roll Star 4/5 Shakermaker 3/5 Live Forever 5/5 Up In The Sky 3/5 Columbia 3/5 Supersonic 4/5 Bring It On Down 4/5 Cigarettes & Alcohol 4/5 Digsy's Dinner 3/5 Slide Away 4/5 Married With Children 3/5 Average: 3,64 Pretty good pop/rock album. Would have appreciated a little bit more musical diversity.
Oasis (at least on their first two albums) really had something special. My only real criticism of this album (and Oasis in general), is that the songs kind of all blend together and are a bit too similar. Overall its a great album, and helps explain Oasis’s relevance in music history, but their follow up (you know the one) is an overall better album and more important.
So “Definitely Maybe” was an awesome debut album to be sure… Love the original sound, and the raw heaviness of the album… Not a lot of diversity throughout it though – but that’s okay due to the creativity… The stretch from “Columbia” through “Cigarettes & Alcohol” was by far the best music on the album, and “Supersonic” gets a 6-stars out of 7 from me, as it is the centerpiece of the album… In fact, earlier in the day that I drew this album, I was on a golf trip in southern Virgina with my college buddies, and we were listening to an 8-hour rock playlist on shuffle on the Marshall amp, and on the 15th hole as we were getting ready to tee off, The Universe decided to send us “Supersonic”… Absolute perfection…
They came on the scene swinging, I have to respect it.
Really solid debut from a band I only know from two songs. Definitely has a well defined sonic identity, namely heavy distortion. It’s fun. Some songs sound a little samey at times. But there’s potential here and the ones that stick out really do. As a side note - I wouldn’t mind moving away from 90’s British bands for a while… (cue a Blur album in ten seconds when I click “vote”). Standout tracks: Rock n Roll Star, Shakermaker, Up in the Sky, Supersonic, Bring it On Down, Cigarettes & Alcohol, …Married with Children
Who wrote these fucking lyrics, Dr. Seuss? Nearly every song on this record follows this simplistic lyrical rhyme scheme that makes Dr. Seuss look like Shakespeare. Here’s an example, from Up in the Sky: “Hey you, up in the sky Learnin' to fly Tell me, how high” Then, a few bars later: “Hey you, up in the tree You want to be me Well, that couldn't be” How about another example? “Shakermaker” (look, he even does right in the song title): “I've been driving in my car with my friend Mr. Soft Mr. Clean and Mr. Ben are living in my loft” One more and I’ll assume you’ve got my point, from their hit “Live Forever”: “Maybe I just wanna fly Wanna live, I don't wanna die Maybe I just wanna breathe Maybe I just don't believe Maybe you're the same as me We see things they'll never see You and I are gonna live forever” From a lyrical standpoint, this is one of the worst albums on the list.
If football hooligans in stupid raincoats played Beatles songs