Definitely Maybe
Encyclopedia
Definitely Maybe is the debut album by English rock
band Oasis
, released in August 1994. It was an immediate commercial and critical success in the UK, having followed on the heels of singles "Supersonic", "Shakermaker
" and "Live Forever
".
Definitely Maybe went straight to number one in the UK Album Charts on initial release. It was the fastest selling debut album of all time in the UK when released. It has been certified 7x Platinum there (2.1 million+ sales). Definitely Maybe marked the beginning of Oasis' success in America, selling over one million copies there, despite only peaking at 58 on the Billboard 200
. The album went on to sell over eight million copies worldwide and brought widespread critical acclaim. Today, it is widely regarded as one of the greatest rock albums ever recorded, with it appearing in many "best album" lists to this day.
, Oasis formed in 1991. Originally consisting of Liam Gallagher
, Paul Arthurs
, Paul McGuigan
, and Tony McCarroll
, the group was soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher
. The elder Gallagher insisted that if he were to join, the group would give him complete control and they would work towards superstardom. Noel had been writing songs for years, and replaced the group's repertoire with his compositions.
Oasis signed to independent record label
Creation Records
in 1993. The limited-edition 12" single "Columbia" was released in late 1993 as a primer for the band for journalists and radio programmers. Unexpectedly, BBC Radio 1
picked up the single and played it 19 times in the fortnight after its release, surprising for a record not available in stores. The band's first commercial single "Supersonic" was released on 11 April 1994. The following week it debuted at number 31 on the British singles chart. The single was followed by "Shakermaker
" in June 1994, which debuted at number 11 and earned the group an appearance on Top of the Pops
.
, near Monmouth
, at the start of 1994 to record their debut album. Their producer was Dave Batchelor, who Noel Gallagher knew from his days working as a roadie for the Inspiral Carpets
. The sessions were unsatisfactory. "It wasn't happening," Arthurs recalled. "He was the wrong person for the job . . . We'd play in this great big room, buzzing to be in this studio, playing like we always played. He's say, 'Come in and have a listen.' And we'd be like, 'That doesn't sound like it sounded in that room. What's that?'. It was thin. Weak. Too clean."
The sessions at Monnow Valley were costing £800 a day. As the sessions proved increasingly fruitless, the group began to panic. Arthurs said, "Noel was frantically on the phone to the management, going, 'This ain't working.' For it not to be happening was a bit frightening." Batchelor was let go, and Gallagher tried to make use of the music already recorded by taking the tapes to a number of London studios. Tim Abbot of Creation Records said while visiting the band in Chiswick
, "McGee, Noel, me and various people had a great sesh, and we listened to it over and over again. And all I could think was, 'It ain't got the attack.' There was no immediacy."
In February the group returned from an ill-fated trip to Amsterdam
and set about re-recording the album at Sawmills Studio
in Cornwall
. This time the sessions were produced by Noel Gallagher and Mark Coyle
. The group decided the only way to replicate their live sound on record was to record together without soundproofing between individual instruments. Over the tracks, Gallagher overdubbed numerous guitars. Arthurs said, "That was Noel's favourite trick: get the drums, bass and rhythm guitar down, and then he'd cane it. 'Less is more' didn't really work then."
The results were still deemed unsatisfactory, and there was little chance of another attempt at recording the album. The recordings already made had to be utilised. In desperation, Creation's Marcus Russell contacted engineer-turned-producer Owen Morris
. "I just thought, 'They've messed up here,'" Morris recalled after hearing the Sawmills recordings. "I guessed at that stage Noel was completely fucked off. Marcus was like, 'You can do what you like – literally, whatever you want." Among Morris's first tasks was to strip away the layers of guitar overdubs Gallagher had added. Morris completed his final mix of the record on the bank holiday
weekend in May. Music journalist John Harris noted, "The miracle was that music that had passed through so many hands sounded so dynamic: the guitar-heavy stew that Morris had inherited had been remoulded into something positively pile-driving."
. You don't read Q
. How do we get to people like you?'." Abbot decided to place ads in publications that had never been approached by Creation before, such as football magazines, match programmes and UK dance music periodicals. Abbot's suspicions that Oasis would appeal to these non-traditional audiences were confirmed when the dance music magazine Mixmag, which usually ignored guitar-based music, gave Definitely Maybe a five-star review.
Definitely Maybe was finally released on 30 August 1994. The album sold 86,000 in its first week. On 4 September the album debuted at number one on the British charts. It outsold the second-highest album (The Three Tenors In Concert 1994, which had been favoured to be the chart-topper that week), by a factor of 50%. The first-week sales earned Definitely Maybe the record of the fastest-selling debut album in British history. The album received almost unanimous critical acclaim along with commercial success, with many critics and listeners welcoming the album's fearless optimistic themes, particularly in an era of rock which was dominated by American grunge
which seemed at odds with the album, while also praising Noel Gallagher's songwriting and melodic skills along with younger brother Liam's vocals. "Cigarettes & Alcohol
" was released as the fourth single from the album in October, peaking at #7 UK, then a career high for the band. Noel Gallagher said "Slide Away
" was considered as a fifth single, but he ultimately refused, arguing, "You can't have five [singles] off a debut album."
can be seen on the cover and a television showing a scene from the film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
with actors Eli Wallach
and Antonio Casale
. A still of Gian Maria Volonté
from the film A Fistful of Dollars
is visible on the television on the back cover. A poster of Burt Bacharach
(one of Noel Gallagher's idols) is also shown on the lower-left-hand side of the cover. Some writers believe that Oasis were trying to pay homage to Pink Floyd's Ummagumma
by placing it there in the same prominent position that Pink Floyd
reserved for the soundtrack of Vincente Minnelli
's American musical film Gigi
.
In 1997, Definitely Maybe was named the 14th greatest album of all time in a 'Music of the Millennium' poll conducted by HMV
, Channel 4
, The Guardian
and Classic FM
.
In Channel 4's '100 Greatest Albums' countdown in 2005, the album was placed at number 6.
In 2006, NME
placed the album third in a list of the greatest British albums ever, behind The Stone Roses
and The Smiths' The Queen Is Dead
.
In a recent British poll, run by NME and the book of British Hit Singles and Albums
, Definitely Maybe was voted the best album of all time with The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
finishing second and Revolver
third.
Q magazine readers placed it at number five on their greatest albums of all time list in 2006 and in that same year NME hailed it as the greatest album of all time.
In a 2008 poll by Q and HMV in 2008, Definitely Maybe was ranked first on a list of the greatest British albums of all time.
The German edition of Rolling Stone
ranks the album at number 156 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"
.
On AcclaimedMusic.net, a website which calculates the most favorably reviewed songs and albums, Definitely Maybe was listed as the 14th most critically acclaimed album of the 90s, as well as the 105th most critically acclaimed album of all time.
.
All songs written by Noel Gallagher
, except "I Am the Walrus" by Lennon–McCartney.
There was also an accompanying made-for-TV documentary, entitled There We Were, Now Here We Are...: The Making Of Oasis. This was broadcast on Channel 4
in the UK at 11:30pm on Friday, 3 September , three days before the release of the Definitely Maybe DVD. The programme combined existing and unused interview footage from the DVD documentary and focused on the origins of the band, and the four singles from Definitely Maybe. It also included a very rare clip of "All Around the World
" performed live at a rehearsal session in the Boardwalk
in 1992, five years before it was eventually recorded and released on Be Here Now. The DVD received the NME award for Best Music DVD.
Additional personnel
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
, released in August 1994. It was an immediate commercial and critical success in the UK, having followed on the heels of singles "Supersonic", "Shakermaker
Shakermaker
"Shakermaker" is a song by the English rock band Oasis, written by lead guitarist Noel Gallagher. The song was first released as a single on 13 June 1994 and later released on Oasis' debut album Definitely Maybe. The single narrowly missed the UK top 10, peaking at number eleven. It was also the...
" and "Live Forever
Live Forever
"Live Forever" is a song by English rock band Oasis. Written by Noel Gallagher, the song was released as the third single from their debut album Definitely Maybe on 8 August 1994, just prior to that album's release....
".
Definitely Maybe went straight to number one in the UK Album Charts on initial release. It was the fastest selling debut album of all time in the UK when released. It has been certified 7x Platinum there (2.1 million+ sales). Definitely Maybe marked the beginning of Oasis' success in America, selling over one million copies there, despite only peaking at 58 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. The album went on to sell over eight million copies worldwide and brought widespread critical acclaim. Today, it is widely regarded as one of the greatest rock albums ever recorded, with it appearing in many "best album" lists to this day.
Background
Formerly called The RainThe Rain
The Rain were the Manchester band that eventually evolved into Oasis. The band formed in Manchester, England in 1991, getting their name from The Beatles' B-side, "Rain". Founding members were Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan , Chris Hutton , and a drum machine...
, Oasis formed in 1991. Originally consisting of Liam Gallagher
Liam Gallagher
William John Paul "Liam" Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, the former frontman of the English rock band Oasis and currently of the band Beady Eye. Gallagher's erratic behaviour, distinctive singing style, and abrasive attitude have been the subject of commentary in the press...
, Paul Arthurs
Paul Arthurs
Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs is an English musician and one of the founding members of the English rock band Oasis, best known as their rhythm guitar player from 1991-1999.-Early life:...
, Paul McGuigan
Paul McGuigan (musician)
Paul McGuigan , better known by his nickname, Guigsy , is an English musician and one of the four founding members of the English rock band Oasis...
, and Tony McCarroll
Tony McCarroll
Anthony "Tony" McCarroll is an English drummer and one of the founding members of English rock group Oasis, as their drummer from 1991 to April 1995.-Biography:...
, the group was soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...
. The elder Gallagher insisted that if he were to join, the group would give him complete control and they would work towards superstardom. Noel had been writing songs for years, and replaced the group's repertoire with his compositions.
Oasis signed to independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
Creation Records
Creation Records
Creation Records was a British independent record label headed by Alan McGee. Along with Dick Green and Joe Foster, McGee founded Creation in 1983. The label lasted until its demise in 1999. The name came from the 1960s band The Creation , whom McGee greatly admired. McGee, Green and Foster were...
in 1993. The limited-edition 12" single "Columbia" was released in late 1993 as a primer for the band for journalists and radio programmers. Unexpectedly, BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
picked up the single and played it 19 times in the fortnight after its release, surprising for a record not available in stores. The band's first commercial single "Supersonic" was released on 11 April 1994. The following week it debuted at number 31 on the British singles chart. The single was followed by "Shakermaker
Shakermaker
"Shakermaker" is a song by the English rock band Oasis, written by lead guitarist Noel Gallagher. The song was first released as a single on 13 June 1994 and later released on Oasis' debut album Definitely Maybe. The single narrowly missed the UK top 10, peaking at number eleven. It was also the...
" in June 1994, which debuted at number 11 and earned the group an appearance on Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
.
Recording
Oasis booked Monnow Valley StudioMonnow Valley Studio
Monnow Valley Studio is a recording studio in Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales.-History:In the 1970s, Monnow Valley Studio was the rehearsal facility of the famous Rockfield Studios. It became an independent studio in the 1980s and has been home to many top bands including Oasis, Stereophonics, and...
, near Monmouth
Monmouth
Monmouth is a town in southeast Wales and traditional county town of the historic county of Monmouthshire. It is situated close to the border with England, where the River Monnow meets the River Wye with bridges over both....
, at the start of 1994 to record their debut album. Their producer was Dave Batchelor, who Noel Gallagher knew from his days working as a roadie for the Inspiral Carpets
Inspiral Carpets
Inspiral Carpets are an alternative rock band from Oldham in Greater Manchester, England formed by Graham Lambert and Stephen Holt in 1983. The band is named after a clothing shop on their Oldham estate...
. The sessions were unsatisfactory. "It wasn't happening," Arthurs recalled. "He was the wrong person for the job . . . We'd play in this great big room, buzzing to be in this studio, playing like we always played. He's say, 'Come in and have a listen.' And we'd be like, 'That doesn't sound like it sounded in that room. What's that?'. It was thin. Weak. Too clean."
The sessions at Monnow Valley were costing £800 a day. As the sessions proved increasingly fruitless, the group began to panic. Arthurs said, "Noel was frantically on the phone to the management, going, 'This ain't working.' For it not to be happening was a bit frightening." Batchelor was let go, and Gallagher tried to make use of the music already recorded by taking the tapes to a number of London studios. Tim Abbot of Creation Records said while visiting the band in Chiswick
Chiswick
Chiswick is a large suburb of west London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located on a meander of the River Thames, west of Charing Cross and is one of 35 major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, with...
, "McGee, Noel, me and various people had a great sesh, and we listened to it over and over again. And all I could think was, 'It ain't got the attack.' There was no immediacy."
In February the group returned from an ill-fated trip to Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
and set about re-recording the album at Sawmills Studio
Sawmills Studio
Sawmills Studios, created in 1974 near Golant on the banks of the River Fowey in Cornwall, England is best known as the recording studio used by musicians such as Robert Plant, Oasis, The Coronas, The Verve, Supergrass, Muse, The Holloways, Razorlight, The Stone Roses, The Dukes of Stratosphear ...
in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
. This time the sessions were produced by Noel Gallagher and Mark Coyle
Mark Coyle
Mark Coyle is a British music producer, known for his work with Oasis.Coyle worked as a sound technician for many Mancunian bands throughout the 1980s including the The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. Coyle has been a friend of Noel Gallagher for many years, having met when working as roadies for...
. The group decided the only way to replicate their live sound on record was to record together without soundproofing between individual instruments. Over the tracks, Gallagher overdubbed numerous guitars. Arthurs said, "That was Noel's favourite trick: get the drums, bass and rhythm guitar down, and then he'd cane it. 'Less is more' didn't really work then."
The results were still deemed unsatisfactory, and there was little chance of another attempt at recording the album. The recordings already made had to be utilised. In desperation, Creation's Marcus Russell contacted engineer-turned-producer Owen Morris
Owen Morris
Owen Morris is a music producer who has worked with rock bands such as Oasis, The Fratellis, The View and The Verve.He started working in the music industry as a sound engineer at Spaceward Studio in Cambridge when he was 16. He continued as an engineer until 1994 when he started producing some...
. "I just thought, 'They've messed up here,'" Morris recalled after hearing the Sawmills recordings. "I guessed at that stage Noel was completely fucked off. Marcus was like, 'You can do what you like – literally, whatever you want." Among Morris's first tasks was to strip away the layers of guitar overdubs Gallagher had added. Morris completed his final mix of the record on the bank holiday
Bank Holiday
A bank holiday is a public holiday in the United Kingdom or a colloquialism for public holiday in Ireland. There is no automatic right to time off on these days, although the majority of the population is granted time off work or extra pay for working on these days, depending on their contract...
weekend in May. Music journalist John Harris noted, "The miracle was that music that had passed through so many hands sounded so dynamic: the guitar-heavy stew that Morris had inherited had been remoulded into something positively pile-driving."
Release and reception
The release of Definitely Maybe was preceded by a third single, "Live Forever", which was released on 8 August 1994. "Live Forever" was the group's first top ten single. The continuing success of Oasis partially allowed Creation to ride out a period of financial straits. The label was still £2 million in debt, so Tim Abbot was given only £60,000 to promote the upcoming album. Abbot tried to determine how best to use his small budget. "I'd go back to the Midlands every couple of weeks," Abbot said, "and people I knew would say, 'Oasis are great. This is what we listen to.' And I'd be thinking, "Well, you lot don't buy singles. You don't read the NMENME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
. You don't read Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
. How do we get to people like you?'." Abbot decided to place ads in publications that had never been approached by Creation before, such as football magazines, match programmes and UK dance music periodicals. Abbot's suspicions that Oasis would appeal to these non-traditional audiences were confirmed when the dance music magazine Mixmag, which usually ignored guitar-based music, gave Definitely Maybe a five-star review.
Definitely Maybe was finally released on 30 August 1994. The album sold 86,000 in its first week. On 4 September the album debuted at number one on the British charts. It outsold the second-highest album (The Three Tenors In Concert 1994, which had been favoured to be the chart-topper that week), by a factor of 50%. The first-week sales earned Definitely Maybe the record of the fastest-selling debut album in British history. The album received almost unanimous critical acclaim along with commercial success, with many critics and listeners welcoming the album's fearless optimistic themes, particularly in an era of rock which was dominated by American grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
which seemed at odds with the album, while also praising Noel Gallagher's songwriting and melodic skills along with younger brother Liam's vocals. "Cigarettes & Alcohol
Cigarettes & Alcohol
"Cigarettes & Alcohol" is a song by English rock band Oasis, written by Noel Gallagher. It was released as the fourth single from their debut album Definitely Maybe, and their second to enter the UK top ten in the United Kingdom, peaking at #7 , eventually spending 35 weeks on the charts,...
" was released as the fourth single from the album in October, peaking at #7 UK, then a career high for the band. Noel Gallagher said "Slide Away
Slide Away (Oasis song)
"Slide Away" is a song by English rock band Oasis, written by lead guitarist Noel Gallagher. It is featured on their debut album Definitely Maybe, on the "Whatever" single, on the "Champagne Supernova" single and on their best-of album, Stop the Clocks....
" was considered as a fifth single, but he ultimately refused, arguing, "You can't have five [singles] off a debut album."
Cover art
A picture of Colin BellColin Bell
Colin Bell MBE , is a former English football player who was born in Hesleden, County Durham, England. Nicknamed "The King of the Kippax" , and Nijinsky after the famous racehorse , Bell is widely regarded as Manchester City's greatest ever player...
can be seen on the cover and a television showing a scene from the film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach in the title roles. The screenplay was written by Age & Scarpelli, Luciano Vincenzoni and Leone, based on a story by Vincenzoni and Leone...
with actors Eli Wallach
Eli Wallach
Eli Herschel Wallach is an American film, television and stage actor, who gained fame in the late 1950s. For his performance in Baby Doll he won a BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer and a Golden Globe nomination. One of his most famous roles is that of Tuco in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...
and Antonio Casale
Antonio Casale
Antonio Casale was an Italian film actor of the 1960s and 1970s who appeared in mostly Spaghetti Western Italian films between 1965 and 1976.Although his later roles were more prominent, Casale is probably most known worldwide for his brief appearance as the dying Bill Carson in Sergio Leone's...
. A still of Gian Maria Volonté
Gian Maria Volontè
Gian Maria Volonté was an Italian actor. He is perhaps most famous outside of Italy for his roles as the main villain in Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.-Early life:Volonté was born in Milan, and graduated in Rome in 1957...
from the film A Fistful of Dollars
A Fistful of Dollars
A Fistful of Dollars is a 1964 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood alongside Gian Maria Volonté, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy, Sieghardt Rupp, José Calvo, Antonio Prieto, and Joseph Egger. Released in Italy in 1964 then in the United States in...
is visible on the television on the back cover. A poster of Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
(one of Noel Gallagher's idols) is also shown on the lower-left-hand side of the cover. Some writers believe that Oasis were trying to pay homage to Pink Floyd's Ummagumma
Ummagumma
Ummagumma is a double album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in 1969 by Harvest and EMI in the United Kingdom and Harvest and Capitol in the United States...
by placing it there in the same prominent position that Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
reserved for the soundtrack of Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli was an American stage director and film director, famous for directing such classic movie musicals as Meet Me in St. Louis, The Band Wagon, and An American in Paris. In addition to having directed some of the most famous and well-remembered musicals of his time, Minnelli made...
's American musical film Gigi
Gigi (1958 film)
Gigi is a 1958 musical film directed by Vincente Minnelli. The screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner is based on the 1944 novella of the same name by Colette...
.
Legacy
The massive success of the album has left Definitely Maybe with a legacy in which it has been cited as resurrecting interest in British guitar bands. It has since frequently appeared in many 'greatest' polls.In 1997, Definitely Maybe was named the 14th greatest album of all time in a 'Music of the Millennium' poll conducted by HMV
HMV
His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...
, Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and Classic FM
Classic FM (UK)
Classic FM, one of the United Kingdom's three Independent National Radio stations, broadcasts classical music in a popular and accessible style.-Overview:...
.
In Channel 4's '100 Greatest Albums' countdown in 2005, the album was placed at number 6.
In 2006, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
placed the album third in a list of the greatest British albums ever, behind The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses (album)
The Stone Roses is the debut album by English rock band The Stone Roses, released on Silvertone Records in 1989. It cemented the band's reputation among critics, and is still rated by some as one of the most important albums ever...
and The Smiths' The Queen Is Dead
The Queen Is Dead
The Queen Is Dead is the third studio album by the English alternative rock band The Smiths. It was released on 16 June 1986 in the United Kingdom by Rough Trade Records and released in the United States on 23 June 1986 through Sire Records. The album reached #2 on the UK Albums Chart, maintaining...
.
In a recent British poll, run by NME and the book of British Hit Singles and Albums
Guinness Book of British Hit Singles
British Hit Singles & Albums was a music reference book published in the United Kingdom by HiT Entertainment's "Guinness World Records". It listed all the singles and albums featured in the Top 75 Charts in UK, as compiled by the editors of British Hit Singles & Albums...
, Definitely Maybe was voted the best album of all time with The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...
finishing second and Revolver
Revolver (album)
Revolver is the seventh studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released on 5 August 1966 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin. Many of the tracks on Revolver are marked by an electric guitar-rock sound, in contrast with their previous LP, the folk rock inspired Rubber...
third.
Q magazine readers placed it at number five on their greatest albums of all time list in 2006 and in that same year NME hailed it as the greatest album of all time.
In a 2008 poll by Q and HMV in 2008, Definitely Maybe was ranked first on a list of the greatest British albums of all time.
The German edition of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
ranks the album at number 156 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
.
On AcclaimedMusic.net, a website which calculates the most favorably reviewed songs and albums, Definitely Maybe was listed as the 14th most critically acclaimed album of the 90s, as well as the 105th most critically acclaimed album of all time.
Track listing
Singles box set
The Definitely Maybe box set was released on 4 November 1996, featuring four discs of singles, including B-sides, and one disc of interviews. The set charted at number 23 on the UK Singles ChartUK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
.
All songs written by Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...
, except "I Am the Walrus" by Lennon–McCartney.
DVD
Definitely Maybe was released on DVD in September 2004 to mark the tenth anniversary of its original release. It went triple platinum in the UK. The DVD featured an hour-long documentary about the recording of the album featuring rare and contemporary interviews with the band and its associates. Also included was the album in its entirety, which included "Sad Song", which was originally only released on the UK vinyl version of the album and also on the Japanese CD edition. Other content included live and TV performances of the albums twelve tracks, and the promo videos to "Supersonic" (UK & US versions), "Shakermaker", "Live Forever" (UK & US versions), "Cigarettes & Alcohol" and "Rock 'n' Roll Star". A limited-edition release in the UK and Ireland included a bonus DVD containing more live footage and anecdotes.There was also an accompanying made-for-TV documentary, entitled There We Were, Now Here We Are...: The Making Of Oasis. This was broadcast on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in the UK at 11:30pm on Friday, 3 September , three days before the release of the Definitely Maybe DVD. The programme combined existing and unused interview footage from the DVD documentary and focused on the origins of the band, and the four singles from Definitely Maybe. It also included a very rare clip of "All Around the World
All Around the World (Oasis song)
"All Around the World" is a song by the English rock band Oasis, written by the band's lead guitarist and principal songwriter Noel Gallagher. Released on 12 January 1998, the track peaked at number one in the UK Singles Chart; it is the longest single ever to do so...
" performed live at a rehearsal session in the Boardwalk
Boardwalk (music club)
The Boardwalk nightclub was located on Little Peter Street in Manchester, England. This medium sized club and rehearsal studios, owned by Colin Sinclair, was a popular live music venue in the late 1980s and early 1990s where bands such as Oasis and Northside made their live debuts.Along with other...
in 1992, five years before it was eventually recorded and released on Be Here Now. The DVD received the NME award for Best Music DVD.
Personnel
Oasis- Liam GallagherLiam GallagherWilliam John Paul "Liam" Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, the former frontman of the English rock band Oasis and currently of the band Beady Eye. Gallagher's erratic behaviour, distinctive singing style, and abrasive attitude have been the subject of commentary in the press...
– vocals, tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all.... - Noel GallagherNoel GallagherNoel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...
– lead guitar, backing vocals, production, piano - Paul "Bonehead" ArthursPaul ArthursPaul "Bonehead" Arthurs is an English musician and one of the founding members of the English rock band Oasis, best known as their rhythm guitar player from 1991-1999.-Early life:...
– rhythm guitar, piano, production - Paul "Guigsy" McGuiganPaul McGuigan (musician)Paul McGuigan , better known by his nickname, Guigsy , is an English musician and one of the four founding members of the English rock band Oasis...
– bass, production* - Tony McCarrollTony McCarrollAnthony "Tony" McCarroll is an English drummer and one of the founding members of English rock group Oasis, as their drummer from 1991 to April 1995.-Biography:...
– drums, production
Additional personnel
- Anthony GriffithsThe Real PeopleThe Real People, from Liverpool, England, were one of the very first bands to play what is today known as “Britpop”, and have been quoted by Oasis as being one of their major influences...
– backing vocals on "Supersonic" - Mark CoyleMark CoyleMark Coyle is a British music producer, known for his work with Oasis.Coyle worked as a sound technician for many Mancunian bands throughout the 1980s including the The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. Coyle has been a friend of Noel Gallagher for many years, having met when working as roadies for...
– production, mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
on "Supersonic" and "Married with Children", engineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including... - Owen MorrisOwen MorrisOwen Morris is a music producer who has worked with rock bands such as Oasis, The Fratellis, The View and The Verve.He started working in the music industry as a sound engineer at Spaceward Studio in Cambridge when he was 16. He continued as an engineer until 1994 when he started producing some...
– additional production, mixing - Barry Grint – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
at Abbey Road (now at Alchemy Soho) - Dave Batchelor – production on "Slide Away"
- Anjali Dutt – engineering
- Dave Scott – engineering/mixing
- Roy Spong – engineering
- Brian CannonBrian CannonBrian Cannon is a British graphic designer, art director, photographer, band manager and music video director. He is best known for his Microdot graphic design company and its work in the 1990s, which created the album cover for Oasis' record breaking debut album, Definitely Maybe, in 1994.Two of...
for Microdot – Sleeve Concept, Design & Art Direction - Michael Spencer Jones – photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
- *Although the liner notes list Paul McGuigan as the bass player, Tony McCarroll reported that Noel Gallagher overdubbed all the bass parts.
Charts
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
1 |
| 1994 | US Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
1 |
| 1994 | New Zealand Albums Chart | 5 |
| 1995 | ARIA Chart | 23 |
| 1995 | US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
58 |