Oasis are back…but could they have faded into non-existence before it had even started?
The 29th of August 1994, Oasis’ ‘Definitely Maybe’ was released. 30 years later, this album made by five working class Mancuniun lads is still regarded as one of the best debut’s and began the story, culture and community of Oasis. Unbeknownst to them, this album would change the scope of British music and result in generations of teenagers personifying these tunes by walking with the out-turned foot and swagger of vocalist Liam Gallagher.
Thirty years have passed since the albums initial release and alongside a UK tour by Liam Gallagher playing the album in full, Definitely Maybe has been re-released with new demos and studio outtakes from the band’s sessions at Monnow Valley and Sawmills Studios.
Put simply, they’re weak; it somehow doesn’t sound like Oasis.
The first set of demos is taken from the band’s time in Monnow Valley and features eight tracks. Liam’s youthful sounding vocals shine through a fragile backdrop of watered down guitars that seems to miss any sort of anger or drive that the band where so well known for. ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ for example paints the Gallagher brothers and bandmates as anything but ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ stars. The tracks within this session just feel empty, the drums feel half-arsed, the solos are buried, and the tracks seems to have way too much space within them.
Interestingly within this session, ‘Shakermaker’ features the second verse pulled straight from ‘I’d like to teach the world to sing’, of which Noel was heavily inspired by for the band’s first single.
The rendition of ‘Live Forever’ from Monnow Valley is gorgeous; soft and melodic in nature, it echoes a love song more than a rock song. It’s much more acoustic and pretty than the final version, but this version could never have been the great it has gone on to be.
‘Bring it on Down’ again doesn’t seem to have the bite it was meant too. Famously, it was the song that got Alan McGee to sign the band after hearing it live but this original version taps you on the shoulder instead of punching you in the face…
The Monnow Valley sessions were obviously not right for the band, so they moved onto Sawmills Studios, Cornwall, for a second attempt at the album this time produced by Mark Coyle. Fans can enjoy seven songs from this session and these tracks get us a step closer to the Definitely Maybe we know and love (Sawmills performance of ‘Bring It On Down’ throws some punches).
These versions of the songs feel so close to being complete but still lack the live edge that Oasis had but had buried within the studio.
‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ from this session provides a completely different take on the song but proves its incompletion with missing verses but interestingly features Strokes-esque vocal effects on Liam’s outro line of ‘It’s just Rock n Roll’, something the band didn’t really go on to utilise.
‘Slide Away’ makes its first appearance within these two newly released sessions and feels new and unfinished. It lacks a solo and some final lyrics but shows the beginnings of one of the bands fan favourites.
I asked the question, ‘could Oasis have faded into non-existence?’ and after hearing parts of the two premature versions of ‘Definitely Maybe’ it feels as though the ‘wall of noise’ and massive live sound struggled to be captured within the studio. Had this always stayed like this, it feels like ‘Definitely Maybe’ would’ve just been another of the countless records the 90’s produced. Oasis live were special, that’s why Alan McGee of Creation Records signed them, and the only way they could replicate this in the studio was by bringing in live sound engineer, Owen Morris. Between Mark Coyle and newly brought in Owen Morris, ‘Definitely Maybe’ took its final form as the version we know. Hearing these previous versions 30 years later provides such a big ‘what if?’, as the band finally reunite to a wave of nationwide Oasis-mania.
Thank God for Owen Morris…
Oasis: Definitely Maybe (30th Anniversary) Deluxe Editions – Out 30th August 2024
