Definitely Maybe was “the most important album of the ’90s, bar none” according to Oasis front man Liam Gallagher, who has announced a series of dates in 2024 where he will play the album in its entirety. “I wouldn’t be anywhere without it and neither would you, so let’s celebrate together.” Well, Liam is half right there and Definitely Maybe is definitely the best Oasis album, no maybe about it. But the most important album of the ’90s? Really?
NME readers, in 2006, were in no doubt. Definitely Maybe was not just the greatest album of the ’90s, it was the greatest album of all time. In a field which includes, very obviously, every album that has ever been made, I would suggest this is a highly dubious claim. No question that Liam’s brother Noel is a decent tunesmith, despite the nonsensical gobbledegook lyrics he has written with the aid, presumably, of a rhyming dictionary, and we can count Live Forever, Rock ‘n’ Roll Star, and Cigarettes & Alcohol as classic Oasis tunes. The answer to the question is this: it’s the most important album of the ’90s if you think it is. In other words, it’s in the ear of the beholder.
Now I don’t think it is the most important album of the ’90’s or, if I being honest in my opinions, an important album at all. I wouldn’t say that in a cleaning boots competition, it’s fit to clean the boots of Radiohead’s OK Computer, Lauryn Hill’s Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Nirvana’s Nevermind, Dylan’s Time Out Of Mind, Air’s Moon Safari and R.E.M.s Out Of Time, not to mention four brilliant Blur albums, all of which were infinitely better than anything Oasis could ever come up with. Unless you don’t think the same as I do.
Because, in the end, it’s an opinion. Mine about Oasis is that they are a pound shop Beatles tribute act with a decent back catalogue, with every album after Definitely Maybe being worse than the one that came before. And there’s nothing original about them. They even got sued for ripping off I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing for their tune Shakermaker! But in terms of music, I suppose there’s nothing new under the sun.
I’d say an important album would be Revolver by The Beatles and Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys, records that changed the very perception of what pop music could be and have influenced artists ever since. Definitely Maybe didn’t change a thing, other than to enable people to have a singalong with some of the best modern tunes with some of the worst modern lyrics.
