Oasis in the UK are more than just rock royalty. They are the foul-mouthed, big riff, council estate kids with unibrows and bad attitudes that helped lift the UK out of it's 1980's/Thatcherism malaisse and into the Cool Britannia of the 1990s. Out was the doom and gloom of American grunge, in were melodic songs that kids could relate to. Anthems like Rock N Roll Star, Columbia and Cigarettes and Alcohol spoke directly to the young generation who were anxious to make their own mark on the world. Led by the songwriting and riff borrowing of Noel Gallagher and the sheer strength of the vocals of his younger brother Liam, Oasis debut Definitely Maybe became the fastest selling debut album in the UK at the time.

However, in the US, though Oasis debut hit the charts and eventually went platinum, the band never took off to the heights they would enjoy in the UK and around the world. Maybe it was Creation Records lack of solid backing by the US record industry or maybe it was the brothers snarling and nasty attitudes (and those unibrows) that turned enough people off during the age of grunge that would soon give way to softer sounds like Hootie and the Blowfish. But Oasis were the spokesmen of their generation in the UK and knew who to borrow from (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, T Rex, The Jam) to make a big, bright, loud sound that would have them headline Knebworth just 2 years after the release of this debut in front of 250,000 people over 2 nights.

Oasis are also the masters of the b-side (a lost art in the US) and as CD singles with 4 tracks on them were all the rage, Oasis hit the playlists and sales from singles as well as anyone in the UK. So relive the big hits (Live Forever & Supersonic), enjoy the album tracks (Slide Away, Bring It On Down) and unearth some b-sides as we celebrate Definitely Maybe as it turns 30.

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